Three to Represent New York in Derby

A pair of New York-breds made their way to the starting gate for the 2014 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). This season it appears that three horses from the Empire State will start in the May 2 Run for the Roses, signaling a continued rise in the New York-bred brand.



While neither Samraat nor Uncle Sigh could catch California Chrome under the Twin Spires last year, getting a pair of runners from New York was a major move forward for the state-bred program. It's come a long way from 2003, when the New York-bred Funny Cide was considered a rarity.



Ken and Sarah Ramsey's International Star, the leading point-getter for this year's Derby, was bred in New York by Katharine Voss and Robert Manfuso. Ralph Evans' Upstart, bred by Joanne Nielsen, won the Holy Bull Stakes (gr. II) by 5 1/2 lengths and was second in the Besilu Stables Florida Derby (gr. I), and will start in the Derby, along with Phil Birsh's homebred Tencendur, following his second-place effort in the TwinSpires.com Wood Memorial Stakes (gr. I).



"The New York-bred program has been flying high in the quality department for the last several years," said Jeff Cannizzo, executive director for New York Thoroughbred Breeders. "In 2014 we had 20 graded stakes wins, five of which were grade Is, two Kentucky Derby starters, a grade I Breeders' Cup winner, plus two Eclipse Award finalists with one Eclipse Award winner and six new millionaires."

The New York-bred program, which has seen its purses and stallion, breeder, and owners awards soar with the opening of the Resorts World casino, is growing as more mares are delivering foals in New York. The stallion market there has seen its game elevate with a healthy dose on incoming newcomers and some star power with horses such as 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown   moving in.

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Effinex won the April 25 Excelsior Stakes (gr. III) over last year's Wood winner Wicked Strong to give the program its seventh graded stakes winner so far in 2015.



Birsh is a "big believer in the New York program.



"It has been a great program for us and has proven to be a great program for the state of New York in providing jobs for a lot of people," he said. "It's a real feather in the cap for those of us supporting it."



Support has come from local breeders such as Nielsen, a long-time participant in the state program with her late husband Gerald Nielsen and as a NYTB board member, and with breeders such as Voss and Manfuso who are based at their Chanceland Farm in Maryland. Voss and Manfuso had their mare Parlez deliver her foal at Doug Koch's Berkshire Stud in 2012 because the New York state-bred market was stronger than Maryland's.



"I think International Star is a fascinating case," Manfuso said. "Here's a mare bred in Kentucky (by Ashford Stud's Fusaichi Pegasus  ), foaled in New York, and raised in Maryland for a real practical reason. We are active in the Midlantic regional market and at that time we wanted to straddle a bit because things weren't great in Maryland and we thought a New York-bred might be worth a few dollars more than a Maryland-bred."



Voss and Manfuso sold International Star to the Ramseys for $85,000 at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic yearling sale. The bay colt has won five of nine starts and $1,010,979 while sweeping the three preps for 3-year-old males at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots this year.



"It's been a delight because a lot of people know that our crew here did an incredible job of raising a potential star," said Manfuso. "What I like to remind people is, by the way, he's a New York-bred so Doug Koch up there at Berkshire Stud had to get him on the ground safe and sound. God bless him."



Upstart, a $150,000 graduate of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling auction, won his first two races against New York-breds last summer at Saratoga Race Course before moving to open company. He placed in the Champagne Stakes and Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) to cap his juvenile campaign. After winning the Holy Bull he finished first in the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) but was disqualified and placed second. He then was second in the Florida Derby.



"Having three horses in the Kentucky Derby starting gate is exactly the message we want to send," Cannizzo said. "At the end of the day the horses do the talking and when you have the biggest names in the industry taking advantage of the incentives in New York, good things are going to happen for all. It's been 12 years since Funny Cide won the Derby. Back then New York-breds competing in graded races was not an every weekend occurrence. Today's New York-breds are 'Saturday horses' around the world."



And three of them will be "first Saturday in May" horses come May 2.