Man Of War Stakes
The highlight race for the boys this weekend in New York will be the Man Of War Stakes (G1) which is open to three-year-olds and up and will be run on the turf over a mile and three-eighths. With a total prize purse of $750,000 the race looks like it will be run this year over the firm turf with a post time of 4:30 PM EST on Saturday. This years’ running brings us a field of twelve horses, let’s take a look through this years’ contenders.
- Catalina In Summer – kroth7 – D. Zordich – 14/1
Seeking to secure his first graded stakes win, the son of Cataina Cruiser will be making his twenty-first career start. The chestnut five-year-old most recently started in May during The Baltimore Special (G2) over two miles on a dirt track rated as good. Sent out of the gate and placed just behind the front runners in third early, the horse quickly moved up into second, but then began falling back at the halfway point of the race. The horse would go on to cross the wire in fifth, setting a speed figure of one hundred in his graded stakes debut and first start over an off track. His most recent win was in his prior start which took place in early January during a listed stakes race over fourteen furlongs in Vermont. The horse was second out of the gate and took over for the pacesetter at the halfway point before winning by five and a quarter lengths.
2. Max Force (ENG) – echozulu – N. Lawton – 10/1
Shipping into this race from France, the four-year-old bay colt is by top sire Frankel (GB) and out of the stakes winning dam Sinful Delight. This colt is the first graded winner to be produced from the mare, though she has produced two listed winners as well. The most recent start for the bay colt was in The Saint Cloud Grand Prix (G1) at a mile and a half early last month. Sent out of the gate in seventh, the colt wasn’t urged to make his move until the finial furlongs of the race. He would cross the wire in second, four lengths off the pace, while setting a speed figure of one hundred thirteen. His most recent win was in December of last year during the Manatee Cup (G3) at a mile and three-eighths in New Zealand. Held back in eighth out of the gate, the colt was sent forward earlier in this race, at about the midway point of the race. He would win the contest by an impressive six and three-quarter lengths.
3. Panhispanico (GB) – salaparuta – Q. Rein – 7/1
Attaining over a million dollars in career earnings without having ever won a Grade I race, the six-year-old gelding is the oldest to go to the gates on Saturday. His most recent start was in December of last year during The Los Angeles Turf Cup (G1) at a mile and a half across the country in California. The son of Dubawi (IRE) was sent forward out of the gate in this race to settle into fourth early. At the midway point of the race the gelding had moved up into second but as the field entered the stretch he would fall back into third at the wire while setting a speed figure of one hundred fourteen. His most recent win was in May of 2023 during a listed stakes race over ten furlongs in Australia over a track rated as good. Running in a similar fashion to the aforementioned graded race, the gelding would dig in the stretch to win by three and a quarter lengths.
4. River No Stars (JPN) – pun – B. Fairfield – 8/1
Returning to graded company this Saturday, the Japanese-bred gelding has made twenty lifetime starts. His most recent was this past May during a listed stakes race in Australia over ten furlongs. Well off the pace early out the gate, the five-year-old settled to sixth early though quickly started to challenge other contenders. He was up into third by the midway point of the race and would go on to win by a neck while setting a speed figure of one hundred twelve. His most recent graded start was in March, also in Australia, during the Sydney Cup (G1) over the same distance. Slightly more forwardly placed out of the gate in fourth, the gelding would fall back midway through the race to come home ninth.
5. Donna The Dead (IRE) – padrecali2 – B. Scott – 12/1
One of the two mares to go fillies to go against the boys on Saturday, this bay five-year-old mare is by Sea The Stars and bred in Ireland. Her most recent start was right here in New York during the Sheepherder Beach Handicap (G2) over a mile and three-eighths this past May. The bay mare was sent straight to the lead out of the gate and maintained her front-running pace-setting position right up until the finial furlongs where she finally gave way to a late closer to finish second, off the pace by two and a quarter lengths, while setting a speed figure of one hundred twelve, which is a lifetime best speed figure for the mare. Her most recent win came in February down in Florida over the same distance during The Very Fine Handicap (G3). She took the field from gate to wire in this race, narrowly winning by a head at the wire.
6. Texileo (IRE) – texasace – T. Ace – 7/1
A late entry to the field, this is perhaps the most accomplished contender to go into the starting gate this weekend. The seven-year-old son of Galileo is a Horse of The Year winner and brought home nearly ten million in career earnings. The most recent start for the horse was this past April overseas in Japan during the Dont Let The Old Man In (G1) at a mile and a half. Straight to the lead out of the gate, the horse maintained this position right up until the final furlongs where he was nipped in the final strides to cross the wire second, just a quarter length off the win, while setting a speed figure of one hundred. His most recent win was in February during an allowance race over the same distance and also in Japan. The horse won going gate to wire by nine furlongs with a speed figure of one hundred three.
