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NEWS ARCHIVE200912/05/09 - AQUEDUCT NOTES: TOM BUSH “They’ll get on the van tomorrow and head to Camden Training Center [in South Carolina],” Bush said Saturday. “In few days they’ll be rolling in the mud down there, which will be great for them. Donna Freyer broke Banrock there when he was a baby and she’s had him every winter since.” Nyala Farm’s Banrock returned from last year’s winter break to win the Kingston Stakes at Belmont Park by 4¾ lengths, one of four stakes victories for the gelding in 2009. Get Stormy raced in March at Tampa Bay Downs before returning to New York later in the spring. The colt kicked off a four-race win streak in an allowance contest at Saratoga Race Course on July 29, followed by three straight stakes wins in both New York and Kentucky. “Camden is a nice place for horses in the winter,” Bush said. “They have a one mile dirt track and a turf course – it’s not like sending them to the farm, this is a training center.” In all, Bush said 13 of his 38 horses would have the winter off, leaving him 25 horses in active training here in New York for the winter. 11/22/09 Mr. Vegas (Freud/Lhotse), chestnut gelding 2, bred by Berkshire Stud and started and conditioned at Custom Care Equine, won an open allowance race at Aqueduct going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Jumping two conditions and going into open company, Mr. Vegas was an easy winner to increase his earnings to $54,342 with two wins in three starts. 10/25/09 - BANROCK takes the Mohawk. Aiming for his third straight as the prohibitive favorite, Banrock sat off modest splits, then unleashed a resolute late rally to move his lifetime wins to an even dozen. "That was fantastic," said winning trainer Tom Bush. AToday, he really did get a dream trip.He had the great outside stalking trip and he got his soft course. He's just a wonderful horse. You know he's going to show up, he just needs a little racing luck, and he usually gets it done. We're very proud of him for sure. I really, really did want to win this race this year, I wanted to end it on a great note. We're thrilled to win this one. He may run one more time [this year], or he may go home. We'll just have to see how he does here for a couple of weeks 9/20/09 - PRINCESS HAYA, a Custom Care Equine prepared filly, got up in the last moments to capture the Canadian S. G2. PRINCESS HAYA, Street Cry(IRE) out of Sally Slew by Slew City Slew, is a homebred for Eileen H. Hartis and is trained by Michael Matz. She beat the heavily favored 2008 Eclipse Award-winning turf female, Forever Together after making a bold move along the hedge in the stretch and hanging on gamely to the wire. The time for the 1 1/8 mile race was an extremely quick 1:45.03 on firm going. 8/31/09 - 5th Race - Saratoga - Maiden Special Weight - New York Bred - 2 Year Olds - 5 1/2 Furlongs Turf - Purse $44,000
8/29/09 - Dell Farm Homebred KID KATE raced off the pace, moved up quickly on the turn, made a four wide run to the front and splashed to a three and three quarters length win in the Junior Champion S at Monmouth Park. Scheduled to go a mile on the turf, the race was moved to the dirt but that did not deter KID KATE. Good things come in small packages, and the rewards keep coming for Dell Ridge Farm, owner-breeder of the racy two-year-old filly Kid Kate. Trained by Chad Brown, Kid Kate won her debut by 23⁄4 lengths on July 31 at Saratoga Race Course under jockey Jose Lezcano, and she returned to the starting gate less than a month later to win Monmouth Park’s Junior Champion Stakes by 33⁄4 lengths on August 29 under jockey Elvis Trujillo. Both times, the Lemon Drop Kid filly came from off the pace to assume command and draw away in the stretch, exhibiting a professionalism belying her lack of experience. Dell Ridge Farm’s good fortune could have been someone else’s. Kid Kate was entered in the 2008 Keeneland September yearling sale, consigned by Paramount Sales, but failed to meet her reserve and was bought back for $55,000. Desmond Ryan, farm manager for Dell Ridge Farm, said the timing might not have been ideal for her. “The sale might have been a little bit early for her,” he said. “She just needed another month or so. We felt like we couldn’t take her into the sale ring and give her away because we liked her. We decided we’d hold on to her if she didn’t make her reserve. “We felt we were being very fair putting a $60,000 reserve on her, and if she didn’t make that …we felt it would be worth taking a chance with her.” Dell Ridge had reason for optimism; they had owned the filly’s grandam and dam, and knew the family well. Kid Kate’s dam, the Cherokee Run mare Run Kate Run, had exhibited promise while in training with Eddie Kenneally, but she suffered an injury two weeks before her prospective first start and was retired to the farm’s broodmare band. Her first foal, Meetmeatthechapel, by Chapel Royal, is a winner. She has a yearling colt by Forest Grove, a filly at her side by Bandini, and is in foal to multiple Grade 1 winner Shakespeare. Paramount Sales is consigning the Forest Grove colt to Keeneland September as hip number 2480, and he now has an impressive update to the catalog as a result of Kid Kate’s stylish victories. For Kid Kate, the future seems very bright, and Dell Ridge is excited to try different things with her. “We would like to try her on the turf. Chad’s done a great job with her so far, and he’s the trainer. He confers with us, but we let him do his own thing, and he’s done a great job with her,” Ryan said. “She tries; she’s an overachiever. She might not be the biggest filly in the world, but she trains every week and puts her heart into it every time she runs. She’s been sound as a pound.” 8/24/09 - Homebreds So N So wins 6f Monday Spa stakes
