Sacrosanct and With the Angels both remained unbeaten Sunday when they accounted for separate 2-year-old stakes on the Empire Showcase Day card at the Belmont meet at Aqueduct.
Lady Sheila Stable is a co-owner of both horses, with Brad Cox the trainer of $200,000 Sleepy Hollow winner Sacrosanct and Linda Rice the trainer of $200,000 Maid of the Mist winner With the Angels.
Sacrosanct ($2.90) won his third career race and second stakes Sunday. He pushed the pace set by Mo Plex, who took the field through an opening quarter in 22.28 seconds for the opening quarter, 46.21 for the half-mile and 1:10.52 for six furlongs. Sacrosanct took the lead in the stretch as Mo Plex kept fighting along the rail, with the eventual winner going on to cover the one-turn mile on a fast track in 1:36.30.
“I knew that [Mo Plex] was the other horse to beat and he broke good,” winning rider Manny Franco told the New York Racing Association. “My horse broke good. So, it was like a match race. I went right next to him. I gave a breather to my horse at some point and I finished strong with him. He responded really well. He is a really nice colt.”
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Sacrosanct won by 1 1/2 lengths over Mo Plex. It was another 3 1/2 lengths back in third to Soontobeking.
Mo Plex, who won the first three starts of his career, including the Grade 3 Sanford at Saratoga, was coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Champagne.
“[He] made the lead easily,” Mo Plex’s jockey, Irad Ortiz, told NYRA. “It was going to be a match race since the gates opened. I was ready for that. We got the inside post, which they probably got a little advantage with the post position. My horse ran great, fought, and tried to come back.”
Sacrosanct was a 12-length winner of the Bertram Bongard ahead of the Sleepy Hollow. He is a son of Honest Mischief and has now earned $228,250. Lady Sheila Stable races the horse in partnership with Net Birdie and Schwing Thoroughbreds.
Maid of the Mist
With the Angels was the 1-9 favorite in the Maid of the Mist for fillies after winning the first two races of her career by a combined margin of 21 1/4 lengths, including the Joseph A. Gimma at Aqueduct.
She broke on top in the Maid of the Mist and never looked back for a 3 1/4-length win over Boston’s Phinest. It was another 4 1/2 lengths back in third to Carmen’s Candy Jar.
With the Angels ($2.30) set fractions of 23.57 seconds for the opening quarter, 46.82 for the half-mile and 1:11.32 for six furlongs before going on to cover the mile in 1:36.69.
“Obviously, she was the controlling speed,” winning jockey Jose Ortiz told NYRA. “Nice test for her to keep improving. She has won at six [furlongs], seven, now today at one mile. We are excited with her, step by step.”
Linda Rice trains With the Angels, who is a daughter of Omaha Beach. She has now earned $228,250. Lady Sheila Stable races With the Angels with Winning Move Stable, John C. Oxley, Rideau Racers LLC and Sanford.
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