Lindy Farms\u2019 Ready for Candy was a last-out winner of the Grade 3 Winter Memories on September 20 at Belmont at the Big A, and will look for a graded double when she takes on Saturday\u2019s Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point, a nine-furlong inner turf route for sophomore fillies.<\/p>\n
Trained by Philip Antonacci, the daughter of Twirling Candy utilized a stalking trip in the one-mile Winter Memories, where she tracked 2 1\/2 lengths off the pace under Ricardo Santana, Jr. before pouncing to a 1 1\/2-length lead at the stretch call with a three-wide bid. Returning rival Paradise City gained with every stride while chasing down the lane, but Ready for Candy dug in gamely to prevail by a nose in a final time of 1:35.29.<\/p>\n
The win marked the first graded victory for Antonacci, a graduate of Godolphin\u2019s Flying Start program.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was obviously a very exciting race and it was important she got her nose down,\u201d Antonacci said. \u201cShe fought hard and was tough. It was a good result, and I\u2019m glad it went our way. It was special to win that in New York with it being our home circuit. Hopefully, we can just keep adding to the tally now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ready for Candy is a perfect 2-for-2 since being purchased for $400,000 at this year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February Mixed Sale and moved to the Antonacci barn. Previously, she placed in three Woodbine stakes from seven outings as a maiden last year for trainer Mike DePaulo. In her first start for Antonacci, she graduated by 7 3\/4 lengths when wiring a nine-furlong maiden on August 17 at Saratoga Race Course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think she\u2019s very comfortable at a mile, mile and an eighth. I think this is right in her wheelhouse, so we\u2019re excited about that,\u201d Antonacci said. \u201cShe\u2019s adaptable, which makes her pretty dangerous. Ricardo \u2013 like he did last time \u2013 can read the pace and drop in and make one run, or he can go to the lead. Just keep her happy and keep the pace honest.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s really come into herself, filling in and looking like an older mare now,\u201d he added. \u201cShe\u2019s got a lot of energy and she\u2019s feeling good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bred in Ontario by Mark Dodson, Ready for Candy is out of the stakes-placed More Than Ready mare Enoree, a half-sister to Grade 3-winner Grand Bili and dual stakes-placed Conquest City Girl.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Santana, Jr. has the call from post 5.<\/p>\n
C Two Racing Stable, Shining Stables, Paul Braverman, Timothy Pinch and Kuehne Racing\u2019s Paradise City [post 7, Manny Franco] will try to turn the tables on Ready for Candy after her near-miss in the Winter Memories.<\/p>\n
The McKinzie bay made her turf debut last out, and endured a bobbled beginning before tracking in third and making her strong late run for second, matching the career-high 83 Beyer she received for a deep-closing fourth in the seven-furlong Grade 2 Charles Town Oaks in her start prior.<\/p>\n
Dual stakes-placed on dirt, Paradise City\u2019s latest win was a six-length trouncing of a 1 1\/16-mile optional claimer in January at Gulfstream Park, one of five on-the-board efforts from seven starts at five different tracks this year. She was a $105,000 purchase at the OBS June 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale is out of the Grade 2-winning Yankee Gentleman mare Washington Bridge.<\/p>\n
Trainer Chad Brown has entered the pair of the undefeated Pretty Picture [post 6, Dylan Davis] and stakes-placed Griselda [post 4, Flavien Prat]. The five-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner is in search of a record-extending seventh win in this event after scoring with Ball Dancing [2014], Uni [2017], New and Improved, Tamahere, Fluffy Socks [2019-21] and Spaliday [2024].<\/p>\n
Three Chimneys Farm\u2019s Kentucky homebred Pretty Picture is 2-for-2 against elders after a 1 1\/16-mile debut graduation on August 3 over firm Monmouth Park turf and a last-out allowance victory in an off-the-turf mile on September 6 at the Jersey Shore oval. The latter effort was a half-length score when rating just off the pace under Samy Camacho and prevailing over Blame the Banker. She earned an 82 Beyer Speed Figure for the victory.<\/p>\n
The Munnings filly is out of the unraced Tiznow mare Farofa, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-placed Princesa Carolina \u2013 dam of Grade 2-winner Muhimma. Her second dam is dual-surface multiple graded stakes-winner Pure Clan.<\/p>\n
Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, William Strauss and Michael Caruso\u2019s Griselda enters from a fourth in the Winter Memories where she tracked in fifth and made an even run down the lane to land 2 1\/2 lengths back of the top duo. That effort was her second since she was purchased for $211,348 from the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale and transferred to Brown for a winning stateside debut in a one-mile optional claimer on August 6 at the Spa.<\/p>\n
The French-bred daughter of City Light began her career in her native France with conditioners Carlos and Yann Lerner. She graduated in allowance company last May at Saint-Cloud and finished a 1 3\/4-length second in the Listed Prix Herod there in November in her final start before the sale.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Completing the field are Winter Memories third-place finisher Decadent [post 8, Christopher Elliott] for trainer Ken McPeek; stakes-winner Winfinity [post 3, Danilo Grisales Rave] for trainer John Ortiz; and maiden-winners Boca Queen [post 1, Sahin Civaci] for trainer Kevin Attard and Fast Market [post 2, Samuel Marin] for trainer John Terranova.<\/p>\n
The Sands Point is slated as Race 7 as a supporting event to the lucrative Fall Starter Championships program featuring 10 races offering a combined $970,000 in purse money. First post on the 11-race card is 12:10 p.m. Eastern.\u00a0<\/p>\n
America\u2019s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Belmont at the Big A fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https:\/\/www.nyra.com\/aqueduct\/racing\/tv-schedule\/.<\/p>\n
NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont at the Big A, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lindy Farms\u2019 Ready for Candy was a last-out winner of the Grade 3 Winter Memories on September 20…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-196341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}