Aqueduct Racetrack Notes 01/31
NYRA PRESS OFFICE —–
Aqueduct Racetrack Notes
Omaha Omaha adds distance, looks to add Kentucky Derby points in Listed Withers
Bucchero represented by Global Steve in Listed Withers
Coastal Mission back in action in Listed Toboggan
Castle Chaos returns in Listed Toboggan; Nilo’s Rose possible for Listed Busher
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – On Your Left Racing’s Virginia homebred Omaha Omaha closed from last-to-second in the local one turn-mile Jerome in January and will look to do one better as he stretches out for Saturday’s Listed $250,000 Withers, a nine-furlong test for sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The Withers, a prep race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, will award the top-five finishers 20-10-6-4-2 qualifying points, respectively, towards the prestigious Grade 1 test on May 3 at Churchill Downs.
Trained by Michael Gorham, the Audible bay picked up five Derby qualifying points for his deep-rallying Jerome performance where he was bumped at the start and 11 lengths back in last-of-7, ultimately surging to a 3 1/2-length second behind the pacesetting Cyclone State.
“I think the distance should definitely help him,” said Gorham. “Last time was just the one-turn mile. I think even that day, if he had a little more distance, he would’ve been a little more effective.”
Omaha Omaha previously closed to win a 1 1/16-mile November optional-claimer at Laurel Park by seven lengths, following a similar late-footed graduation at third asking going one mile around two turns in October at Delaware Park.
“That’s kind of his style. He doesn’t have a lot of natural speed, but once he gets going, he has that cruising speed and he makes up a lot of ground,” Gorham said. “He’s a big horse and has a long stride. So when he gets rolling, he gets going pretty good.”
Omaha Omaha is out of the Kitten’s Joy mare England Swings, a full-sister to 2015 Champion Grass Horse Big Blue Kitten. Omaha Omaha debuted on turf, finishing fourth in a 7 1/2-furlong maiden in August at Delaware Park.
“We ran him once on turf and he didn’t run a terrible race. It was his first time out and only going seven and a half, and he closed some ground,” Gorham explained. “That’s another option that down the road, he may even run on turf, too, so maybe he can go both ways.”
Raul Mena, aboard for Omaha Omaha’s five career efforts, retains the mount from the outermost post 7, tabbed at morning-line odds of 4-1.
“Well since he doesn’t have a lot of speed, he will probably be able to drop over, get to the rail, save ground around the first turn as much as we can,” Gorham said. “Once we got him to stretch out, he improved every race. That’s a real good thing; he seems to be getting better all of the time.”
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Bucchero represented by Global Steve in Listed Withers
The connections of Bucchero, the leading synthetic sire in the U.S. in 2024, will hope Global Steve, his lone starter on Saturday’s card at Aqueduct Racetrack, will prove to be a Kentucky Derby contender with 20-10-6-4-2 qualifying points on offer in the Listed $250,000 Withers.
Trained by Butch Reid, Jr. for owners Cash is King and LC Racing, the Florida-bred colt is undefeated in a pair of seven-furlong starts at Parx Racing, graduating on debut in November and following with a 1 1/2-length score in the Future Stars on December 30 over sloppy and sealed footing.
Bucchero, who captured the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 2 Woodford over the Keeneland turf in 2017-18, moved to the Empire State in 2024 and stands in 2025 at Ironhorse Stallions, in Stillwater, New York. Bucchero stood his first five seasons in Florida and last year topped the U.S. synthetic standings with his progeny banking more than $1.4 million in purse earnings.
Harlan Malter, Managing Partner of Ironhorse Racing Stable, Ironhorse Stallions and Bucchero, said the move to New York was prompted by a strong state-bred program bolstered by upcoming purse parity initiatives and the introduction of winter racing over Tapeta at the new Belmont Park.
“We’ve just kind of put our foot in the New York market. There are people who have been working so hard to get this to where it is,” Malter said. “Now that we are here, it is an incentive to raise the quality. I think breeders and stallion farms are going to try to keep the horses equal with the incentive to do it.
“The money is being offered. I was a college baseball player, I use the quote from Field of Dreams, ‘if you build it, they will come,’” said Malter, who played college baseball at Columbia University. “I really believe the New York breeders, ourselves included, want to elevate that. Showing up to Saratoga, seeing your New York-sired horse win an open race, make its way through the conditions, this is what will keep people in the game as an owner and a breeder. Now that New York has gotten to this point, it is our job to keep elevating the quality of horses that will be here.”