Custom Care Equine prepared homebred SO N SO and SILVERCUP BABY captured Saratoga's six-furlong Lucy Scribner Stakes (for New York-bred juvenile fillies). Still never headed but certainly challenged in her second outing and second victory, Donald Newman's homebred So N So was odds-on (.35-to-1) among five wagering interests and six starters -- all coming off maiden-breaking wins -- in the Lucy Scribner and was pressed throughout by Mineralogist. Breaking on top in her second outing under jockey Alan Garcia, the cat-quick Freud filly ran an ambitious opening quarter in 22.33 that was even faster than the Union Avenue's first split, but Mineralogist -- half of an entry that was the 3.70-to-1 second choice -- was right on her heels. After a half-mile in 45.70, the two were only a half-length apart, but in the upper stretch So N So suddenly switched back to her left lead in response to Garcia's right-handed urging and drifted in as a result, causing Mineralogist to alter course. At the wire, the two were three-quarters of a length apart in the impressive time (for two-year-old fillies) of 1:10.63, as a pre-Labor Day stakes for distaff juveniles turned out to be surprisingly formful for that type of event. Owned and bred by Donald Newman of Roslyn, So N So was foaled at JoAnne Halleck-Finley's Fawnridge Farm in East Nassau and is the 15th stakes winner sired by Freud and that stallion's fifth 2009 stakes winner -- following another juvenile filly, Ontario Debutante winner Franny Freud, by nine days. The precocious chestnut is out of Newman's New York homebred So Far So Good, a late-developing Aqueduct two-turn allowance-winning half-sister to multiple graded turf winner First and Only ($525,532), whom Newman also bred and raced. Another of Newman's New York homebred winners, Sweet Rebecca N ($189,232), is out of a half-sister to So Far So Good. Newman had purchased the dam of So Far So Good (and the maternal granddam of So N So), Lovelier by Far, for $40,000 at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's 1983 July yearling sale. 8/16/09 - In a nail biter, BANROCK, g. 6, Go for Gin—It’s a Gherkin, by Ends Well got up to score in the West Point H. at Saratoga. A homebred for the Nyala Farm of Connecticut residents Kathleen O'Connell and Ruth Bedford, Banrock is a half-brother to Nyala Farm's New York homebred Finlandia ($326,015), who won mile and an eighth turf stakes at Saratoga and Belmont also under Kent Desormeaux's guidance and Bush's care during the summer-fall of 2006. by Ashley Herriman (Courtesy NYRA Press)
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- After making his last two starts in open company, Ruth Bedford's BANROCK returned to his New York roots Sunday to win the 30th running of the $110,000 West Point Handicap at Saratoga Race Course, becoming the second horse in the race's history to win consecutive runnings. Bounding along in midpack through early fractions of 23.21 and 47.83 set by Mission Approved, Banrock rallied from the outside on the turn and gained steadily through the stretch to win by a neck over Pennington. His final time for 1 1/8th miles was 1:47.48. "We definitely had to make up some ground turning for home with the way the turf is," said trainer Tom Bush. "The speed is starting to hold more and more every day, so I was worried about it. But when he can get outside, that's when he's awful tough - if he gets a little pace in front of him and he can sit off the pace, that's when he runs his best." Banrock made his last two starts at Monmouth Park, running second in the Monmouth Stakes and fifth in the Grade 1 United Nations, both behind Presious Passion. Bush said he had wanted to try the horse in open company while he was still fresh early in the year, but would take back running in the United Nations if he could. "It was a bad choice on my part to run him at a mile and three-eighths [in the United Nations] especially at Monmouth with the pace scenario and the speed-favoring nature of the track," Bush said. "He loves Saratoga for sure [and] when he got up here, he really picked up mentally and we were pretty confident he was going to show up today." With the exception of his two most recent starts, 6-year-old Banrock has spent his entire career running in New York and Sunday's West Point win marked his sixth New York-bred stakes triumph. "I have total admiration for this horse," said jockey Kent Desormeaux, who has been aboard the gelding for all of his stakes wins. "He has been one of my success stories since coming to New York. Every time I see him, I start smiling. He's a winning machine. I just punch my lottery ticket with Banrock. He's always there." Sent off as the heavy favorite, Banrock paid 3.80 for a $2 win bet to his backers in the crowd of 52,435 and earned $66,000 for the win to lift his lifetime earnings to $643,213. Extra Zip, My Man Lars, Hangingbyathread, Kutais, North Country, Mission Approved, Solvent and Dantastic completed the order of finish. Bush said he was unsure when or where Banrock would make his next start. "We'll have to sit back and take a look at it, but he's been good to us, so we've got to take care of him," Bush said. "We want to win it again, we hope to have him around for a couple more years."
8/1/09 - Late July and early August has been a busy time for Custom Care grads. LETTER OF THE LAW won the Turf Starlet Stakes at Penn National on 8/1. So far there are two maiden winners at Saratoga. On 7/31 KID KATE won a MSW for 2 yr old fiiilies and on 8/2 MYTHICAL YARN won a MSW for fillies 3 and up. LETTER OF THE LAW, f, 2, Stormy Atlantic-- Feather Boa, by Saint Ballado is owned by The Elkstone Group and was bred by-Glencrest Farm LLC (KY). 7/17/09 - Custom Care prepared OUR GOLDEN DREAM, f, 3, by Medaglia d'Oro - Adorahy by Rahy added black type to her name, coming 4 wide into the stretch and edging away to win the Dam Little S on the turf at Belmont. She is owned by John Confort and Albert Weiss and was bred by Gallagher’s Stud (N.Y.). She is trained by Thomas M. Bush.
