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Death Wish Coffee’s Mike Brown Spills The Beans On His Company’s Success

Will Levith
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Death Wish Coffee’s Mike Brown Spills The Beans On His Company’s Success

You could say that I’m a recovering coffee addict. The paraphernalia in my Troy kitchen alone should tell you all you need to know: There’s a French press, a ’60s percolator, a drip coffeemaker and a mini espresso machine. I used to consume coffee by any means necessary, anywhere I could get my hands on it. Then, one day—with the nagging fear of a thousand future anxiety attacks staring me down—I quit, cold turkey. I haven’t drunk a drop since. But every morning, when my wife wakes up and puts on a new pot, that unmistakable aroma makes me want to fall off the wagon. 

The one brand I’d consider breaking my fast with? Saratoga Springs’ own Death Wish Coffee. No offense to saratoga living neighbor Uncommon Grounds, but I’m looking for something that’ll make me want to run a marathon in place. What better way to do it than with the “World’s Strongest Coffee?” Founder and Owner Mike Brown tells me that he started Death Wish in the basement of Broadway’s Saratoga Coffee Traders back in 2012. “My hope for the company was just to give people what they were asking for every day—a highly caffeinated, smooth, bold blend,” says Brown. Three years later, fate came knocking in the form of a Super Bowl advertisement contest. Intuit was offering one small business in the US the chance to run a 30-second spot during the big game—and after months of lobbying fans to vote for them, Death Wish, much to the Capital Region’s amazement, won. Literally overnight, it put the tiny company on the national map, and Brown remembers the second the ad aired, 100,000 people materializing on his website and sales shooting through the roof. 

Since then, the brand’s gone global and has sponsored everyone from the Special Olympics New York and local arena football team, the Albany Empire, to a pair of NASCAR drivers and the New York Comic Con. The brand’s also gone galactic, having rocketed its freeze-dried coffee into space to be enjoyed by astronauts on the International Space Station. (They apparently loved it.) If I ever want to send myself into orbit again, I certainly know how to get it done.

Book Smart: Greenwich’s Seasonal Owl Pen Books Is Keeping The Printed Page Alive

Chris Berger
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Book Smart: Greenwich’s Seasonal Owl Pen Books Is Keeping The Printed Page Alive

This can’t be the right way,” I say to myself as I turn onto a gravel road in Greenwich, NY. After driving a mile past fallow farmland, I spot a small, hand-painted sign hanging from a tree that reads “Owl Pen Books.” I park in the grass near the orderly Greek Revival-style residence at the front of the property and walk around the dry-stacked stone wall to the outbuildings in the rear. Established maple trees shade the well-maintained grounds, which are accentuated by blossoming flower beds and rocky outcroppings.

In 1960, Barbara Probst started selling used books here on her chicken farm. She named the operation Owl Pen Books after she bought an antique cast-iron owl and hung it outside her farm’s pigpen. Seven years later, Probst gave up raising fowl and expanded the bookshop into an approximately 3000-square-foot structure across the yard. Fast-forward 20 years, and its “new” owners are Edie Brown and Hank Howard, that latter of whom is a former Skidmore College biology professor. 

Owl Pen Books
The work table at the center of the store also serves as its checkout counter. (Chris Berger)

The hinges of the screen door squeal as I step into the former chicken coop. Neatly organized bookshelves fill the low-ceilinged interior. The mismatched chairs invite customers to plop down with a book in the blaring silence. The work table in the center of the space doubles as a checkout counter. The signs are all handwritten, including one that reads, “Help Fight TV—Buy A Book.” Owl decor is displayed throughout. Even the outhouse, named Chalet de Nécessité, exudes homespun charm. 

The shop has an estimated 100,000 secondhand volumes in its stacks, with a particularly robust collection of history, gardening and children’s books. Open from May through October, the Owl Pen has a devoted fan base among the region’s seasonal and year-round residents, some of whom have been customers since Probst’s tenure. Rebecca Bramer of Queensbury has visited the Owl Pen since she was a child and now brings her nine-year-old son there. “There’s no other place like it,” she tells me. “We come at least once or twice a summer.”