In October 2023, NYRA announced that beginning January 1, 2026, all New York-bred overnight races for 2-year-olds [foals of 2024] on the NYRA circuit will offer purse amounts matching their open-company counterparts.
On December 30, NYRA further announced that effective January 1, 2027, all New York-bred overnight races will be run for purse money equal to their open-company counterparts, allowing the New York-bred foal crop to benefit from the financial reward of purse parity throughout their racing careers.
Bucchero proved effective over multiple surfaces in a 31-race career, winning four times on turf and seven times on dirt through an 11-6-3 record for purse earnings of $947,936.
The now 13-year-old Kantharos chestnut landed second in his lone synthetic start when defeated less than one length by Choctaw Chuck in the 2017 Listed Karl Boyes Memorial at Presque Isle Downs. His top progeny thus far is Book’em Danno, who captured the Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun last summer over the Saratoga Race Course main track.
“Bucchero happened to get good turf sprinting, but his best ‘Rag’ number was dirt sprinting, and he won stakes going two turns on dirt,” Malter said. “He actually only ran once on synthetic at Presque Isle and was second in a stakes. He could run on everything. The synthetic surface has been a huge part of his success because he was in Florida. I know it is going to be a transition for people in New York, but there are a lot of New Yorkers who went down and trained in Florida, and I think they all see the benefits of the synthetic with big, competitive fields. Quality horses produce horses than can run on every surface.”
On Saturday, Global Steve [post 1, Mychel Sanchez, 6-1 ML] will look to raise the profile of a growing list of stakes-quality Bucchero progeny that also includes Grade 2-placed Buccherino, Grade 3-placed Beauty of the Sea and stakes winners Mattingly and Bucaro.
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Coastal Mission back in action in Listed Toboggan
Trainer Jeff Runco’s West Virginia homebred Coastal Mission will make the first start of his 6-year-old campaign in Saturday’s Listed $175,000 Toboggan, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
“He’s doing fine and is all ready to go,” said Runco, who is based at Charles Town Races in West Virginia.
The gelded son of Great Notion was last seen finishing a closing fourth in the Grade 2 Cigar Mile Handicap presented by TwinSpires on December 7 here, finishing 4 1/2 lengths behind the victorious Locked. There, Coastal Mission was 4 3/4 lengths back in seventh-of-10 in the early stages and steadily made up ground under regular pilot Arnaldo Bocachica before angling inside in the stretch run and keeping on evenly through the wire.
“That was a tough race, and this one is still competitive with some decent ones in here tomorrow, so we’ll see how he does,” Runco said. “I thought he ran great and he had to alter course in the stretch which might have hurt him a little bit, but it was tough. You’re talking horses that went on to the Pegasus and horses that were in the Breeders’ Cup. It might have been a Grade 2, but it was a Grade 1 that day.”
Coastal Mission will cut back by one furlong in the Toboggan but remains at one turn and returns to the distance that saw him capture the state-bred Confucius Say and open-company Russell Road at his Charles Town base in 2023 and the Frank Y. Whiteley last year at Laurel Park, as well as a good second to subsequent Grade 1-winner Mullikin in the local Grade 2 John A. Nerud in July.
Runco said Coastal Mission is versatile in tactics but is at his best when settling behind an honest pace.
“He loves seven-furlongs,” Runco said. “He’s got a little bit more of a punch at seven furlongs. He just needs a good break. There’s a little bit of speed in there, so it should be an OK race for him. He’s been on the lead, but his best run is just a bit off the pace – just settle into stride down the backstretch and make his move in the stretch. That’s how he wants to do it.”
Coastal Mission has been ridden by Bocachica in 25-of-26 starts, including the gelding’s first graded victory over the local going in the Grade 3 Forty Niner in October, and 12 other trips to the winner’s circle.
“He just knows the horse so well and knows how he likes to be warmed up in the post parade and all the little things about him,” Runco said of Bocachica. “He’s been on him his whole life and gets on him in the mornings. They fit well together.”
Coastal Mission has been a model of consistency for Runco, holding a 26-14-5-1 record with over $1.1 million in earnings and two additional grading placings. He ranks as Runco’s second-highest earning trainee behind Grade 3-winner Researcher and just ahead of millionaire Muad’dib.
“He’s just one of those kind of horses – they’re hard to get,” Runco said, with a laugh. “He brings it every time, and if he gets a good trip and everything works out, he can get there. He tries every time we bring him over. He’s one of the best horses I’ve had, and to be able to bring a horse that you bred and raised to New York to win a graded stake is one of the solid highlights of my career.”
