Aqueduct: Sand Devil storms into $125K Damon Runyon

By Christian Abdo —-

Sand Devil storms into $125K Damon Runyon

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Chester Broman, Sr.’s unbeaten homebred Sand Devil is set for his stakes debut in Saturday’s $125,000 Damon Runyon, a seven-furlong sprint for New York-bred sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Linda Rice, the Violence chestnut is not only 2-for-2, but also dominant in both efforts, most recently cruising to a 12 1/2-length romp in a one-turn mile optional claimer versus fellow state-breds on January 2 here.

“He ran super that day, we were very pleased with him,” said Rice. “I just wanted to get him stretched out from the six furlongs to one mile, and now we will just keep on trying to graduate him.”

The big win over recent Listed Withers-contestant Corvus earned a field-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure, improving upon an encouraging 82 on debut when a stalking four-length victor sprinting six furlongs in a state-bred December maiden.

Rice considered Sand Devil [post 2, Jose Lezcano] for the nine-furlong Listed Withers, a 20-10-6-4-2 Kentucky Derby qualifying points event on February 1 here, but ultimately decided to keep him with fellow state-breds and around one turn.

“Frankly, we just wanted to take a nice, easy progression with him,” Rice said. “He is a nice horse. We know that. He has talent. We just want to ease him up to bigger and better things.

“It’s a slight cutback, but he’ll be fine at this distance,” Rice continued. “He’ll probably sit off of it, and hopefully run them down.”

Bred by Chester and Mary Broman, Sand Devil is out of multiple stakes-winning Mineshaft mare Mineralogist. His second dam is the graded stakes-winning New York-bred Seeking the Ante, who NYRA named a stakes after.

Rice will also send out Martin Zaretsky’s maiden-winner Just Licorice [post 3, Romero Maragh], who graduated at fourth asking two starts back here in a one-turn mile state-bred maiden claimer on January 5. The Justify dark bay closed to win by 6 1/2 lengths ahead of a last out distant sixth in an open starter optional-claimer on January 17.

“Just taking a shot. He has some nice pedigree,” said Rice. “You know, his last race was subpar for him, but I’m hoping he rebounds. The race before that was pretty good.”

Bred by Pine Ridge Stables, Just Licorice is out of the winning Candy Ride mare Maria’s Candy. His third dam is 1990 Champion 2 Year Old Filly Meadow Star.

Reeves Thoroughbred Racing’s National Identity [post 5, Kendrick Carmouche] enters from a head defeat to undefeated multiple stakes-winner Sacrosanct in the state-sired $500,000 NYSSS Great White Way sprinting seven furlongs on December 14 here.

Trained by Danny Gargan, the Solomini bay gave Sacrosanct his toughest test to date with a fierce stretch duel, but could never quite put his head in front of the proven rival. National Identity previously graduated by 3 3/4 lengths sprinting seven furlongs versus state-breds in November here.

Bred by Hunter Valley Farm, National Identity, out of the Indian Charlie mare Cheyenne Autumn, was a $150,000 purchase at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Preferred New York-bred Yearling Sale. His third dam is Grade 1-winner Missed the Storm.

Our Blue Streaks Stable, SGV Thoroughbreds and trainer George Weaver’s Soontobeking [post 1, Eric Cancel] also contested the Great White Way two starts back, closing rapidly up the rail but landing fourth when shut off and forced to check hard.

Soontobeking had previously hit the board in four state-bred stakes, including the local Notebook and Sleepy Hollow, as well as the Aspirant [Finger Lakes Racetrack] and Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital [Saratoga Race Course].

The King for a Day bay returned on January 12 here when capturing a 6 1/2-furlong state-bred optional claimer by a nose. There, he was bumped at the break but closed well under returning rider Eric Cancel to get up and nail fellow Weaver trainee Super Swift in the final jumps.

Bred by co-owners Our Blue Streaks Stable and SGV Thoroughbreds, Soontobeking, out of the winning Freud mare Swayed, was an $80,000 purchase at the 2024 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. His third dam is the 14-for-21 New York-bred and graded stakes-winner Dancin Renee, the namesake of a NYRA stakes.

Rounding out the field is maiden-winner Fireballin [post 4, Sahin Civaci] for trainer Mike Maker, who last ran third in a local state-bred optional claimer on January 12 – like Sand Devil, he was bred by Chester and Mary Broman.

Fireballin, a half-brother to dual graded stakes-placed Fingal’s Cave, is out of the winning Mineshaft mare Barbie On a Budget, who is a full-sister to Mineralogist, the aforementioned dam of Sand Devil.

The Damon Runyon is slated as Race 2 on Saturday’s nine-race program, which also features the $125,000 East View in Race 3. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack winter meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the winter meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.