Confirming her class, John Confort's and Albert Weis's royally-bred OUR GOLDEN DREAM rallied to her first stakes victory in Belmont's turf mile Dam Little Stakes for New York-bred three-year-old fillies on late Friday afternoon, July 17, beating six rivals that included two open stakes winners. The daughter of North America's leading second-crop sire and out of what is now a multiple stakes producer had been overlooked by the wagering public even though she was coming off a front-running allowance win on a soft Belmont lawn 33 days earlier. That had been her first outing under jockey Alan Garcia, who was back on board for the Dam Little and obviously knew what to do with his May-foaled mount, who was the 12.10-to-1 sixth choice among seven starters. Although she had led throughout a month earlier, Our Golden Dream was allowed to cruise in fourth place for three-quarters of a mile, as 2009 dirt-and-turf stakes winner Mother Russia -- the 3.25-to-1 third choice -- gained a five-length lead off ambitious early splits of 23.50 and 23.34. The pacesetter's velocity dropped off suddenly thereafter, and 12-to-1 fifth choice Princess Maura quickly grabbed a brief lead on the turn while completing the third quarter-mile split in 24.38 but then faltered in the upper stretch. Our Golden Dream, who had advanced four-wide into the stretch while racing abreast with 3.80-to-1 fourth choice Soave, gained command approaching the eighth-mile pole and drew clear while covering her final individual quarter-mile in about 23-1/5 seconds. A late charge by 2.35-to-1 favorite My Magic Moment, who had not accelerated quickly enough to stay within striking distance of the winner at mid-stretch, cut Our Golden Dream's margin to three-quarters of a length at the wire off a winning time of 1:34.97. My Magic Moment, a graded-placed stakes winner outside of state-bred company while competing on Belmont's Widener weeds as a juvenile, placed a length and a half ahead of third-place finisher Luna Charm, who edged 2008 Grade 2 winner Doremifasollatido in the latter's turf debut. For a twilight Friday restricted stakes contested by sophomore fillies, the Dam Little hosted a surprisingly formidable field. Our Golden Dream was the youngest starter in that field, being the only May foal competing. Victory in the Dam Little -- named for J. Senta's three-year-old filly of 1982 who twice won against older state-bred rivals in NYRA stakes competition -- boosted Our Golden Dream's earnings into six figures at $117,154 and improved her record to three turf wins and one second in eight starts. Following the bay filly's June victory under Garcia at Belmont, winning trainer Thomas Bush had given her solid half-mile and five-furlong workouts on July 1 and July 9 respectively on Belmont's main track. Our Golden Dream had been purchased by her owners -- longtime partners Confort of New York City and Weis of Sands Point -- for $265,000 at Fasig-Tipton's 2007 Saratoga New York-bred preferred yearling sale, to which she had been consigned by her breeder, Marlene Brody's Gallagher's Stud in Ghent. Other New York-bred winners raced by Confort and Weis have included stakes-winning half-siblings Haggs Castle ($296,262) and Winter Dreams. Our Golden Dream is by leading 2009 North American second-crop sire Medaglia d'Oro and is the fifth offspring, fifth winner, and second stakes winner produced from Gallagher's Stud's New York homebred winner, Adorahy, being a half-sister to open stakes winner Icabad Crane ($275,895). Dam Adorahy is a half-sister to two stakes winners, including graded winner Adcat ($435,597), and to the stakes-placed dam of stakes winner Ruthian ($212,592), whose winning offspring include Grade 1-winning millionaire Rutherienne ($1,126,471 to date). 7/8/09 Custom Care prepared Hangingbyathread rallies to take Do It Fast S.
In a talent-laden field of eight six-figure-earners, three open company stakes winners, and a multiple graded turf winner, Flying Zee Stable's homebred Hangingbyathread overcame crowding on the rail to pull clear to a length and three-quarter victory in Belmont's Do It Fast Stakes. It was the first stakes victory for the five-year-old gelding, who had placed third -- beaten only a neck for everything -- in Belmont's $150,000 Mohawk Handicap on New York Showcase Day last October. He had won his 2009 debut on turf, a mile and a sixteenth Belmont starter allowance outside state-bred company, by 3-1/2 lengths on May 22, but had been blocked and was unplaced on yielding sod in an open N1X Belmont allowance on June 6. The field that Hangingbyathread faced in the Do It Fast was significantly more formidable than in his open allowance outing, and he again was blocked, but this time the gelding's talent came through. Well-respected as the 2.20-to-1 second choice among eight and race-ridden for the first time by jockey Jose Lezcano, Hangingbyathread was reserved near the rail in fifth and sixth place for six furlongs while 1.95-to-1 favorite Mission Approved -- a multiple graded turf winner -- set an erratic pace. The connections of Mission Approved obviously wanted the lead at all costs, which in this case cost an opening quarter-mile in 23.02 for the nine-furlong event. When second-place pursuer Pennington backed off the pressure, Mission Approved's second quarter decelerated significantly to 24.99, but when pressure resumed, the favorite cranked up his third quarter to 23.76. At mid-stretch, those two were still one-two and a half-length apart, with Hangingbyathread seemingly boxed in on the rail, but Lezcano angled his willing mount outside, employed brief left-handed urging, and quickly sent the long-striding gelding to the front. Hangingbyathread's individual final furlong was under 12 seconds flat, putting him at the wire in 1:48.44. Victory in the $67,200 Do It Fast -- named for Little M. Farm's maiden-breaking winner of the inaugural (1978) Mohawk Stakes when it was a six-furlong main track event for juvenile fillies -- increased Hangingbyathread's earnings to $231,002 and improved his record to 6 - 1 - 4 in 19 starts. Trained by Carlos Martin, who had given him two half-mile workouts on Belmont's training track in the latter half of June, Hangingbyathread is a homebred for the Flying Zee Stable of Carl Lizza Jr., co-owner (with Joseph Bartone) of Highcliff Farm in Delanson. Flying Zee Stable also is the owner-breeder of multiple graded turf winner I LOST MY CHOO ($442,740), a Western Expression filly who two days earlier had placed a close second in Philadelphia Park's $200,000 Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap at a mile and a sixteenth on turf. Hangingbyathread's four-year-old half-sister, Flying Zee Stable's New York homebred Hangingonaprayer, placed third in Belmont's Wednesday nightcap turf sprint two races after the Do It Fast -- and 53 days after having won a six-furlong sprint on Belmont's inner turf for her second career victory. Hangingbyathread, who is by Giant's Causeway and is inbred 3 x 4 to Storm Bird, is the first offspring produced from former juvenile turf winner Hangingbyamoment, a Thunder Gulch mare that Flying Zee Stable had purchased for $45,000 at Keeneland's 2000 September yearling sale. Hangingbyamoment is a half-sister to stakes winners Senate Appointee ($543,330) and Mercedes Miss (dam of $546,899-earning stakes winner Missme) and to the winning dams of other stakes winners Bagshot ($729,104) and Go for Cat ($224,704). The mare has a 2009 New York-bred filly by Fusaichi Pegasus and is in foal to Johannesburg.
