Dakota Gold, Morning Matcha Headline NYSSS Stakes

Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Dakota Gold  is set to make his return to action June 19 in the $150,000 Spectacular Bid division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series for eligible state-sired sophomores going seven furlongs over the Widener turf at Belmont Park | BloodHorse.com Track Profile">Belmont Park.

The NYSSS Spectacular Bid is carded as race 4 on Sunday's 10-race program, which also features the $150,000 NYSSS Cupecoy's Joy for 3-year-old fillies at the same distance and surface. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

Trained by Danny Gargan, Dakota Gold enters off a seven-month hiatus, last seen finishing fifth as the post-time favorite in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) at Del Mar.

"He lost a little bit of his kick he normally had, but he still ran well," Gargan said of Dakota Gold's Breeders' Cup effort. "I thought he ran very well to only get beat three lengths by those good horses. We turned him out this winter to let him grow up. He's not a very big horse and he filled out a lot, so the time really helped him. We're looking for a good race and after that, we'll springboard into something else."

Prior to the Breeders' Cup, the son of Freud   captured the $500,000 Nownownow Stakes Sept. 26 at Monmouth Park, just four weeks after winning at first asking in an off-the-turf Saratoga Race Course maiden event.

"(Dakota Gold) was off for a while and you're always worried when they haven't run in so long," Gargan said. "But he's doing really well. Hopefully we get a big performance. We got Irad (Ortiz Jr.) riding him. That's always a bonus when you have Irad on your horse in a stakes at Belmont on the grass."

Louis Lazzinnaro's Marinara Sauced  arrives off a deep-closing debut triumph against maidens over a yielding Widener turf May 21. The Chad Brown-trained son of Laoban  was 20 lengths back in last down the backstretch and catapulted from nine lengths back in seventh at the stretch call to mow down his rivals and win by a head.

Trainer Linda Rice will saddle two contestants in pursuit of a second NYSSS Spectacular Bid coup.

Barry Schwartz’s homebred Maseta  was a close fourth traveling one mile in a state-bred allowance event May 13 in his second start this year. The bay son of Japan  earned black type when third in the open company Central Park Stakes in November at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Rice's other entrant, Mo Dancin , arrives off a fourth-place finish in his stakes debut in the 6 1/2-furlong NYSSS Times Square Stakes on the Aqueduct main track April 23. The son of Laoban will try the turf for the first time on Sunday.

Richies World Stables' Surprise Boss , a son of War Dancer   with a 3-for-3 record on turf for trainer Juan Vasquez, also looms as a leading player.

Morning Matcha Tests Out Turf

LC Racing, Cash is King, and Gary Barber’s stakes winner Morning Matcha will try turf for the first time in the $150,000 Cupecoy’s Joy division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series for eligible state-sired sophomore fillies sprinting seven furlongs on the Widener turf.

A bay daughter of Central Banker  , Morning Matcha will cut back to sprinting after a last-out run at 1 1/8 miles in the May 20 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2), where she finished an even sixth behind Interstatedaydream .

"I thought the effort was very good," said trainer Butch Reid. "I really thought that if she had switched leads on time and not scrambled for a few seconds there, she would have definitely hit the board. We weren't discouraged by it at all. We still think she’s a top filly."

Morning Matcha has been a model of consistency, finishing on the board in nine-of-11 starts and earning a stakes victory in the March 8 Main Line Stakes at Parx Racing.

"For a horse that only cost $18,000, she really is competing against the best. When we've had her in the right spots, she's gotten the job done," said Reid. "We couldn't be any happier with her. We're looking forward to running her in the next couple (Stallion Series Stakes)."

Morning Matcha has made all but one of her starts on dirt and tried synthetic in September when she finished a game second in the Finest City Stakes at Presque Isle Downs.

"She’s doing well. We're really happy and this is going to be a new experience for her. Her father won a stakes on the turf and her mother won some races on the turf," Reid said. "There is reason to believe she'll handle the turf. We wanted to throw her a curveball a little bit. She's been running long of the dirt and an elongated sprint on the grass might be the thing to mix her up a little."

Morning Matcha will emerge from post 12 with Ortiz Jr. aboard.

Ascendant Farms’ New York-homebred Galaxina  will also make her turf debut for trainer Jim Bond after making her first three outings on dirt.

The Giant Surprise  filly enters from an upset victory in the NYSSS Park Avenue Stakes on April 24. Galaxina stalked the pace in second under returning rider Trevor McCarthy for the first half-mile in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint before coming away with a narrow lead at the top of the stretch and drawing away to a one-length score at odds of 24-1 over Starship Laoban .

Entries: New York Stallion S.

Belmont Park, Sunday, June 19, 2022, Race 4

• STK
• 7f
• Turf
• $150,000
• 3 yo
• 2:34 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Buckortwo (NY)	Dylan Davis	118	Michelle Nevin	12/1
2	2Dakota Gold (NY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	122	Danny Gargan	2/1
3	3Maseta (NY)	Eric Cancel	118	Linda Rice	10/1
4	4One Time Willard (NJ)	Luis Saez	118	John D. Stephens	15/1
5	5Marinara Sauced (NY)	Manuel Franco	118	Chad C. Brown	5/1
6	6Mo Dancin (NY)	Jose Lezcano	118	Linda Rice	8/1
7	7Barrel of Quests (NY)	Jose L. Ortiz	118	David G. Donk	6/1
8	8Surprise Boss (NY)	Kendrick Carmouche	120	Juan C. Vazquez	5/2