Soontobeking and National Identity renew rivalry in $200K NYSSS Times Square

By Keith McCalmont —-

Soontobeking and National Identity renew rivalry in $200K NYSSS Times Square

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Soontobeking and National Identity, who finished noses apart last out in the $125,000 Gander, will meet for the fourth time in Sunday’s $200,000 Times Square division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for eligible New York-sired sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Our Blue Streaks Stable, SGV Thoroughbreds and trainer George Weaver’s Soontobeking overcame a troubled trip after bobbling at the break and being bumped by Mo Plex to score in rallying fashion under Eric Cancel in the local one-turn mile Gander for New York-bred 3-year-olds on March 8.

There, the Danny Gargan-trained and Kendrick Carmouche-piloted National Identity tried to rate his natural speed as Givememythememusic and Mo Plex dueled through splits of 23.87 seconds and 47.98 over the fast main track with additional pressure from Skytown. National Identity advanced to battle the Grade 3-winner and Grade 1-placed Mo Plex into the turn and held a head advantage at the stretch call as Soontobeking launched a five-wide bid in upper stretch. National Identity put away Mo Plex late in the lane but could not stave off the relentless charge of Soontobeking, who angled several paths to the inside and notched the nose victory in a final time of 1:41.26.

The pair first squared off in the seven-furlong $500,000 NYSSS Great White Way in December here when National Identity missed by a head to the Brad Cox-trained Sacrosanct – a race in which a troubled-trip Soontobeking rallied from 17 lengths off the pace to finish fourth.

On February 8, in the seven-furlong state-bred Damon Runyon, a prominent National Identity held a head lead at the stretch call only to miss by a neck to the streaking Sand Devil, who landed sixth in Saturday’s Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino for trainer Linda Rice. Soontobeking finished a distant third in the Damon Runyon, 8 3/4-lengths back of the top two.

Gargan said he’s proud of how his charge has performed in stakes company over his last three outings.

“He’s been running well. Unfortunately, last time the mile was questionable for us, but I thought he ran really big in that race to be right there,” Gargan said. “He just got nailed at the wire.

“The other two times he got beat by exceptional horses,” Gargan added. “He’s an overachiever in my book. He’s done more than we expected. We didn’t know we’d get that close to Linda’s horse or Brad’s horse.”

Weaver said the gritty Soontobeking would appreciate another speed duel as he cuts back sharply in distance Sunday.

“I think some pace in the race is helpful for him,” Weaver said. “He’s a hard-trying horse. He likes being a racehorse and he tries hard for us every time. He’s a pleasure to be around, and we respect him very much for his character.”

Gargan, on the other hand, will hope that Carmouche can work out a more favorable prominent trip with a horse he expects will appreciate a return to sprinting and a five-pound break in weights over his familiar foe.

“Hopefully, we get the right pace scenario. The distance will fit him better this time and hopefully he can get it over the hump and get a win,” Gargan said.

Soontobeking [post 4, Eric Cancel, 123 pounds], a King for a Day bay, was bred in New York by Our Blue Streaks Stable and SGV Thoroughbreds. He sold for $80,000 at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and is out of the Weaver-trained Freud mare Swayed. The talented colt has banked $323,428 through an 11-3-2-4 ledger.

Reeves Thoroughbred Racing’s National Identity [post 1, Kendrick Carmouche, 118 pounds], bred in the Empire State by Hunter Valley Farm, was a $150,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Preferred New York-bred Yearling Sale purchase. He is out of the Indian Charlie mare Cheyenne Autumn, who also produced turf stakes-winner and Grade 3-placed Firecrow. National Identity has banked $200,250 through a 5-1-3-1 record.

Red Oak Stable’s Prince Valiant [post 2, Dylan Davis, 120 pounds] brings a 3-2-0-1 record to his stakes debut for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, winning back-to-back after a third on debut to Sand Devil.

The King for a Day bay has made all three starts sprinting six furlongs in local state-bred company, graduating at second asking in January and following with a narrow optional-claiming win on February 23 when a neck better than next-out state-bred optional-claiming winner Super Swift.

Prince Valiant has worked back three times over the Belmont Park dirt training track, including a half-mile breeze in 47.83 on March 29.

Bred in New York by Sugar Maple Farm, the $50,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Mixed Sale purchase is out of the winning D’Funnybone mare Lizzy’s Run.

Rounding out a compact field are the Michael Jones, Jr.-trained two-time winner In the Chase [post 5, J.D. Acosta, 120 pounds], who looks to break through in his fifth stakes start; as well as maiden winner Huggy [post 3, Abner Adorno, 118 pounds] for trainer Butch Reid, Jr., who has 997 career wins heading into the weekend.

The Times Square is slated as Race 2 on Sunday’s eight-race card which also features the NYSSS Park Avenue in Race 8. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

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

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