Ryerson weighing next moves for talented New York Breds Til Midnight and Market Alert
OZONE PARK, NY – Edward Potash, Brad Yankanich, and trainer Jim Ryerson’s Unbridled Bomber returned to work Tuesday in his second breeze since a fourth-place finish behind Courvoisier in the $150,000 Jerome on New Year’s Day at Aqueduct Racetrack.
A dark bay son of Upstart, Unbridled Bomber breezed a bullet five-eighths in 1:00.60 over Belmont Park’s dirt training track on January 25, giving his connections the green light to point to the nine-furlong Grade 3, $250,000 Withers at Aqueduct on February 5.
“We’re headed to the Withers next and we’re happy with how he’s doing. We’re happy with how he ran last time and with his last couple races,” Ryerson said. “We’ll see if he can stretch out and handle the ground.”
Unbridled Bomber finished eighth on debut at Saratoga in July sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs before stretching out to nine furlongs and then back to one mile to break his maiden at fourth asking on November 7 at Belmont.
Unbridled Bomber stuck to a one-turn mile in the Jerome over a sloppy and sealed track next time out, held off the pace in seventh by regular rider Dylan Davis through the first quarter-mile after breaking a step slow. Swung three-wide in the turn, the 3-year-old colt seemed ready to unleash a bid for the lead but never kicked away and lost show honors to Cooke Creek by three-quarters of a length.
“As the way the day went, speed was so dominant over that track,” said Ryerson. “We really couldn’t have put him into the pace and so we just had to see how it would go [from off the pace]. I thought he ran very well.”
Anthony Perri’s Open Til Midnight graduated in a state-bred maiden special weight at the Big A on November 18 in his fifth start for Ryerson, stretching out to 1 1/6 miles on the turf under Jose Lezcano after starting his career off sprinting.
The 3-year-old son of Midnight Storm cut back to six furlongs last time out to finish fifth in his first start against winners on December 3, a move Ryerson said was due in part to the closure of the Aqueduct turf course for winter.
“That was the only race available for him before the turf closed. He can run one-turn races on the turf though and I think he’s a nice New York-bred that we have hopes for having a nice three-year-old year,” said Ryerson.
The dark bay colt’s recent works over Belmont’s dirt training track include a bullet half-mile in 48 seconds flat on January 25. Ryerson said a dirt debut will be in Open Til Midnight’s future.
“He’s been turf but we want to try him on the dirt,” said Ryerson. “He worked really well over it the other day and we’ll see what the new condition book has and what happens with him.”
Multiple stakes-placed Market Alert exited well from a fourth-place allowance effort at the Big A on January 8 and will run again sometime in February. A 4-year-old New York-bred son of D’Funnybone, Market Alert flashed his talent early on with a pair of stakes placings as a juvenile in Aqueduct’s Notebook and NYSSS Great White Way.
With an allowance win to start his sophomore campaign, Market Alert went on to earn another stakes placing with a second in the Mike Lee at Belmont and another allowance win in November. The chestnut gelding closed out the year in the NYSSS Thunder Rumble on December 5, finishing a well-beaten ninth in the field of 11.
“He ran a couple nice races and then we ran him in the stakes and were a little disappointed, but it was a tough race,” Ryerson said. “We’re happy with him so far.”
Ryerson also noted that Miss Marissa, winner of the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap and Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan last year, has been privately sold by her owners to Japanese interests.
Aqueduct Racetrack Notes/NYRA
Photo: Unbridled Bomber/NYRA Photo
