Kreesie, Therapist Prevail in NY Stallion Stakes

With a determined drive that saw her cross the wire a half-length ahead of the field, Gerald and Susan Kresa's Kreesie took home the first of two $100,000 New York Stallion Stakes June 24 on the Belmont Park turf. 

After a clean break from post 10 in the 11-horse field, Kreesie settled early near the rear of the pack in the seven-furlong test for New York-bred 3-year-old filles, in a four-wide pursuit, as Baby Boss pushed to the front to establish the lead.

Even-money favorite Mentality pressed the pace through a half mile in :44.74, before she moved to take command as they rounded the turn. She edged ahead at the eighth pole as Goodbye Brockley swung six-wide on the outside to break from mid-pack. 

As they hit the final sixteenth, a tiring Mentality fought to fend off a late challenge from Goodbye Brockley, who looked to have the lead by a slight margin. Kreesie, who had been guided into position on Goodbye Brockley's inside under jockey Jose Ortiz, kicked forward with a late rally to overtake her rivals and cross the wire first in a final time of 1:21.09. 

"She ran well," Ortiz said. "They ran pretty fast for the first half of a mile. She was relaxed and comfortable. I was able to get a really nice trip. ... Everything came up perfect."

The New York Stallion Stakes was only the second win for Kreesie, who broke her maiden less than two months before Sunday's race at Belmont over the same distance. 

"I thought this was a very good race from her and she's coming out of a spot in which she ran well last time out," said winning trainer David Donk. "Today we were just hoping there was enough pace in the race. We wanted her to sit back. That's kind of how she likes to run, and we like to teach them that. On the grass regardless of the level, you want them to have that nice turn of foot, and it's fun when you get one that does."

Goodbye Brockley held for second, while Mentality came in third. Kreesie returned $15.60, $6.40, and $3.30. Bred by Frank Lodato, Kreesie's win improved her record to 2-1-1 from six starts with earnings of $120,700. 

A little more than an hour later, a field of ten 3-year-old males loaded into the gate for the second of the New York Stallion Stakes.

Belleville Spring broke first from the gate to take charge of the field, led by four lengths, and set speedy fractions of :22 and :44.34 as they hit the turn. 

Therapist, with Irad Ortiz Jr. in the irons, surged at the top of the stretch to cut an eight-length gap to three, then two, then one, caught Belleville Spring as they reached the three-quarter mark in 1:08.79, and outkicked a fast-moving Collective Effort to win by two lengths.

"He's a New York-bred and he finally gets to enjoy his New York-bred class and see how good he is," Irad Ortiz Jr. said. "He's competitive against open horses. ... The way he was feeling today, I thought he was going to run the way he ran. I had a lot of confidence in him."

The final time for the race was 1:21.97. Collective Effort took second, with Spectacular Kid 2 1/4-lengths behind in third. 

"Nice win. He's a nice horse," said winning trainer Christophe Clement. "He was a little more anxious than what we like. He's a pretty busy horse mentally, and well named being Therapist by Freud , but he's a lovely horse with a great turn of foot."

After a sixth-place finish last time out in the Penn Mile Stakes (G2T), the Stallion Stakes was a step down in class for the Oak Bluff Stables homebred. He opened his 3-year-old season with a third-place finish in the Palm Beach Stakes (G3T) before he took the Cutler Bay Stakes.

Bred in New York, the chestnut colt was offered at the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Preferred New York Bred Yearling Sale through the Winter Quarter Farm consignment, but was RNA'd after a final bid of $8,000. He improved his record to 5-0-1 with $308,725 in earnings.