Geno, Yo Cuz Win $500K N.Y. Stallion Stakes

If someone is looking for a reason to breed to a New York-based stallion, a million of them were on display Dec. 18 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Each of them was represented by a dollar bill.

A pair of highly lucrative New York Stallion Series stakes for 2-year-olds, each worth $500,000, highlighted the final Saturday card of the year at a New York Racing Association track and provided the kind of paydays the juveniles will be hard-pressed to match later in their careers.

The fortunate victors were Mendham Racing Stable's Geno  and Dream Maker Racing's Yo Cuz , each of whom posted their initial victory on a dirt track and pocketed a hefty $275,000 for doing so.

"I'm on cloud nine. It's a dream come true," said Thomas Gallo III, the racing manager and founder of the Dream Maker partnership which won the Fifth Avenue Division of the series for 2-year-old fillies with Yo Cuz, a Bill Mott-trained daughter of the late stallion Laoban.

Gallo played a role in Saturday's victory in more ways than one. Aside from his racing operation, Gallo is also the president of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, which worked with then NYRA director of racing operations Martin Panza to boost the purses of the races to a robust $500,000 each in 2019.

"Martin Panza, Jeff Cannizzo (then the executive director of NYTB) and the NYTB wanted to get more New York 2-year-olds running, so, god bless him, Martin came up with this idea," Gallo said. "I can't thank NYRA enough for putting these races on."

Yo Cuz, who was bred in New York by Seidman Stables out of the Tale of Ekati   mare Steve's Philly, was bought for $125,000 from the Hidden Brook consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. It was a price about $30,000-$40,000 beyond what Gallo wanted to pay, but pushing his budget a bit paid a big dividend Saturday when Yo Cuz notched a gargantuan purse for what was her maiden win.

"I liked that they galloped her instead of breezing her," Gallo said. "She was the one we wanted at the sale and we had to chase her, but we're tickled to death that we did."

The victory brought out a chuckle in Gallo when he recounted talking to Mott at Saratoga Race Course about targeting the December race some three months before the filly's first start.

"Bill looked at me cross-eyed like I had two heads when I mentioned it," Gallo said.

Yo Cuz's lone start before Saturday was a fifth in a Nov. 21 maiden race at six furlongs when she broke slowly, but a Dec. 11 bullet work indicated her readiness for the seven-furlong stakes. 

Breaking nicely Saturday under Jose Ortiz, the 3-1 second choice ($8) owned a length lead after the opening quarter of a mile and led by four lengths before crossing the wire 1 3/4 lengths ahead of LC Racing, Cash Is King, and Gary Barber's Morning Matcha , a Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Central Banker   who was the even-money favorite.

My Purple Haze Stables' homebred Laochi , another daughter of Laoban, was another five lengths back in third.

Final time for the seven furlongs was 1:25.34 for the second of three foals from Steve's Philly, who also has a Laoban weanling colt. Yo Cuz became her first winner.

"Races like this don't come around too often," said Dan DeRose, one of the Dream Maker partners on hand at the Big A for the race, "so you have to take advantage of opportunities like this when they present themselves."

The same could be said of the Great White Way Division stakes for males which went to Geno, a Big Brown   colt whose first three starts for trainer Dave Donk came on turf.

"This horse has a lot of class, as much class as I've seen a horse have in a while. I debated first time out whether I should run him on dirt or turf. His mother (Weekend Hottie by Sun King ) won on grass and my success with Big Brown offspring have been on grass, so I ran him over it," said Donk, who collected a maiden win and a second by a nose in the open Awad Stakes in the colt's first two starts. "He breezes really well on the dirt and I needed to try him somewhere on the dirt. This is as good a spot as I could have found. (Jockey) Jorge (Vargas, Jr.) gave him a great ride."

Geno ($18.80), who was bred by Pete Martine, rallied from fifth to prevail by a neck over Cypress Creek Equine's Un Ojo , a son of Laoban who shipped in from Delta Downs Racetrack Casino & Hotel.

Clear Stars Stable, Mitre Box Stable and trainer Rick Schosberg's Unique Onions, a Union Jackson   gelding who was the 8-5 favorite, was third.

The winner was the first foal for Weekend Hottie, who also has a Laoban weanling filly.

Video: New York Stallion Series S. (BT)