6/24/09 - SO N SO, a 2 year old filly by Freud out of the Distinctive Pro mare So Far So Good, broke her maiden first out in a MSW at Belmont, winning off by over 9 lengths under a hand ride. She was sent to trainer Thomas M. Bush from Custom Care Equine about 2 months ago. She is a homebred for Donald Newman. 6/14/09 - Custom Care prepared OUR GOLDEN DREAM, f, 3, by Medaglia d'Oro - Adorahy by Rahy set the pace under pressure along the rail, shook off a brief challenge midway on the turn, opened a clear advantage in upper stretch and edged away under steady urging in an allowance race on the turf at Belmont. She is owned by John Confort and Albert Weissand was bred by Gallagher’s Stud (N.Y.). She is trained by Thomas M. Bush.
5/10/09 - Banrock wins Kingston by 4-3/4 for 2nd annual score in that event Returning from a great season off a restful layoff, on soft turf, under his favorite jockey, and on his beloved Widener weeds, Nyala Farm's homebred BANROCK probably deserved shorter odds than 1.35-to-1 while winning Belmont's mile and a sixteenth Kingston Stakes for New York-breds on Sunday, May 10. At the finish, the top-weighted favorite among seven starters was 4-3/4 lengths in front for his fifth stakes victory under Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, leaving two graded winners in his wake as he became the first back-to-back Kingston winner in 11 years. A year ago, the carefully-campaigned current six-year-old had scored his first stakes victory in the Kingston, but that had been a battle, whereas Sunday's repeat performance was a breeze. Banrock even was blessed with a rival that was willing to set the pace, which the Nyala Farm homebred prefers not to do, allowing 14.20-to-1 sixth choice Mission Approved to take the early lead off careful fractions of 24.62, 25.42, and 24.99. Then the pace picked up, as Banrock advanced from fourth place along the rail to challenge Mission Approved after angling into the clear at the top of the stretch, taking command a furlong from the finish off a fourth quarter-mile split of 24.41. Utilizing his smooth, ground-devouring strides over the soft sod (produced from a week of rain), the bay gelding covered his final individual five-sixteenths of a mile in close to 30 seconds flat. Mission Approved, a graded grass winner in 2007 and 2008 by using front-running tactics, placed second, and the contest's other graded winner, 2.20-to-1 second choice Giant Moon (who does not even appear to like wet main tracks), faded over the soft going in his turf debut. Desormeaux, who in seven races aboard Banrock has guided the gelding to all five of his stakes wins, described his latest trip as a joyride: "Dream trip," summarized Desormeaux. "The horse was full of run; it was an armchair ride. The second-place horse (Mission Approved) leading the field died right when it was time for me to go, so it was a nice filtration to the lead," concluded the three-time Eclipse Award-winning rider (once as an apprentice), who piloted two New York homebreds to victory on Belmont's Sunday card. Winning trainer Thomas Bush, who also sent out Gallagher's Stud's New York homebred TULIPMANIA ($106,926) to win Sunday's allowance opener at Belmont -- boosting that filly's earnings into six figures -- obviously enjoys training Banrock: "Can you find me another one like him?" rhetorically asked Bush. "We were trying to get started on the right foot in this race," continued Bush, who had given Banrock eight workouts at Belmont spaced six-to-eight days apart starting in mid-March and concluding with an easy five-furlong turf drill on May 3. "We might try one of the marathon races down the road, because he's done well at a mile and three-eighths (winning an Aqueduct open allowance at that distance and placing third in Aqueduct's Grade 2 Red Smith last November), but honestly, we weren't looking past this race. He doesn't race too much, so he stays healthy." Banrock's Kingston victory off a six-month layoff represented his fourth stakes tally on Belmont's Widener course (which the $108,500 event had been switched to after being scheduled for the inner turf), increasing his earnings to $517,213 and improving his record to 9 - 3 - 4 in 25 starts. In his final start of 2008, the lawn-loving campaigner had beaten Grade 1, Grade 2, and Group 2 turf winners while placing third in his first open stakes outing, the Red Smith. He then had spent a relaxing winter at former trainer Donna Freyer's Custom Care Equine in Camden, South Carolina. The only previous back-to-back winner of the Kingston was Francis Santangelo's homebred New York Thoroughbred Breeders Champion Turf Male of 1997, Draw Shot, who captured the event in 1997 and 1998. A homebred for the Nyala Farm of Connecticut residents Kathleen O'Connell and Ruth Bedford, Banrock is a half-brother to Nyala Farm's New York homebred Finlandia ($326,015), who won mile and an eighth turf stakes at Saratoga and Belmont under Desormeaux's guidance and Bush's care during the summer-fall of 2006. The son of New York-conceived Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin is the third winner produced from Nyala Farm's New York homebred It's a Gherkin, who won three times on Belmont grass -- twice in restricted allowances -- and is by the late New York sire Ends Well. It's a Gherkin is a full sister to two New York-bred stakes-placed winners, including Bien Sucre ($124,206), who is the dam of New York-bred stakes winners Homerette ($263,411) and Dulce de Leche ($195,324 in U.S. and France). It's a Gherkin's dam (Banrock's maternal granddam), winner Sweet Dilemma, is from a Greentree Stud family and had been acquired by Nyala Farm in the early 1990s. Banrock is inbred 3 x 4 x 5 to Greentree Stud/Stable's homebred 1968 Belmont Stakes winner, Stage Door Johnny, to whom dam It's a Gherkin is individually inbred 3 x 4. 4/26/09 -CUSTOM CARE PREPARED WESTERN FABLE GOES WIRE TO WIRE ON THE GRASS AT AQUEDUCT