7. Famiglia Reale (IRE) – newsim2 – A. Weldon – 13/1
The second filly to come to take on the boys, this four-year-old is sired by No Nay Never and out of the Grade I winning Magnfly. The most recent race for the bay filly came last month overseas in Germany during The Einstein Stakes (G2) at a mile and three-eighths. Far off the pace at the start in eleventh, the filly wasn’t asked to make a move on the other runners until late in the race. The bay filly responded with an impressive turn of foot but came up short to cross the wire in third, setting a speed figure of one hundred ten in what was her graded stakes debut. Her most recent win was her prior start, which came in a listed stakes race over ten and a half furlongs in Belgium. Not as far off the pace early, the filly would again make a very late move down the stretch before winning by five lengths.
8. Joie Francaise (FR) – wtas02 – C. Gerhke – 9/1
Coming into this race off of his graded stakes debut, the four-year-old gelding shocked the gathered crowd with his performance in The Golden Bridge (G3) over a mile and three-eighths across the country in California. The race was held over a track rated as good. The bay gelding went wire to wire in his graded debut, winning by two and a quarter lengths, while setting a speed figure of one hundred thirteen. Including this graded start, the gelding has won his last six consecutive starts, which have consisted of mostly allowance caliber races, a starter allowance and a claim race for a $125,000 tag. Nearly all of these have the gelding going straight to the lead out of the gate, so he will be a likely pacesetter for the race on Saturday.
9. Candy Boys – dundeytest – K. Friar – 10/1
This five-year-old brown horse is an accomplished Grade I winner and is out of the Grade I and million-dollar earning dam A Perfect Sunday and by Twirling Candy. This colt is by far the dam’s best offspring to hit the track. The most recent start for the horse came last month during The Greatest Show On Turf (G1) at a mile and three-eighths. The horse was sent out of the gate to an early stalking position in third. At the midway point he would start to close the gap and had moved up into second, but as the field came into the stretch, he would lose ground to an onslaught of late closers and crossed the wire in fifth, setting a speed figure of one hundred eight. His last win was his prior start coming in May accross the country in California during the Movieland Turf Cup (G1) over a mile and a quarter. The brown horse would take the field from gate to wire in the race, winning by a length and a half.
10. Devon And Cornwall (IRE) – given17 – V. Gardner – 9/2
This Irish-bred five-year-old gelding will be making his twentieth career start with this race on Saturday. Last starting in May in Brazil, the gelding would rally late to cross the wire in third during The Grand Brazilian (G1) at a mile and a half. Breaking out of the gate in eighth, he would make his move in the final furlongs while setting a speed figure of one hundred fourteen. His most recent win was in March during an allowance race in Florida over eleven and a half furlongs. He was more forwardly placed in this race, fourth out of the gate and took over the lead at the midway point in the race before winning by an astonishing daylight margin of twenty-three and a half lengths while setting a speed figure of one hundred seventeen.
11. Thejunglecatstalks (FR) – zkingab30 – W. Cahill – 6/1
Making his graded stakes debut with the race this weekend, this five-year-old gelding is coming off of two consecutive wins. The most recent start for the bay son of Siyouni was in a listed stakes race over eleven furlongs in Maryland in late May. Out of the gate and held just off the pace of the front-runner, the gelding took control of the pace at the midway point of the race, eventually going on to win the race by an impressive nine and a quarter lengths while setting a speed figure of one hundred twelve. Prior to this the gelding had also won another listed stakes by a narrower half-length margin over the same distance in Iowa in March. The gelding was held further off the pace in this start, fifth out of the gate, before he was asked to make his move midway through the race.
12. Nidhogg – mississauga3 – R. Cerda – 10/1
Lightly raced with fourteen career starts, the light grey colt is sired by top sire Tapit and out of the graded placed broodmare Coltranewreck, who has produced three other graded runners aside from the four-year-old colt. His most recent start came last month overseas in Italy during The Milan Grand Prix (G1) at a mile and a half. Off the pace in seventh out of the gate, the colt quickly began challenging other horses and had moved up into sixth midway through the race before finding another gear down the stretch. He would cross the wire in third, setting a speed figure of one hundred twelve. His most recent win was in late March during a listed stakes race over eleven and a half furlongs in Washington over a track listed as good. More forwardly placed out of the gate, the colt was in third early and took over the lead midway through the race before going on to win by three and three-quarter lengths. His most recent graded win was The Italian Derby (G1) in May of last year.
Flrancho’s Picks:
Win: Donna The Dead (IRE)
Place: Max Force (ENG)
Show: Panhispanico (GB)