Technology has only expanded the bookstore’s clientele. “I have no complaints about the Internet,” Brown says, noting that online sales account for about three-quarters of the Owl Pen’s business. “It lets you buy things that we’d never sell in the store.” As Howard and Brown approach retirement, Brown’s hopeful that the shop will find a third owner, as it did when she and Howard stepped in. In the meantime, the sound of the screen door will continue to mark the arrivals and departures of delighted book lovers. Can’t wait ’til May!   

How Saratoga’s Sweetest Tradition, The Peppermint Pig, Has Gone National

Hannah Kotler
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How Saratoga’s Sweetest Tradition, The Peppermint Pig, Has Gone National

Though Saratoga Springs may be best known for its horses, come Christmastime, it’s all about the pigs. Peppermint Pigs, to be exact. Known for their small size and vibrant pink color, the minty, pig-shaped sweets hold in their tiny bodies the weight of a holiday tradition dating back to Victorian times. As the tradition went, after Christmas dinner, a candy pig was placed in a velveteen bag and passed from person to person, each of whom would share a moment of good fortune from the previous year, then whack the pig-filled pouch with a tiny hammer. 

But why a pig, instead of, say, a reindeer, or even a horse? Feeling pressure from European chefs who worked in the glamourous Saratoga hotels of the 1880s, local candy-maker Jim Mangay wanted to make a holiday treat that could function as a substitute for the highly sought-after, but difficult to find, marzipan treats. Mangay improvised, using peppermint oil, and likely chose the pig because of its significance in the era as a symbol of prosperity. Fast forward through the sugar-rationing era of World War II—when the beloved confection nearly disappeared—to 1988, the year Saratoga Sweets’ candy-maker, Mike Fitzgerald, decided to revive the tradition. (The shop’s now called Saratoga Candy Co.) After a series of fortunate events led one of the original Peppermint Pig molds into Fitzgerald’s hands, he launched production again—and the Saratoga tradition has been going strong ever since, even making its way beyond the Capital Region. 

Annually, more than 130,000 Peppermint Pigs are produced in Saratoga by Fitzgerald’s team, and the sweets are also available online and in some 200 museum shops and retail stores, primarily in the eastern US. I think it’s safe to say that this little piggy has gone far, far beyond the market.

A Glam New Year’s Eve Party Made Easy

Colin Cowie
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A Glam New Year’s Eve Party Made Easy

New Year’s Eve is an overrated night. Restaurants offer expensive menus and, despite the mask of glitz and glamour, the hype doesn’t always deliver. My favorite way to plan a New Year’s Eve dinner is to invite up to ten guests, and ask them to get dressed fabulously and show up for dinner at 9pm. Always consider timing. If you start the dinner at 7:30 or 8pm, you’re done at 10:30pm and still have 90 minutes to kill before the stroke of midnight. 

Plan an easy menu that allows you to be a guest at your own dinner. You should be glued to the dining room chair, not chained to the stove. The key is to be resourceful. Some people like to set the table, some like to cook and some delegate really well. Figure out what you like to do and plan accordingly. Whether you cook the meal yourself, have it catered or have your favorite restaurant make an entrée for you, you can do it rather stress-free. Start with a soup or salad that can be prepared or bought the day before. Heat the soup plates, bring them to the table and pour the soup from a coffee pourer; sprinkle it with something fabulous, and your first course is done. For the main course, you need to serve a one-shot (or one-pot) wonder—something that comes directly from the oven to the table and allows you to serve tableside. It could be a chicken potpie with black truffles, lasagna with white truffles or a beef bourguignon. These are all dishes that can be made a day ahead or easily resourced. Finally, you’ll want to treat your guests with a super chic and decadent dessert that’s store-bought. Dribble some chocolate sauce on a dessert plate, place a scoop of chocolate ice cream on top and place a champagne chocolate truffle on top of the ice cream. Just like that, you now have chocolate three ways! 

Of course, this could turn into a costly night. Here are a few things I’ve done to cut costs in the past that have worked really well: You can ask your guests to bring two bottles of champagne each. Perhaps one couple brings red wine, one white wine, one dessert and a bottle of champagne. And if you really want to splurge and take charge on behalf of your friends, add an ounce of caviar each, total all the expenses and divide it between your guests.