Congratulations to Camden's "Golden Girl" Camden, S.C. native Laura Kraut, a member of the United States equestrian team, downed Canada in a jump-off for the gold medal in show jumping at the Summer Olympic Games in Hong Kong. 20089/27/08 - Custom Care Equine prepared HUNGARIAN BOATBABY, f. 4, Silver Ghost - Victory Roll, by Deerhound took a second stakes race, scoring in the DELAWARE CERTIFIED DISTAFF S.at Delaware Park. Recently she won the $100,000 REGRET S. at Monmouth Park on the Haskell undercard. She is owed by The Elkstone Group and was bred by Normandy Farm LLC & Nancy K. Polk (Ky.). Banrock leads the way for razor-thin Ashley T. Cole win at Belmont SEE CHART
In a finish almost reminiscent of the 1956 Californian when odds-on Swaps under Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker was unexpectedly nailed by Porterhouse, Nyala Farm's homebred BANROCK was hand-ridden in the final strides of Belmont's Ashley T. Cole Handicap when Classic Pack came within millimeters of stealing the prize. Banrock's Sunday tally in the mile and an eighth Cole for New York-breds marked his fourth victory on less-than-firm turf in five NYRA stakes outings over an 18-week span and was the first front-running effort of his career. Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux has been in the irons for all of the five-year-old gelding's stakes tallies, and in five races aboard Banrock has never piloted him to less than second place -- but previously, those had all been late-running efforts. With no early speed and contested over Belmont's inner grass course that Banrock had shown little affinity for in 2007, the 2008 Cole presented an entirely new challenge for the Nyala homebred, but he and Desormeaux once again prevailed. Sent off at odds-on (.80-to-1) as the topweight among seven starters and conceding five-to-seven pounds to his rivals, Banrock uncharacteristically inherited the lead by default and galloped through an opening quarter-mile in 26.86 over the soft turf, with Belmont's portable rail out 18 feet. After a second quarter in a still-casual 25.19, co-fourth choice My Man Lars (8.80-to-1) was just a half-length back, so Desormeaux let his mount accelerate the pace, resulting in a fastest-of-all 23.64 third quarter entering the second turn -- but My Man Lars was still right there. By mid-stretch, the two were only heads apart before Banrock began edging away in the final sixteenth of a mile, prompting Desormeaux to hand-ride his mount through the last few strides. At the wire, Desormeaux looked right just in time to see the onrushing Classic Pack, a four-time stakes winner (twice on turf; twice on dirt as a two-year-old) who had closed from last as the 7.90-to-1 third choice. My Man Lars finished three-quarters of a length back in third place and 6-3/4 lengths ahead of his closest pursuer. Desormeaux seemed nonchalant about the razor-thin win aboard a mount that generally comes from well off the pace: "This horse is usually 10 (lengths) back," acknowledged Desormeaux. "We went 52 for the half (mile), so I guess when the confidence level is up, you just happen to be in the right places at all the right times. It's fun to let it keep rolling." Winning trainer Thomas Bush, who had given Banrock one easy half-mile workout over Saratoga's turf training course following the gelding's two-length victory in Saratoga's August 10 West Point Handicap, had been concerned beforehand: "I was really worried about the race, when (front-running Hammock) scratched," Bush confessed. "There was no speed at all. He's been kind of ready to run for 10 or 12 days. It wasn't exactly the ideal situation for being on the lead. The pace was brutally slow, so it's not like he did the wrong thing," concluded Bush, who also revealed that the next goal for Banrock is Belmont's $150,000-guaranteed Mohawk Handicap at a mile and an eighth on turf for New York-breds on New York Showcase Day, Saturday, October 18. Victory in the $109,900 Cole boosted Banrock's earnings to $429,613 and improved his record to 8 - 3 - 3 in 22 starts, which includes wins in Belmont's Kingston Handicap in May (his first stakes victory) and Thunder Puddles Stakes in July, followed by the West Point. The bay gelding had finished seventh among 10 in the 2007 Cole. Sunday's score marked Banrock's first win on Belmont's inner turf course in 27 months. A homebred for the Nyala Farm of Connecticut residents Kathleen O'Connell and Ruth Bedford, Banrock is a half-brother to Nyala Farm's New York homebred Finlandia ($326,015), who won mile and an eighth turf stakes at Saratoga and Belmont under Desormeaux's guidance and Bush's care during the summer-fall of 2006. The son of New York-conceived Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin is the third winner produced from Nyala Farm's New York homebred It's a Gherkin, who won three times on Belmont grass -- twice in restricted allowances -- and is by the late New York sire Ends Well. It's a Gherkin is a full sister to two stakes-placed winners, including New York-bred Bien Sucre ($124,206), who is the dam of New York-bred stakes winners Homerette ($263,411) and Dulce de Leche ($195,324 in U.S. and France). It's a Gherkin's dam (Banrock's maternal granddam), winner Sweet Dilemma, is from a Greentree Stud family and had been acquired by Nyala Farm in the early 1990s. Banrock is inbred 3 x 4 x 5 to Greentree Stud/Stable's homebred 1968 Belmont Stakes winner, Stage Door Johnny, to whom dam It's a Gherkin is individually inbred 3 x 4.
