OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Today’s Flavor and Morning Matcha lived up to their status as strong favorites in winning their respective divisions of the New York Stallion Series on Sunday at Aqueduct.
In the $125,000 Thunder Rumble division for males, Javier Castellano maneuvered Today’s Flavor ($4.40) to the outside of Be the Boss at the three-eighths pole then drew clear to a 3 1/2-length victory.
In the $125,000 Statue of Liberty for females, Morning Matcha ($3.50) rallied from last under Mychel Sanchez to win by 3 1/2 lengths.
Today’s Flavor, a 5-year-old gelding by Laoban, won for the eighth time in 16 career starts. All of his wins have come since moving to the New York Racing Association circuit in fall 2022. He is 7 for 10 at Aqueduct.
Though he broke from the outside post in the Thunder Rumble, Today’s Flavor found himself inside of Be the Boss after an opening quarter in 22.80 seconds. On the middle of the far turn, Castellano let Be the Boss and Dylan Davis go on so he could guide Today’s Flavor to the outside.
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Turning for home, Today’s Flavor got moving again and splashed past Be the Boss inside the three-sixteenths pole and drew away decisively. General Banker rallied from seventh to finish second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Be the Boss. Callaloo finished fourth and was followed by Niagara Skyline, Barese, Jemography and Lobsta.
Today’s Flavor, trained by George Weaver for Paul and Zilla Reddam, covered the seven furlongs in 1:23.53 over the sloppy track.
Castellano said his horse felt a little intimidated being on the inside of Be the Boss.
“That’s why I had to give him a little break and not force it to get to that spot and just let him release and step up outside and get in his stride,” Castellano said.
In the Statue of Liberty, Morning Matcha was last of six after the opening quarter, but she took advantage of a strong pace and came with a wide outside run to take over in midstretch and draw off for a decisive victory.
Bustin Bay finished second by 3 3/4 lengths over Lisa’s Vision. Little Linzee, Easy Play and Vallelujah completed the order of finish.
“She was a couple of lengths farther back than I thought we were going to be, but they went a little fast that’s why,” Sanchez said. “I got her to switch leads like we wanted to - sometimes she doesn’t switch leads especially with this type of [wet] track. She handled it fine today and she ran pretty big.”
Morning Matcha, a Pennsylvania-bred daughter of the New York-based stallion Central Banker, covered the seven furlongs in 1:23.78. She improved her record to 6-7-7 from 24 starts and increased her career earnings to $899,740.
The win was the second stakes victory this weekend for trainer Butch Reid and the ownership group of Chuck Zacney’s Cash Is King and LC Racing. Gary Barber is part-owner of Morning Matcha. On Saturday, Reid, Cash Is King and LC Racing won the Grade 3 Go For Wand with Dr B, who took advantage of a speed-favoring surface, not the type that would have benefitted Morning Matcha.
“I watched the first couple of races today and it looked a little more even, horses had come from off of it whereas yesterday it didn’t look like you had any chance to come from off of it,” Reid said. “This is the way this filly is, you can’t change her game.”
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