You should plan on ending dinner around 11:30pm, so you have time to go around the table and ask some fun questions. What was the best thing that happened to you this year? What’s the one thing you want to leave behind this year? And most importantly, what’s your New Year’s resolution? Find interesting ways to interact and bring your guests together before filling those glasses with bubbly and toasting to the New Year!  

How Legendary Jockey Ramón Domínguez Found His Home In The Spa City

Brien Bouyea
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How Legendary Jockey Ramón Domínguez Found His Home In The Spa City

Ramón Domínguez has always been a perfect fit in Saratoga Springs.

During his illustrious career as a jockey at Saratoga Race Course, Domínguez set multiple records with his extraordinary athletic prowess, and became one of horse racing’s most beloved superstars because of his incomparable work ethic, humble nature and engaging personality. He always made time for a genuine conversation with a fan, had a willingness to pose for a photograph or offered a smile and an autograph for a child. None of what fame brings—nothing—ever seemed to bother him. 

That’s why I’ll never forget Domínguez’s powerful, emotional response when I called him in the spring of 2016 to tell him he’d earned Thoroughbred racing’s highest honor: induction into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame right here in Saratoga. (Making these calls to the few individuals who’ve reached racing’s pinnacle is one of the parts of my job I enjoy most.) When I told him he’d been inducted, Domínguez immediately deflected the praise from himself to the owners and trainers who supported him throughout his career, as well as his longtime agent, Steve Rushing, who introduced Domínguez at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony that summer. Above all else, Domínguez commended the horses he rode for their courage and determination, and his family for their encouragement and support through both good and difficult times. 

Ramón Domínguez
Domínguez aboard Havre de Grace in the 2011 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga, which she’d win. (NYRA)

Domínguez, now 42, has been retired from riding for more than five years. On January 18, 2013, he suffered a terrible injury during a race at Aqueduct Racetrack. Approaching the top of the stretch aboard a horse named Convocation, Domínguez was looking for an opening to get his horse through a busy field—but it never materialized, and Convocation got tangled with another horse, throwing Domínguez violently to the ground. He was diagnosed with multiple skull fractures and a traumatic brain injury. Throughout his recovery and rehabilitation process, Domínguez always believed he’d return to riding. Five months after the injury, though, his doctor advised him that if he were to suffer another injury, it could prove catastrophic. So in his prime, his career was effectively over. 

The news was jarring for an athlete who was at the top of his profession and appeared to still be getting better. At the time, Domínguez had earned three consecutive Eclipse Awards as the top rider in North America. He’d won 4985 races, including 160 graded stakes, compiling purse earnings of $191 million. At Saratoga in 2012 alone, only months before his injury, Domínguez set the track record with 68 wins for a single meeting. That summer, he also equaled the track standard of six wins on a single card. Toward the end of the summer, Domínguez rallied the stand-out colt, Alpha, to finish in a dead heat with Golden Ticket in The Travers Stakes. By the end of the year, Domínguez had set a new record for purse earnings in a single year, at more than $25.5 million.  

Domínguez is forthright when he talks about the immediate aftermath of his injury-forced retirement: “For a while, I really wanted to stay away from racing,” he says, “I didn’t go to the track and I kept my distance from it all. I owe my wife a lot for encouraging me and giving me strength to be around the track and the sport again. It wasn’t easy. It took time and a change in mindset, but I came to realize that I was extremely blessed to have accomplished the things I did and to have been a jockey for as long as I was. Racing gave me so much and it never owed me anything.”

Ramón Domínguez
Domínguez was enshrined in horse racing’s Hall of Fame in 2016. (Katie Dobies)

Slowly but surely, Domínguez returned to the sport and culture of racing. He has since become an ambassador for the game and an accomplished motivational speaker. He’s eloquently shared his stories and philosophies with a variety of people, speaking on topics such as overcoming obstacles, the psychology of success and learning from mistakes. He recently spoke to a rapt audience at the Equestricon horse racing convention during Breeders’ Cup week in Louisville, KY. “Racing will always be in my blood and something that I am passionate about. I will try to give back to the sport in any way I can and be a positive presence,” Domínguez said. “Racing has so many great people in it, and we need to tell our stories and promote what we’re all about to bring new fans into the game. I want to be a part of that.”

