The decision to go west for Starts Now, the 5-year-old Mucho Macho Man mare out of Very Funny has paid off. After racing exclusively on the NYRA circuit since her debut in 2022, Starts Now appeared to be in top form, winning an Allowance Race at Aqueduct on November 17th and doing so with an 89 Equibase figure, the highest in her career, surpassing the matching 82 figures as the previous high in her career, which occurred in her previous 2 starts. That’s when a difficult decision had to be made, with the turf course closing for the winter in New York, does Starts Now also shut it down for the winter, or do we go elsewhere and see if this the start of something special?
Richard Baltas, a California based trainer got the call and Starts Now shipped off to Santa Anita. On January 4th she debuted in a Starter Allowance at Santa Anita. After sitting mid pack, Starts Now charged down the stretch finishing second, losing to Tirupati who would go on to finish second in the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes on March 1st. That race would set a new high Equibase figure of 93 and got surpassed with a 94 speed figure in her next race on February 2nd. Despite the fifth-place finish, Starts Now ran a great race hitting the stretch in 2nd and staying within striking distance into the final furlong but couldn’t produce a bid to the wire.
That brings us to Sunday and with all the stars in Hollywood for the Oscars, all the stars aligned perfectly for Starts Now on the March 2nd start. Reigning Eclipse award winning jockey, Flavien Prat, took the mount and Starts Now drew the outside post which would ensure a clean break from the gate. From there everything went according to plan. Starts Now grabbed the early lead and never looked back, scoring an easy 2 1/2 length win in the one and an eighth mile Starter Allowance race in 1:49.16.
The win gave Starts Now a new career high 99 Equibase figure. It marked our stable’s first win at Santa Anita as we have now registered wins at 19 different tracks. It was also our first trip to the Winner’s Circle with jockey Flavien Prat and trainer Richard Baltas. Congratulations to the connections and our partners at Bloom Racing Stable on the win!
Honey in the Bank scored the upset victory in Saturday’s 7th Race at Aqueduct at 18-1 as it also marked our first time winning as both owners and breeders. Honey in the Bank was foaled in 2022 by Central Banker and Homerun Honey, who was among the first ever group of horses in our stable. Luis Rivera, Jr. grabbed his first victory for us as he challenged the pace setter on the back stretch, then backed off and went inside along the rail to take the lead going into the stretch and glide to victory in the 6 1/2 furlong contest. Congratulations to trainer Horacio De Paz, who won back-to-back races and our partners, Saratoga Dreams Racing.
Jockey Gerardo Corrales recorded his 1,000th win aboard Unraptured at Turfway Park. It was a 6 furlong Claiming Race as Unraptured broke towards the back. At the half, Corrales had Unraptured up to 5th and then took over the lead heading down the outside at the beginning of the stretch run and held on for the 2-length win.
This was our first win at Turfway Park marking the 18th different track where we’ve recorded a win. This was second win in the 1,000 win career of Gerardo Corrales, however he’s developing a trend as being a trailblazer as his first win for us came in our first win at Ellis Park this past August as he guided Brit’s Wit to victory there. This also marks our first win with Trainer Nolan Ramsey.
Gerardo Corrales kicked off his career nearly a decade ago in South Florida. Tonight, he earned his 1,000th career win aboard Unraptured at @TurfwayPark who made the trip from, you guessed it, South Florida.
Press Release from Turfway Park:
FLORENCE, Ky. (Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025) – Jockey Gerardo Corrales achieved a major career milestone at Turfway Park Racing
& Gaming on Thursday, guiding Michael Dubb and America's Pastime Stable's Unraptured to victory in Race 7 to record the 1,000th win of his career.
Corrales, originally from Panama, began his U.S. riding career in 2015 and has since established himself as one of Kentucky’s
top jockeys. His career highlights include riding Nobals to victory in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (Grade I) and capturing six
leading rider titles at Turfway Park. Represented by agent Cliff Collier, Corrales’ mounts have earned more than $5.5 million in purses.
Corrales’ career began nearly a decade ago in South Florida, where he rode his first winner, Whiskey Cures Ugly, on Oct. 30,
2015, at Gulfstream Park West. He continued riding in Florida until August 2017, when he moved his tack to Ohio. Corrales earned his
first Kentucky riding title during the 2020 Turfway Park Holiday Meet and has since added five more titles at Turfway, including the
2021 Winter/Spring Meet, 2021 Holiday Meet, 2022 Winter/Spring Meet, 2022 Holiday Meet and 2024 Holiday Meet.
Due to the threat of a nearby wildfire Tuesday, the horses stabled at the San Luis Rey Downs training center in Bonsall, San Diego County, were evacuated and sent elsewhere, largely to Del Mar racetrack.
By Tuesday afternoon, the nearby Lilac Fire had burned through 80 acres and was 30% contained, according to Cal Fire.
“We are still at the same level 2 evacuation warning status so we will continue to monitor the situation and the wind,” Santa Anita general manager Nate Newby wrote in a text Tuesday afternoon, adding that he hoped the “wind stays away.”
In the morning as the first batch of San Luis Rey’s roughly 275 horses were being evacuated, Newby estimated the fire was roughly three to four miles away from the training center, which is owned by The Stronach Group.
Del Mar is currently in the middle of its off season. Tom Robbins, Del Mar’s executive vice president of racing and industry relations, said Tuesday morning he hoped the training track would be ready for use within 48 hours.
Daufuskie Island scored a wire-to-wire victory at Aqueduct to register our first win in 2025. Ruben Silvera got Daufuskie right out of the gate and battled for the early lead in the 6 1/2 furlong, $50,000 Claimer. The first quarter time was 22.50 and the half was 45.78 as he dug in and held safe to the finish, putting up a 92 Equibase speed figure for his 6th career victory. Trainer Ilkay Kantarmaci got the win along with fellow partner Diane Balsamo.