6/23/08 - Matt’s Broken Vow rallies to victory in Canadian Derby G3! SEE CHART 8/22/08 - Matt's Broken Vow Heads Canadian Derby
A field of 10 3-year-olds will contest the 1 3/8-mile dirt event with the Toronto-based Matt's Broken Vow the slight pick over Texas Wildcatter, who is pegged at 5-2 on the morning line. "He ran so well in the race in Manitoba and (the Canadian Derby) is very nice to win," trainer Josie Carroll said of Matt's Broken Vow in explaining her decision to ship across the Prairies for the Canadian Derby. Matt's Broken Vow captured the Marine Stakes (Can-III) at Woodbine May 17 by a half-length. After a fifth-place finish in Woodbine's Victoria Park, the stalking Matt's Broken Vow drew off in the lane for a 5 1/4-length triumph in the Aug. 4 Manitoba Derby at Winnipeg's Assiniboia Downs. The Kentucky-bred son of Broken-Vow—Marianka, by Ascot Knight, is the only starter in the Canadian Derby field to win two stakes at one mile or more this year. He has won three of eight lifetime starts with a second and two thirds for earnings of $199,218. Matt's Broken Vow sold for $60,000 at the 2006 Keeneland September yearling sale. 8/10/08 - BANROCK does it again taking the WEST POINT H. at Saratoga - that is 3 stakes in 2008 since leaving Custom Care Equine! Sweeping four-wide on the second turn in an almost carbon copy performance of his wins in the Thunder Puddles and the Kingston Handicap victory, Nyala Farm's homebred BANROCK scored easily by a two lengths in the West Point. SEE CHART Banrock and Latitude Forty beat graded rivals with wins in West Point and Yaddo Handicaps
Homebred five-year-olds BANROCK and LATITUDE FORTY demonstrated how formidable New York-bred turf stakes competition has become with stalking victories in Saratoga's West Point and Yaddo Handicaps for state-breds going a mile and an eighth on Sunday, beating strong fields that included rivals with proven class in graded grass stakes competition. Speculation is futile about who now rules the New York-bred turf male and female divisions, with Banrock proving to be the male candidate of the summer following his third 2008 stakes score, and Latitude Forty regaining her form to capture her second Yaddo victory. Placing second behind Banrock was the 2007 West Point winner, and placing second behind Latitude Forty was a graded turf runner-up who has won four times at Keeneland and Churchill Downs. Nyala Farm's Banrock appears to be at the top of his form under the care of trainer Thomas Bush. In his latest previous start five weeks earlier, the bay gelding had won Belmont's mile and a sixteenth Thunder Puddles Stakes for state-breds on turf to gain his second 2008 stakes tally -- both under Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux. For Saratoga's $111,000 West Point -- which counts the legendary Fourstardave (see New York-bred Mllionaires Club) among graded winners that have captured the event -- Desormeaux again was on board, and Banrock was the 2.90-to-1 second choice among eight while sharing top weight with recent graded turf winner Mission Approved. Also in the field were rivals that a year ago had been beating up on Banrock -- favored Al Basha at 2.20-to-1, graded turf winner Foreverness, and open turf stakes winner Gimme Credit. Against this competition, Banrock has become the "beater" rather than the "beatee." Setting the early pace with three consecutively accelerating quarter-mile splits was Mission Approved, who had successfully employed that tactic to win Woodbine's graded Singspiel Stakes at a mile and a half on turf seven weeks earlier. Banrock, who was bumped at the break by four-time stakes winner Classic Pack on his inside, stalked three-wide for six furlongs before closing on the second turn and taking command in the upper stretch, after which he scampered his final furlong in 12.30 over the mushy Mellon course. The gelding had captured Belmont's $113,700 Kingston Handicap at a mile and a sixteenth over yielding turf in May, and in the West Point his efficiency over soft sod was readily apparent. Classic Pack, who had won the West Point in 2007, closed from last to place second -- two lengths behind Banrock. Winning jockey Desormeaux, who has ridden Banrock in four races and three victories, indicated that the Nyala Farm homebred's latest stakes score was his easiest ever: "I was able to get close to the front, effortlessly, and when we turned for home, he was full of run," explained Desormeaux. "This horse has gotten really good. (Trainer) Tom (Bush) has done a great job with him." Bush, who had given Banrock two moderate workouts over Saratoga's turf training course following the gelding's July 6 Thunder Puddles victory, had been pleased to see rainfall but also thinks Banrock is in top form: "We were pretty sure he would (handle the soft turf), and he did," Bush observed. "He's good right now; he's a tough boy. That's a good group there (in the West Point). There were three or four nice horses there that I was worried about. I thought that Al Basha (who finished fifth) was going to really have to come up with a big race (on the soft going) to beat Banrock. We caught him at the right time." Now with earnings of $363,673 and a record of 7 - 3 - 3 in 21 starts but previously unplaced in stakes competition until his Kingston victory in May, Banrock campaigns as a homebred for the Nyala Farm of Connecticut residents Kathleen O'Connell and Ruth Bedford. The son of New York-conceived Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin is a half-brother to Nyala Farm's New York homebred Finlandia ($326,015), who won mile and an eighth turf stakes at Saratoga (Yaddo) and Belmont (Ticonderoga) under Desormeaux's guidance and Bush's care during the summer and fall of 2006.