In his retirement, he’s also come full circle, deciding to move his family to Saratoga. “I’ve always loved Saratoga, both the track and the city, and being inducted into the Hall of Fame was something that I never could’ve imagined when I began riding,” says Domínguez, who originally hails from Caracas. “I certainly didn’t do it alone. I always looked forward to each summer at Saratoga, because the racing is the best—the best jockeys, best trainers, best horses, best fans. The competition forces you to be sharp every day in every race. Your mind and your concentration have to be right to succeed at that level. I loved everything about it. When you combine that with the passion of the people in Saratoga and their love for the sport, it’s an easy place to fall in love with.”

Just a few months ago, he and his wife, Sharon, decided the time was right to move from Floral Park on Long Island to Saratoga. Domínguez knew there’d be an adjustment period, as their children, Matthew and Alex, got acclimated to a new school and new friends, but the family has since settled in, and are in the midst of their first holiday season as Saratogians. “There’s still a lot to do around the house, boxes and things to put away, but it has been great, and the boys are fitting in and getting used to it all and so are Sharon and I,” Domínguez tells me. “We’re really happy here, and we love everything that Saratoga has to offer. There are so many things to do and experience and so many opportunities to take advantage of. We’re really blessed to be a part of it, and this is where we wanted to raise our family.”

Ramón Domínguez
Domínguez now works as a motivational speaker. (Katie Dobies)

Besides acting as a racing ambassador and motivational speaker, Domínguez is also trying his hand at the horse racing business—this time, from the ground up. He’s been working on designing a new riding crop—i.e., the short whip jockeys use to spur on their horses—which he hopes will be introduced into the sport within a few months. “There really haven’t been any changes to the crop since about 2008, and it’s important to always be looking for ways to increase safety and reduce the risk of injury for horses and jockeys,” says Domínguez. “These new crops are also more cushioned, to reduce impact and lessen the chance of harming the horse. This design also won’t absorb water. It’s something I’m really excited about.” 

Additionally, Domínguez is involved with the Race Track Chaplaincy of America and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, and logs occasional media work for outlets such as the Horse Racing Radio Network. (Whoever said retirement had to be idle time?) When he’s not focusing on racing, Domínguez is enjoying his new home. “I’m learning more about Saratoga all the time, and it’s been a great experience for our family,” he says. “I’ve joined a running club and I’ve been checking out all the great culture and history of the area. There’s plenty to keep us busy. We absolutely love it here.”

This horse racing legend, this Ramón Domínguez sounds like a real Saratogian to us. Welcome home.   

Saratogian Of The Month: Austin Bayliss

Richard Pérez-Feria
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Saratogian Of The Month: Austin Bayliss

I hear her before I see her, and I like it. In the middle of telling a story in a nearly empty bar in Downtown Saratoga Springs, Austin Bayliss is regaling a small group of friends with a tale so fantastical and amusing that nothing else seems to be happening in this very moment on Earth: This woman is a lot of things—award-winning caterer, master innkeeper, loving mother and wife—but she’s also a gold-medal-grade raconteur. Is she ever.

Smart, optimistic, funny, talented, Austin will not be ignored. Married to former pro baseball player Jonah Bayliss, Austin is that rare powerful person who becomes more herself in the presence of her equally formidable life partner. Austin doesn’t shrink from a fight, from a joke, from a moment of silence—she’s a fighter who will charm and delight you in ways you didn’t realize possible. And then there’s her cooking. Oh. My.

Yes, she’s well known as the world’s greatest baker of cakes—the masterpiece she created for my recent birthday is the stuff legends are made of—but it’s her savory dishes that have me begging for more. Her chili quite literally brings me to tears.

