by Brandon Valvo, for the SOA of NY
Yonkers, NY — After a bout with a persistent sickness hindered Mamora Bay’s early season, trainer Sam Schillaci gave the 3-year-old filly some time to recover and brings her back in Saturday’s (Sept. 2) $119,010 Hudson Trot. Schillaci is confident his star trotter is back to her old self and feeling better heading into the Grand Circuit Stakes, one of four on the card at Yonkers Raceway.
“She hasn’t quite been herself as far as being really aggressive at the end of the mile because she developed this virus earlier in the year. She’s kind of been fighting it all year. I think as of recent, she seems to be getting healthy again,” Schillaci said. “I feel she’s very good. I think she’s as healthy now as she was her first couple of starts of the year. I’m very optimistic going into this race that she’s going to do very well.”
Mamora Bay stood out as a 2-year-old in New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) last year. She won five of nine starts and placed in another four, earning $182,371. Mamora Bay finished second to Barn Bella in the $225,000 New York Sire Stakes final at Yonkers to end her season. Schillaci drove her in all but one start.
“She really did have a tremendous season,” he recalled. “I think everything came so easy for her, that’s what made her so good last year as a 2-year-old horse. Driving her as a 2-year-old was like driving an older trotter. That’s what made everything so easy for her because a lot of younger trotters have gait issues, you have to hold them together and steady them. That wasn’t the case with her.”
Mamora Bay’s success came as a surprise to Schillaci and owner Peter Barbato. Barbato purchased mare Giulie Bi in foal to Chapter Seven out of the 2014 Tattersalls January Select Mixed Sale for $22,000. Giulie Bi, by Supergill out of the Speedy Crown mare Traffic Jam, had already produced two foals at that stage, including Romeus, a 2012 son of Muscles Yankee who sold for $70,000 at the 2013 Standardbred Horse Sale. It was the first time Barbato bought a pregnant mare, but for the price, he couldn’t go wrong.
“He liked the breeding of the mare and he went to the Meadowlands Sale and got the feeling to buy the mare in foal,” Schillaci said. “He was looking at some other ones and he loved this particular mare. He liked the breeding on her and he just bought her.”
Giulie Bi foaled Mamora Bay three months later and Barbato later gave the filly to Schillaci. Training down, Mamora Bay was nothing special. Although she trotted well and was easy to handle, she was afraid of everything and was the horse Schillaci let barn visitors drive in the morning.
“Training her down as a 2-year-old, she was one that I actually seldom sat behind,” Schillaci remembered. “I have some friends and some other owners that come on training days and they always want to train a young horse or train a baby. I would always let everyone go with her because she never did anything wrong.
“She was very slow developing as far as being a racehorse,” he continued. “She just sat in the back and basically just followed along. She was scared to pass horses, she wouldn’t get up to any horses because she would shy from them, but she never made breaks.”
Once Mamora Bay trotted past 2:10, she started to figure out her job. She began beating all of Schillaci’s other trotters in the mornings and enjoyed her work. For Schillaci, who trains with his wife Jodi, bringing a horse through that process and seeing a the light bulb go on in the horse’s mind is gratifying.
“I used to love it when I was younger, just being a catch-driver, but now that I’ve gotten older and gotten more horses to train, it’s much more rewarding to train and drive your own horses,” he said. “It’s just very rewarding when you buy your own horses as babies and make them into racehorses.”
After her breakout freshman year, Mamora Bay started her 3-year-old campaign in May with a second in New York Sire Stakes at Tioga. She got sick around her next start in the Empire Breeders’ Classic final at Vernon Downs on June 18 and finished sixth beaten 10-3/4 lengths. Since then, she has a win, a pair of thirds, and a fourth in Sire Stakes company.
Mamora Bay last raced Aug. 4 at Yonkers before Schillaci gave her some time off. He qualified her back at Northfield Aug. 17, adding lasix. She won by three lengths in 1:57.2. When the Hudson Trot attracted eight entrants and no eliminations were required, Schillaci qualified Mamora Bay again last week and she won by nine in 1:58.0.
“The adding of Lasix was because of health reasons. The qualifiers are basically just to keep her tight. She’s not really a horse that’s a good trainer, so we’ve just been racing her in qualifiers to just keep her tight,” the trainer explained. “I was actually hoping that there would have been an elimination to the Hudson Filly Trot last week rather than qualifying her, but there wasn’t, so we had to give her another tightener.”
Mamora Bay drew post five in the Hudson Trot and will race on Lasix for the first time with Schillaci in the sulky again. She is a 6-1 morning line chance. Trond Smedshammer’s Celebrity Ruth, earner of $221,433 this season after going unraced at two, is the early favorite at 5-2 from post four. The field also includes Dangle Then Deke, Chapter Too, Lexi Marie, Sunshine Delight, Evelyn, and Ice Attraction.