8/4/08 - Custom Care prepared horses are on a roll!
8/3/08 - Custom Care Equine prepared HUNGARIAN BOATBABY, f. 4, Silver Ghost - Victory Roll, by Deerhound scored in the $100,000 REGRET S. at Monmouth Park on the Haskell undercard. She is owed by The Elkstone Group and was bred by Normandy Farm LLC & Nancy K. Polk (Ky.). SEE CHART
8/2/08 - LACEWELL, g. 5, Souvenir Copy - Aerial Meeting, by General Meeting owned by The Elkstone Group and bred by Hopewell Investments LLC (Ky.) won the WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE CHAIRMAN’S CUP S. at Mountaineer 7/24/08 - Custom Care Equine prepared OFFICER IPOD, (c, 2, Officer - Ms. C D Player, by Boca Rio), made Donna proud winning his first out and prouder still when he ran second in the SANFORD S.-GII at Saratoga. After prompting the pace, he reliquished the lead in the stretch. SEE CHART 7/10/08 - SW MAC N MAYO does it again with an allowance win - her third win in a row in 2008! Her second win was in a stakes, the Malvern Rose at Presque Isle Downs. SEE CHART 7/6/08 - Top-weighted Banrock wins Thunder Puddles for 2nd '08 stakes score
Sweeping four-wide on the second turn in an almost carbon copy performance of his Kingston Handicap victory eight weeks earlier, Nyala Farm's homebred BANROCK scored by a length and three-quarters in Belmont's Thunder Puddles Stakes for New York-breds going a mile and a sixteenth on turf on Sunday. Even though the Kingston had been the first stakes score for the five-year-old gelding who a year ago was still trying to graduate from restricted N2X allowance competition, Banrock was the 2.45-to-1 top-weighted favorite among 10 starters that included four other established turf stakes winners. He also was reunited with Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, who had guided the late-blossoming grass star to a hard-fought victory over Grade 2 winner Dave in the Kingston on a yielding course. The combination was hard to beat: According to his speed ratings, Banrock has improved in each of his three starts under Desormeaux, and the gelding loves the Widener weeds with its wider turns, which is the same course over which he scored his Kingston tally. In sixth place for a half-mile as multiple turf stakes winner Retribution romped off to a big lead with opening quarter-mile splits in 23.54 and 23.41 over the "good" grass course, Banrock started advancing boldly on the second turn (and first full turn under the course configuration). With five-sixteenths of a mile to go after Retribution's third quarter had decelerated to 25.01, he was up to fourth place and four-wide, but the contest at that juncture was not even in doubt. Taking command as he approached the final furlong, Banrock set a 1:35.99 mile fraction and then covered his final sixteenth in 6.28 seconds to win in slightly faster time (about one-fourth of a second) than his winning Kingston time when he had carried seven pounds less weight. Three-time turf stakes winner Gimme Credit -- the 3.60-to-1 third choice -- placed second, and four-time stakes winner Classic Pack (two stakes wins on turf; two on dirt as a two-year-old) finished third. Victory in the $78,700 Thunder Puddles -- named for Herbert Schwartz's and Dr. Robert Baggiano's New York homebred Grade 2 turf winner and Grade 1 sire and a 29-year-old pensioner at Highcliff Farm -- increased Banrock's earnings to $297,073 and improved his record to 6 - 3 - 3 in 20 starts. Trained by Thomas Bush, who had given him a moderate five-furlong turf workout at Belmont a week earlier and has admiringly called the gelding "one tough hombre," Banrock is a homebred for the Nyala Farm of Connecticut residents Kathleen O'Connell and Ruth Bedford. The son of New York-conceived Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin is a half-brother to Nyala Farm's New York homebred Finlandia ($326,015), who won mile and an eighth turf stakes at Saratoga (Yaddo) and Belmont (Ticonderoga) under Desormeaux's guidance and Bush's care during the summer and fall of 2006. Banrock is the third winner produced from Nyala Farm's New York homebred It's a Gherkin, who won three times on Belmont grass -- twice in restricted allowances -- and is by the late New York sire Ends Well. It's a Gherkin is a full sister to two stakes-placed winners, including New York-bred Bien Sucre ($124,206), who is the dam of New York-bred stakes winners Homerette ($263,411) and Dulce de Leche ($195,324 in U.S. and France). With a dosage profile of 6-1-12-3-4, Banrock is theoretically bred to run all day. He is inbred 3 x 4 x 5 to 1968 Belmont Stakes winner Stage Door Johnny, to whom dam It's a Gherkin is individually inbred 3 x 4.
7/5/08 - Another Custom Care Equine prepared 2 year old wins at first asking. DURING DEPUTY won the 3rd race at Philadelphia Park by a widening 61/4 lengths.Our only other 2 yr old starter,FIDDLERS TANGO was 2nd first time out at Belmont recently. Four Custom Care 2 year olds have started so far and three have won first time out of the gate and the fourth was second also first out!