Coastal Mission has been tabbed the 5-2 morning line favorite in the seven-horse field and will exit post 4. The field also includes last-out Listed Gravesend-winner Maximus Meridius and dual Grade 3-winner Runninsonofagun.
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Castle Chaos returns in Listed Toboggan; Nilo’s Rose possible for Listed Busher
Multiple graded stakes-placed Castle Chaos returns from a more than five-month layoff in Saturday’s Listed $175,000 Toboggan, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trained and co-owned by Robert Falcone, Jr. in partnership with Sanford J. Goldfarb, Nice Guys Stables, John D. Fielding and Beast Mode Racing, the 7-year-old Palace Malice gelding required time off after grabbing a quarter when stumbling at the start of an off-the-board effort in an optional-claiming tilt on August 23 at Saratoga Race Course.
“It’s good to have him back,” Falcone, Jr. said. “He grabbed a quarter pretty good, and he was running hard for a while, so we decided it was time to give him a little break.”
Prior to that effort, the hard-trying bay had raced competitively in steep company, landing third in the Grade 2 Cigar Mile Handicap in December 2023, a rallying nose second to Tumbarumba in the Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper last January at Gulfstream Park and a neck second in the Grade 2 Carter presented by NYRA Bets in April at the Big A won by Post Time, who finished second in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in November at Del Mar.
Falcone, Jr. said Castle Chaos has more than held his own in deep waters, including a fourth-place effort in the Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap in June when fourth, just two necks back of runner-up Post Time.
“We lost to Post Time a couple times, and they were both close and Post Time, who was a very good horse at the time, went on, arguably, to be even better as time went on,” Falcone, Jr. said. “We ran against Coastal Mission far back in the Cigar Mile and we beat him, even though it’s more than a year ago. We’re just hoping he shows up and runs one of his bigger races. If he does, there’s no reason he can’t be right there.”
Castle Chaos has worked consistently since early December over the Belmont Park dirt training track towards his return, including a half-mile in 50.69 seconds on January 27.
“He’s been training good. He hasn’t missed any days since he came back,” Falcone, Jr. said. “He seems to get over the track pretty well – it’s deep, but he’s getting over it well. I think I’ve got him fit enough and ready to go.”
Falcone, Jr. said Castle Chaos will appreciate racing on the Big A main track, over which he boasts a 9-2-1-3 record.
“I feel like Aqueduct is definitely a ‘horse for course’ type track,” Falcone, Jr. said. “It’s a different surface, it’s deep and can be beachy at times, so if a horse can get over it well and likes to run on that kind of surface, it gives him an advantage. It’s one less thing to worry about, knowing he likes the track.”
Castle Chaos [No. 3, 10-1ML] will exit post 3 under Manny Franco in a field of seven headlined by 5-2 morning line favorite Coastal Mission with potential pace provided by Nelson Avenue and Gun It.
“Sometimes there can be speed on paper and then no one goes, and other times there’s no speed and everyone goes,” Falcone, Jr. said. “I’d rather him break running, don’t take anything away from him and let him settle into where he’s comfortable and run from there.”
Falcone, Jr. said that Beast Mode Racing’s Nilo’s Rose is pointing towards a stakes debut in the Listed $200,000 Busher, a one-turn mile for sophomore fillies on March 1 here that offers 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-five finishers.
The $47,000 OBS June 2-Year-Olds and HRA Sale purchase graduated at second asking in October in a local maiden auction race traveling 6 1/2-furlongs over a fast main track. She returned on January 16 here to score a prominent optional-claiming win traveling a one-turn mile.
“She broke her maiden and ended up getting sick and missed a few days of training,” Falcone, Jr. said. “I worked her once and she worked really good and I wanted to stretch her out, so I stretched her out in the starter off the layoff off one work and she won nice. She drew away and won by a few lengths.”
While Falcone, Jr. said he is cautiously optimistic about having an Oaks filly on his hands, he believes the Promises Fulfilled bay will appreciate stretching out.
“She has a lot of length to her and size. I see her every day and every time I see her it just seems like she’s growing more and more,” Falcone, Jr. said. “We’ll see how the stakes shake up everywhere, but we’re looking at the Busher. She likes Aqueduct and she ran well there last time. She gives us the sign that she wants to go long, so we’ll probably take a shot with her there. I think she could be competitive in a race like that at this time of year.”
Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Nilo’s Rose is out of the stakes-placed Take Charge Indy mare Summer’s Indy. Her third dam is multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Summer Colony, who captured the 2002 Grade 1 Personal Ensign.
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