Celestial City Earns First Stakes Win in Hill Prince

For the past five months, Stuart Janney III's Celestial City  has been knocking on the door of a stakes victory.

Two starts back, the 3-year-old homebred son of Uncle Mo   finished in a dead heat for second in the Saranac Stakes (G3T) behind no less of a talent than Annapolis , who beat older horses in capturing the Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) in his next start.

Before that, Celestial City was third in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes (G2T) in August and second in the Jersey Derby in May for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.

"His races have been good. He's run up against some pretty tough competition, but he's been learning," McGaughey said.

All of those lessons and near-misses finally paid a dividend Oct. 22 when Celestial City put it all together and rallied from ninth to draw away to a 2 1/4-length victory in the $300,000 Hill Prince Stakes (G2T) for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct Racetrack.

"I think we learned a little something about him today with him not breaking good," McGaughey said. "He got a lot farther back than I thought he would. But he made a pretty explosive run, so maybe that's what he wants to do. That's a little bit of my style but the way the turf courses have been playing here most of the time you have to be laying close."

The victory was the third in nine career starts for the produce of the Malibu Moon mare Lunar Evening . He was coming off a victory in a Sept. 24 allowance race at Aqueduct against older horses.

While McGaughey was uncertain of the next step for the $347,920 earner, the way he closed with gusto from the rear of the field of 10 in the 1 1/8-mile stakes had him thinking about tests like the Dec. 3 Hollywood Derby (G1T) at 1 1/8 miles or the Jan. 28 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) at 1 3/16 miles.

"I'm not ready to stop if he's ready to go," McGaughey said. "I'm pleased with him. I think he stepped his game up today and gave us more to work with. He's out of a Malibu Moon mare, a Janney-bred, so you know he has a lot of stamina in his pedigree."

After stumbling at the break, Celestial City and jockey Jose Lezcano were ninth as Nantasket Beach  set a :49.83 half-mile while pressured by Mackinnon. In mid-stretch, Mackinnon, making his first start for trainer Chad Brown, put away Nantasket Beach, but could not fend off the late bid from Celestial City, who tipped out from the rail and went past him leaving the sixteenth pole.

The final time was 1:50.27 on firm turf for Celestial City ($9.60), the 7-2 favorite in a competitive field.

ERJ Racing, Madaket Stables, and Dave Kenney's Mackinnon, a son of American Pharoah   who was third in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T), held on for second by a head over Whisper Hill Farm's Grand Sonata , a Medaglia d'Oro   colt trained by Todd Pletcher.

Celestial Moon is the second of four foals from Lunar Evening and her first winner. She has also produced Waxing Moon, a Candy Ride   yearling colt, and a 2022 Mastery   colt.

Evvie Jets Gives Kantarmaci First U.S. Graded Stakes Win

As much as trainers can be masters at picking the right spot for one of their horses' races, finding time for a personal vacation in their 24/7 world is a much more challenging task.

So when the opportunity presented itself for Mertkan Kantarmaci to bolt from his New York barn to visit some friends in England, he jumped at the opportunity.

Of course, there could always be some snags, which for Kantarmaci came in the form of being on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean for a milestone event: the initial North American graded stakes win for the 31-year-old trainer born in Istanbul, Turkey.

With his brother, Ilkay, handling the stable in his absence, Kantarmaci's $80,000 claim for owner Robert Amendola, Evvie Jets , grabbed the lead early in the stretch run and registered a 1 1/4-length victory in the $145,500 Noble Damsel Stakes (G3T) for fillies and mares, the supporting feature on Saturday's card at Aqueduct.

"It means a lot. We've won a lot of stakes overseas, but this was our first in America," said Ilkay, whose father, Tuncay, is a leading trainer in Turkey. "I hope there are many more to come."

Evvie Jets, a 4-year-old Twirling Candy   filly, was claimed for $80,000 out of a nose loss in a Sept. 16, 2021 allowance optional claimer in her seventh career start. After that Kantarmaci made full use of her conditions, recording two wins and three seconds out of seven tries in allowance company before entering her in stakes company.

That first try in an added money event resulted in a neck loss after setting the pace in the 1 1/8-mile Athenia Stakes (G3T) and set her up perfectly for an even stronger effort in the mile Noble Damsel.

"Finally, she got the title she deserved," Mertkan said from England. "She's been knocking on the door for a long time in allowance races running first and second and then coming back in two stakes. Her last race was not a loss for her—it was just finishing second at the wire. She gave a winning run for us last time." 

Evvie Jets, bred by Farfellow Farms in Kentucky out of the Consolidator  mare Natchez Trace , was second behind the pacesetting Por Que No  before taking charge in the stretch and covering the mile in 1:35.65 on the grass.

Sent off at 7-2 odds under jockey Eric Cancel, Evvie Jets ($9.90) won for the fourth time in 16 starts and lifted her earnings to $364,530.

She was bought for $75,000 by Team D from the Hidden Brook consignment at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Plum Ali  (First Samurai  ) nosed out 9-5 favorite Messidor , a Vadamos  4-year-old, for second. Both fillies are trained by Christophe Clement.

Video: Hill Prince S. (G2T)

Video: Noble Damsel S. (G3T)