So, here she is, this passionate New England Patriots fan, married to the man of her dreams, mom to what could be the world’s best six year old, in a city she has fallen hard for. Is life really as good as it seems for the best caterer in Saratoga? Let’s find out.

What has been the most surprising thing about living in Saratoga?
For me, it’s the incredible restaurants. I don’t feel so guilty anymore that I cook for everyone else but my own family.

How did you end up with your home, mom and job on the same block?
Very lucky I guess. We relocated to Saratoga quickly, and moved in with my mom so our daughter could begin school. Friends told us that the house across the street was available, the very involved grandmother thought the location was “absolutely perfect” and so did we. Joining the Petrosinos, the owners of The Inn At Five Points, was just a home run; I found the ideal kitchen to work in and the ideal people to run an inn with.

What’s the secret to a truly great cake?
Ahhhh, if you know me, you know this one: a pinch of salt.

So what’s the big dream?
My dreams are forever changing but, for right now, being in a new city, I just want everyone to try my dark chocolate espresso cake. Let’s start there.

The absolute best part of being a mom? A wife? Having a career?
The greatest thing about being a mom… I love seeing Jovi’s kind and loving spirit every day. Not only am I overcome with pride, but I’m reminded and inspired to be the same. The greatest thing about being a wife…knowing that I have unconditional support in any adventure I take on. The greatest thing about having a career…I love that every day is different and unknown. I like to say “yes” to it all, and just figure it out as I go. 

Daily Racing Form: Hovdey: In Horse Of The Year Vote, It’s Accelerate Vs. History

Jay Hovdey, Daily Racing Form
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Justify should be Horse of the Year.

Accelerate should be Horse of the Year.

Justify should be Horse of the Year because since 1936 no Triple Crown winner has ever not been Horse of the Year.

Accelerate should be Horse of the Year because since 1950 (Noor was robbed!) no older horse with a similarly stellar record has ever not been Horse of the Year.

Eclipse Awards ballots go out this week to some 270 voters. They will have their toughest task sorting out the ultimate honor since the Great Rachel Alexandra-Zenyatta Debate of 2009, and before that the 1984 war of worlds between John Henry and Slew o’ Gold.

In each of those elections there were some very fine people on both sides. Neither choice, however, was colored by the spectre of a Triple Crown winner. The Triple Crown, goes the common wisdom, trumps all other considerations.

Accelerate’s challenge to the norm is based on a record this year of six wins and a second in seven starts. His six wins included the Santa Anita Handicap, Gold Cup at Santa Anita, Pacific Classic, and Breeders’ Cup Classic, all at a mile and one-quarter on dirt. His narrow loss in the nine-furlong Oaklawn Handicap was to City of Light, who ended his season with a powerful win in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

All well and good, but winning the Triple Crown, as Justify did to conclude a career of six starts and six wins, carries with it an almost bulletproof validation. Triple Crown winners – no matter how fast they run or who they face – immediately find themselves in a club so exclusive that anything else happening in the year of their accomplishment tends to quietly melt away.

Does anyone readily recall that in 1937 Seabiscuit won 11 of 15 starts at 10 different tracks, carried 130 pounds to victory three times, and led the nation in earnings? Nope, not really, because War Admiral won the Triple Crown and was Horse of the Year.

Armed did everything you could ask of an older Thoroughbred in 1946 when he ran 18 times, won 11 races – six of them under 130 pounds – and finished out of the money only once in a campaign that marched from late January to mid-September. Horse of the Year Assault lost seven of 15 starts, but three of his victories made up the Triple Crown, so that was that.

And even though his post-Triple Crown form was pockmarked by a DQ in the Travers and a slipped saddle in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Affirmed was hailed as 1978 Horse of the Year in the face of Seattle Slew, who beat Affirmed twice, and Exceller, winner of six Grade 1 races on turf and dirt.

So good luck to Accelerate. It’s a steep hill to climb.

Accelerate, who remains in training for the Pegasus World Cup in January, has had a season that stacks up with such recent older Horses of the Year as Invasor (2006), Saint Liam (2005), and Mineshaft (2003). He ran more often – though not as fast – as did Ghostzapper in 2004. And, minus a trip to the Dubai World Cup, he did at least as much at home as Curlin (2008), California Chrome (2016), and Gun Runner (2017).