Although Schillaci would like to be aggressive in a spot like the Hudson, Mamora Bay’s fear of the starting gate may prevent that. As a 2-year-old, Mamora Bay wouldn’t get within a length of the gate and she was never closed than third to the opening quarter. Recently, Mamora Bay has gotten better at the start, Schillaci said.
“She’s gotten to the point recently over the last two or three starts where now she’ll go right up to the gate and she’s really good that way. She still really hasn’t developed a lot of gate speed. She tends to fall off the gate as it opens,” he said. “If she would be a horse with gate speed, I probably would be approaching it a lot differently, to try to get out there a little bit and maybe get a little bit better position.
“With a horse like her, there’s really not a lot of reading into the program and looking to get a spot. It’s wherever you land when the gate opens and then you’ve got to kind of make a game plan after that,” he continued. “I definitely think the horse to beat is (Celebrity Ruth). I’m assuming that horse is going to go to the lead. My biggest hope would be that somebody else leaves in there and they get some kind of early speed and then I think that we’ll have a pretty decent shot of being right on the wire.”
The Hudson Trot is one of four stakes on the card Saturday night at Yonkers Raceway. The card also features the $500,000 Yonkers Trot, the $500,000 Messenger Stakes, and the $113,880 Lady Maud Pace. First post time is 7:10 p.m.
For entries for the card, click here.
- Guardian Angel AS, Yes Mickey, Downbytheseaside win eliminations for Yonkers Trot and Messenger (Sunday, August 27, 2017)
Yonkers Raceway Saturday night (Aug. 26) hosted a trio of $40,000 stakes eliminations, two for the 63rd edition of the Yonkers Trot and one for the 62nd Messenger Stakes. Guardian Angel AS, Yes Mickey and Downbytheseaside all visited the winner’s circle.
- Nine to Yonkers Trot, Downbytheseaside lands post seven in Messenger Stakes (Monday, August 28, 2017)
Faced with a scenario for which there was no rule in place, Saturday night’s $500,000 final (Sept. 2nd) of Yonkers Raceway’s 63rd Yonkers Trot shall go post-ward with a field of nine 3-year-olds. Messenger Stake elimination winner Downbytheseaside drew post seven in the final.
- Yonkers Trot and Messenger lead busy Grand Circuit weekend (Wednesday, August 30, 2017)
A busy holiday weekend of Grand Circuit action is led by a pair of Triple Crown events at Yonkers Raceway on Saturday (Sept. 2). The Hilltop oval will host the $500,000 Yonkers Trot for 3-year-old trotters and the $500,000 Messenger Stakes for 3-year-old pacers.
- Bartlett eyeing a Yonkers Trot win (Wednesday, August 30, 2017)
For all the success Jason Bartlett has enjoyed since making Yonkers Raceway his office nearly a decade—and six driving titles—ago, one of the few holes in the resume is a rather chasmic one…a Yonkers Trot win.“It’s the signature race and my home track and it’s eluded me,” Bartlett said. “It’s an important race for me personally and I want to win it.”
- Surick dreaming big for Ella Christina in Lady Maud (Thursday, August 31, 2017)
Ella Christina will be making her fifth start for new trainer Nick Surick in Saturday’s $113,880 Lady Maud at Yonkers Raceway, part of the Yonkers Trot and Messenger Stakes undercard. After her win in the Adioo Volo at The Meadows the first time out for Surick, he said he staked her to every race that he could. Chris Gooden photo.
- Sears seeks second Messenger win with Downbytheseaside (Friday, September 01, 2017)
After sitting behind Downbytheseaside in his 8 1/2-length romp in the Messenger Stakes Elimination at Yonkers Raceway last week, driver Brian Sears likes the way the 3-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere is coming into the $500,000 Final and second leg of the Pacing Triple Crown Saturday night (Sept. 2). Sears drove Downbytheseaside through a :56.0 half last week and was a passenger as Downbytheseaside opened 6 lengths racing into the lane and powered away with a :27.2 final quarter.
- Sears completes the Messenger/Yonkers Trot double with Downbytheseaside and Top Flight Angel (Saturday, September 02, 2017)
World champion Downbytheseaside (Brian Sears) withstood a late charge from two rivals to win the $540,000 Messenger Stake final for 3-year-old colt pacers in 1:52.1 on Saturday night (Sept. 2) at Yonkers Raceway by a nose. Sears completed the Messenger/Yonkers Trot double when he steered Top Flight Angel to victory by the very same margin in the aforementioned contest later on a card that also included the Hudson Filly Trot and Lady Maud Pace.