6/19/08 - Mac N Mayo scores in Malvern Rose. This is her second win since leaving Custom Care Equine! Mac N Mayo is by Meadow Monster out of Sayitwithdiamonds, by Pioneering  06/12/08 - CHARTREAUX wins a MSW Belmont Park. She is the first two year old to start from Custom Care Equine's 2008 graduates and won at first asking. Donna Freyer helped the owner Paul Andrews select her at last year's NY Bred preferred sale at Saratoga. Congratulations to RFCC Horsemen Stables and trainer Mike Hushion. CHARTREAUX broke slowly and raced greenly down the backside but came gamely 6 wide at the turn and wore down the leader.
5/17/08 - Matt’s Broken Vow sails to victory in Marine Stakes G3 at Woodbine 5/11/08 - Banrock battles Dave in $113,700 Kingston - scores 1st stakes victory
Competing just 18 days after his 2008 debut, Nyala Farm's homebred BANROCK advanced from seventh among 10 to edge Grade 2 winner Dave in the final strides of Belmont's Kingston Handicap for New York-breds going a mile and a sixteenth on turf on Sunday, scoring his first stakes victory. The five-year-old gelding had finished multiple lengths behind Dave in stakes outings during the summer and fall of 2007 but had won his final start of the season, a late November open N1X allowance going a mile and three-eighths on Aqueduct turf, by 2-3/4 lengths. He appears to have come back stronger than ever, beating the 2007 Kingston winner (Dave) as well as the event's 2006 winner (3.95-to-1 third choice Red Zipper, who was unplaced) plus graded winner Mission Approved and multiple stakes winners Retribution and Classic Pack. A year earlier, Banrock was still struggling to graduate from the restricted N2X allowance level. Breaking from the ninth post as the 9.70-to-1 fourth choice with Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux on board for the second time in competition, Banrock stayed off the pace set by Retribution and Hammock, whose accelerating splits (24.37, 23.76, 23.65) over the yielding turf belied their double-digit odds. After three-quarters of a mile in 1:11.78, Dave -- the top-weighted 2.70-to-1 second choice -- was within a half-length of a folding Hammock on his inside, with Banrock a length and a half back in fourth place after having circled five-wide into the stretch. By mid-stretch, Dave held the lead even though Banrock had cut the gap between them to a length, and approaching the wire the two were virtually dead even before Banrock pushed his head in front in the final few strides. Favored Spurred (2.20-to-1), who also had been finishing significantly ahead of Banrock in stakes competition last fall, placed 2-3/4 lengths behind Dave to be third. The winning time over the yielding course -- in the Kingston's first running at a near one-turn mile and a sixteenth in a dozen years -- was a surprisingly fast 1:42.51. Winning jockey Desormeaux, who had ridden Banrock to a second-placing almost a year earlier in a restricted N2X allowance turf mile at Belmont, seemed to have enjoyed his Kingston trip despite tacitly admitting he had misjudged the first turn: "It was exciting out there on the first turn," Desormeaux revealed. "I was trying to shuffle Eibar (Coa, aboard Dave) back, but he said, 'No way.' When we hit the wire, I said, 'You should've let me.' (Actually) I shouldn't have even tried that. Dave made the perfect target. It was a good stretch run. My horse had to find another gear in the final 70 yards. I'm excited to be back in New York and happy to ride for (trainer) Mr. Bush again." Winning trainer Thomas Bush, who had given Banrock a moderate half-mile Belmont workout on May 5 following the gelding's third-placing in an open N2X allowance/optional claiming contest going a mile and a sixteenth on Aqueduct turf on April 23, spoke admiringly of the five-year-old: "He's one tough hombre, isn't he? All we could say to Desormeaux was that this horse wants to move late, so wait as long as you can. That's what he did. The owners (Nyala Farm) have no problem with giving a horse time, and we gave Banrock the winter off in South Carolina (at Custom Care Equine). He's a grass horse anyway, so the timing was perfect. "We ran him on April 23, and we ran back a little close today," Bush continued. "I was worried about that, but he came off that last race so fresh, we decided to try it. Now, we'll give him plenty of time before his next start." Victory in the $113,700 Kingston increased Banrock's earnings to $249,064 and improved his record to 5 - 3 - 3 in 18 starts, which includes two Aqueduct grass wins (mile and mile and three-eighths), one at Saratoga (mile and a sixteenth), two at Belmont (mile and an eighth plus the Kingston). A homebred for the Nyala Farm of Kathleen O'Connell of Easton, Connecticut and Ruth Bedford of Greens Farms, Connecticut, he is a half-brother to Nyala Farm's New York homebred multiple stakes-winning filly of 2006, Finlandia ($326,015). The son of New York-conceived Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin (broodmare sire of two other New York-bred turf winners on Belmont's Sunday card) is the third winner produced from Nyala Farm's New York homebred It's a Gherkin, who won three times on Belmont grass -- twice in restricted allowances. It's a Gherkin, who is by deceased New York sire Ends Well, is a full sister to two stakes-placed winners, including New York-bred Bien Sucre ($124,206), dam of New York-bred stakes winners Homerette ($251,817 through 2007) and Dulce de Leche ($195,324 in U.S. and France). With a dosage profile of 6-1-12-3-4, Banrock is theoretically bred to run all day. He is inbred 3 x 4 x 5 to 1968 Belmont Stakes winner Stage Door Johnny, to whom dam It's a Gherkin is individually inbred 3 x 4
Donna Freyer (Custom Care Equine / Willow Racing), hand picked the filly at the Fasig Tipton Mid-Atlantic May sale. There will be an update soon as she has been entered again. Stay tuned!
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Banrock, fifth by seven lengths in the GI United Nations H. at Monmouth in July, returned to state-bred company in his last two and came away with wins, first in the West Point H. at Saratoga Aug. 16 and then in the Ashley T. Cole at Belmont Sept. 13. 
11/3/07 - Becalm winning an allowance at Philadelphia Park in a romp. 