None of those older champions had a Triple Crown winner to contend with for year-end honors, however, which means the only reason not to vote for Accelerate as Horse of the Year is Justify.

Let’s be clear. No one needs to explain a vote for Justify. For all its dips and dives, history appears to be on his side. In order to vote for Accelerate, there needs to be a hole poked in the argument that winning the Triple Crown is an automatic ticket to Horse of the Year. Where to begin?

Ah, yes – the Curse of Apollo, a media creation woven into Kentucky Derby lore with neither context nor conscience. True enough, until Justify came along no horse since 1882 had won the Derby without at least one race at 2. “That’s mildly interesting” should have been the reaction when the trend was first noticed and then perennially flogged, because throughout racing history the best Derby-bound horses usually were raced early and often as 2-year-olds. If they weren’t, they weren’t much.

Anyway, Derby winners Tim Tam, Big Brown, Fusaichi Pegasus, and Lucky Debonair ran once as 2-year-olds, one being not that far from zero. Always Dreaming and Monarchos ran twice. A whole bunch of Derby winners ran just three times at 2, including Regret and American Pharoah, who won their Derbies 100 years apart.

(Not for nothing, Carry Back, the 1961 Derby winner, ran 21 times at 2, while Donau, the 1911 Derby winner, started 41 times as a 2-year-old. If there was pattern, I missed it.)

Justify was ready to run late in 2017, but Bob Baffert was inclined to wait for the Santa Anita meet to commence. His crew dealt with a minor problem, after which Justify was produced in February. The colt is rightfully praised for his six-race career stuffed into a 111-day burst that began with maiden and allowance race scores and a win in the Santa Anita Derby that he desperately needed to be eligible for the Kentucky Derby. The Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes followed in a white-faced chestnut blur as Justify took his place as the 13th winner of the Triple Crown.

And yet, of the other dozen, none did less than Justify. Each of them – including the pre-War Admiral era winners Sir Barton, Gallant Fox, and Omaha – accomplished something significant other than win the Triple Crown, either as 2-year-olds to set the stage or as 3-year-olds after the buzz of their Belmont faded away. Sometimes both.

Count Fleet, Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, and American Pharoah all were precocious enough to be 2-year-old champions.

War Admiral, a solid stakes-winner at 2, was 3 for 3 after his Belmont, with victories over older horses in the Washington Handicap and Pimlico Special rounding out an unbeaten 3-year-old campaign.

Whirlaway, who made 16 starts as 2 and won the Hopeful, ran nine times in 1941 after winning the Triple Crown, knocking off the Travers, Dwyer, American Derby, and Lawrence Realization.

Assault, also a stakes-winner at 2, did his Triple Crown proud as 1946 closed by defeating Stymie in the Pimlico Special and Lucky Draw in the Westchester Handicap. Neither of those accomplished 5-year-olds got close.

Citation went on to win five stakes against older horses before the end of his 1948 Triple Crown season. Secretariat defeated older horses with record performances on dirt and turf to flesh out his towering 1973 Triple Crown. And you couldn’t have asked American Pharoah to do more than win the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic to bookend his Triple Crown achievement, although it would have been fun to find out what he could have done in 2016.

As long as the fantasy lamp is lit, it would have been fun to find out what Justify could have done in September, October, or November of this year. But he was retired with a minor injury that could have been solved and a value that had soared to $75 million. Deprived of a chance to savor his maturity, fans have been assured by the business end of the stick that Justify will reproduce himself at stud.

The vote for Horse of the Year is always subjective. There are no rules. Are voters rewarding the horse for posterity’s sake? Or the owners, who take the bows and cash the checks while the champ munches hay? If ever there was an opportunity to lodge a protest vote against the early retirement of a 3-year-old star, the time would seem ripe.

Accelerate, on the other hand, has been an evolving taste: good at 3, better at 4, and exemplary at 5, when he did what the best older Thoroughbreds are supposed to do. His slow boil to a year-long feast in 2018 looks downright quaint alongside the white-hot burst of excitement from Justify.

If it speaks at all, history seems to suggest that added value helps to confirm the Horse of the Year worthiness of a Triple Crown winner. Justify will test that idea. Odds are, though, that the modern game makes a six-race career acceptable when it reaches certain heights. Justify’s 111 days in the barrel have been extolled as unique beyond reproach, a true champion for the rapid turnover of the millennial age. Winning the Triple Crown – and only winning the Triple Crown – could be enough to be Horse of the Year.

Then again, for those voters who feel the Triple Crown should be its own reward and Horse of the Year means something else, Accelerate provides a rare and honest alternative, with a 2018 record capping a fulsome career that stands at 972 days … and still counting.

This story originally appeared on DRF.com. 

Visit DRF.com for additional news, notes, wagering information, and more.

Daily Racing Form: Sassy Agnes To Have Company Up Front In Fifth Avenue

David Grening, Daily Racing Form
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Sassy Agnes used her speed to record a front-running victory over 11 rivals in the $100,000 Key Cents Stakes here on Nov. 23. Saturday, Sassy Agnes will likely employ those same tactics to try and win her fourth consecutive stakes in the $150,000 Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Stakes series for juvenile fillies at Aqueduct.

Though Sassy Agnes will meet only five opponents in the Fifth Avenue, many of them possess a running style similar to hers. That doesn’t seem to concern Linda Rice, the trainer of Sassy Agnes.

“The last time there was a lot of speed in the race, and she hung in there with a 21-and-4 [first quarter] under pressure and kept going,” Rice said. “I was impressed with that effort.”

Sassy Agnes has been impressive in her last three starts. On Sept. 8 at Finger Lakes, she scored a three-quarter-length victory in the Lady Finger Stakes. On Oct. 22, she again dueled on the front end and drew clear to a 3 1/2-length victory in the Shesastonecoldfox Stakes, also at Finger Lakes. Then she took early heat from a 59-1 shot in the Key Cents before drawing off to win.

Among those who are likely to tackle Sassy Agnes up front early is Forgotten Hero, who won her debut here on Nov. 4 in near gate-to-wire fashion. While her fractions and final time don’t match up to those of Sassy Agnes from her last race, the Aqueduct main track was deep and a bit tiring early in the meet when Forgotten Hero won.

“My filly is pretty quick at the end of the day,” said trainer and part-owner John Toscano Jr. “She beat nothing first time out. We’ll pick up the tempo and see where we’re at.”

Jeremiah Englehart entered three of the six runners in this field, including stakes winners Cartwheelin Lulu and Party Like Grandma. Both are coming off near two-month layoffs, with Englehart opting to skip the Key Cents Stakes last month.

“They definitely needed that little freshening and benefitted from skipping that race,” Englehart said.

Though Englehart entered Cartwheelin Lulu back in Sunday’s $150,000 Great White Way division of the NYSS, she is more likely to run here, as that race drew a field of 12. Cartwheelin Lulu drew post 6 Saturday and that could give Manny Franco options on how to ride the race.

Party Like Grandma, who breaks from the rail under Dylan Davis, was dull when she finished third to Sassy Agnes in the Shesastonecoldfox in October, Englehart said.

  1. A. Page won a maiden $50,000 claimer from off the pace on Sept. 14 before finishing eighth in the Maid of the Mist. She did not leave the gate well in either start.

She’s So Shea D completes the field.

On a nine-race card where five races have 11 horses or more, the Fifth Avenue, with only six runners, is carded as the third.

This story originally appeared on DRF.com. 

Visit DRF.com for additional news, notes, wagering information, and more.

Daily Racing Form: Skyler’s Scramjet Eyes Gravesend

David Grening, Daily Racing Form
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Skyler’s Scramjet, a three-time winner at Aqueduct last winter and spring, including a 1 1/2-length win in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap last March, is eying a return to the races in the $100,000 Gravesend Stakes here on Dec. 23.

Skyler’s Scramjet has not run since finishing sixth of eight in the Mr. Prospector Stakes at Monmouth Park in June.

“His last start at Monmouth he didn’t ship well, got real light on me,” trainer Michelle Nevin said. “He’s a nervous horse to train and he was telling me he needed a break.”

Skyler’s Scramjet, a 4-year-old gelding by Creative Cause, shows seven works at Aqueduct since Nov. 1 including a five-furlong move in 1:02.02 on Monday.

“He’s been breezing right along,” Nevin said. “He really likes Aqueduct.”

Others under consideration for the Gravesend include Always Sunshine, Heartwood, Life in Shambles, Midtowncharlybrown, Recruiting Ready, and Runaway Lute.

Do Share back in New York

Do Share won last year’s Gravesend for trainer Linda Rice as part of a 7-for-10 campaign in 2017. He is back in New York with new connections and on Thursday he worked five furlongs in 1:01 over Belmont Park’s training track.

Do Share, whose owner Anthony Miuccio died in July 2017, went through the auction ring at the Fasig-Tipton July selected horses of racing age sale and was purchased for $40,000 by Three Diamonds Farm. He was turned over to trainer Mike Maker.

The horse showed a series of bullet workouts at Turfway Park before being shipped to New York, where he had been pointing to an allowance race. Do Share suffered from a bruised foot that forced him to miss a work before his Thursday breeze.

“They said he worked super,” Maker said by phone Thursday.

Maker did not nominate Do Share to the Dec. 23 Gravesend, but hopes to get him into a stakes during the Aqueduct meet.

Do Share finished second to Skyler’s Scramjet in the Tom Fool before finishing eighth of 11 in the Grade 1 Carter.

◗ Kadens Courage, an 11 1/4-length maiden winner, and Kosciuszko, third in the Notebook Stakes, figure to vie for favoritism in a 12-horse field entered Thursday for Sunday’s $150,000 Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series at six furlongs.

This story originally appeared on DRF.com. 

Visit DRF.com for additional news, notes, wagering information, and more.

Owners Of Henry Street Tap Room To Open Flatbread Social Pizzeria In Saratoga Later This Month

Jeff Dingler
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Owners Of Henry Street Tap Room To Open Flatbread Social Pizzeria In Saratoga Later This Month

Saratoga Springs will get a new Neapolitan-style pizzeria later this month with the opening of Flatbread Social at 84 Henry Street. The pizzeria will take over in The Merry Monk’s former space, which is currently getting a totally new look inside. The new owners, Ryan and Sonja McFadden, also own the Henry Street Taproom right next door, and are hoping to counterbalance the hip, quirky and often packed Taproom with the more laidback and family-friendly restaurant.

In addition to a top-notch bar, the McFaddens have always wanted a wood-fired pizzeria. The Taproom’s success, plus its signature, cozy fireplace, served as an inspiration to take the plunge into the realm of wood-fired fare. “There’s just something about cooking pizza, or really cooking anything, in a wood-fired oven that’s a very cool process,” says Ryan. “We fell in love with our fireplace over here in the Henry Street Taproom and thought it’d be a great way to cook.” Two large, wood-fired ovens will actually be the centerpieces of the the Flatbread Social’s dining area. Expect creative, Neapolitan-style pizzas (a thin-crust, simple Italian pizza, not like the stuff you get at Pizza Hut), which use the same local/seasonal ingredients and house sourdoughs that the Henry Street Taproom has become known for. Like the Taproom, Flatbread Social will feature its own curated list of cocktails, craft beers and wines sourced from all over the world.

Prior to moving to Saratoga, the McFaddens had been living in Philadelphia, with Ryan working as an attorney and Sonja as a kindergarten teacher. Back then, opening a bar was just another pipe dream for them. However, with the rise in popularity of craft beers and microbreweries, the couple began to pursue the idea more seriously, looking for places across the Northeast to turn their taproom dream into a reality. A Skidmore alumnus, Sonja suggested Saratoga Springs, and when a space opened up at a former coffeehouse on Henry Street, the couple jumped at the opportunity. “The town has been absolutely great to us,” Ryan says. “We love living here, and we’ve fallen in love with owning a restaurant, and are very excited to expand and open this second restaurant next door.”

The McFaddens expect to have their official opening before the end of the year.

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