The Ticonderoga
$200.00 For Fillies And Mares Three Years Old And Upward Foaled in NY
1 1/8 Miles – InTurf
Belmont Park – October 24, 2026

This Saturday will mark the twenty-third running of The Ticonderoga for NY-breds at Belmont Park. The race will return to its original distance of 1 1/8 miles after being run at 1 1/16 miles for the last fourteen runnings. The race had been contested at 1 1/8 miles for the first eight editions. Ten horses are scheduled to compete for nine barns and the forecast appears to guarantee the turf will be firm. 

1. Treasure (Mo Mentum Farm, J.A. Gomez)
Plucked out of a claiming race in January for the modest price of $6.25. He has outrun that price tag since then, even gaining some black type by finishing third in The Biogios Rose for NY-breds in April. He finished a fading fourth after leading the Johnstone Mile, also for NY-breds, in his last start. He will be making his turf debut in The Ticonderoga so he is an unknown on the surface. 

2. Bronxbabesarebest (Big Jd Racing, S. Elliott)
The five-year-old mare is making the thirty-fifth race of her career and is approaching the milestone of $1,000.00 in career earnings. Although she is looking for her first win of the year she has run well all year long with several near misses like her nose loss in the G3 Waya at Saratoga in August. Throw out her last race, a sixth-place finish in the G2 Flower Bowl, as that was on a wet track which she seems to not enjoy. No threat of rain on Saturday and she is dropping into statebred restricted competition for the first time since last August when she won The Yaddo Handicap. 

3. Kash Bounty (Mb Stables, A. Fresu)
Mb Stables has two runners and they have drawn next to each other. The barn is looking for their first win in The Ticonderoga and Kash Bounty is seeking her first stakes win of any kind. She is graded stakes placed by virtue of her second place finish in the G2 SAR Oaks over a year ago on the upstate lawn. She has had limited opportunities in stakes company since with three out of the money finishes since that promising result. She has two good inner turf starts that yielded a second and a third so the tight turns may be something she can take advantage of. 

4. Hit The Mark (Mb Stables, D.E. Centeno)
The second entry from Mb Stables is a very lightly raced three-year-old filly who has two wins in her four lifetime starts. She broke her maiden on the inner turf at Aqueduct in a MSW. She followed that up by jumping into stakes company with a fourth-place finish in a five-horse field in the OCain at Saratoga in July. Of note for this race is that she finished a length behind Dark Peel that day who draws directly to her outside. She added her second win on the inner turf at Saratoga in an optional claimer. Seems guaranteed to be a pace factor

5. Dark Peel (Our Athletes, E.J. Zayas)
Homebred filly has been very consistent all year long with seven top three finishes in eight starts including two wins. She has been right on the verge of notching her first stakes win having finished in the money in four straight NY-bred stakes events. She has two second place finishes where she has fallen just short by a head and a neck. Doesn’t take much brain power to realize she has to be considered a big threat to finally get that win. 

6. Dame Magnifique (First Flight Stable, K. Carmouche)
While others in the field are looking for their first stakes score, Dame Magnifique already boasts having a stakes win on her resume. She won The Key Cents for NY-breds at 1 mile on Aqueducts inner turf last November. She nearly made it back to back stakes wins when she followed that up with a fast closing third in the unrestricted Ginger Brew. She has not been seen in stakes competition since finishing eighth in The East View to start her 2026 campaign. She has regrouped since with a string of solid overnight performances. Gets moved up for a test of current form. 

7. Spanish Empire (Arindel, F.H. Da Silva)
She is a multiple graded stakes winner winning both the G3 Honeymoon Stakes and the G2 SAR Oaks (Kash Bounty was second) as a three year old last year. She just missed adding a G1 win to her collection when she was second in the G1 QE II Challenge Cup at Keeneland a year ago. Since then she has gone “off the boil”. She was thirteenth in the G1 BC Fillies & Mares Turf and fifth in the G1 American Oaks to finish her three year old year. We have only seen her twice this season and the form did not reverse itself with an eighth place finish in the G3 Endeavour BC in January and a Ninth place in the G3 The Very One at Gulfstream Park in February. She returns now eight months later. Will have to watch one to gauge where she is at. 

8. Charcuterie Board (D J C Racing Stables, L. Salles)
She has one win in six career starts and lifetime earnings of $2.84. That win was in a MSW at Laurel in a free race on debut. She then finished a near miss second at a pay track but she has been off the board in four subsequent starts including finishing fifth in the G3 ET Mint Julep Handicap in her only stakes attempt. She shows some good works but needs to show another gear to win this. The strongest thing in her favor may be her trainer as D J C Racing Stables has won this race five times including a period of three straight wins 2014-2016. Five wins is worth more than a mention. The wins were as follows: 
2014 Meadowlands
2015 Risen Angel
2016 Cant Touch That 
2020 Diva Delite
2023 Liberty Lake

9. Affair Expert (TwinTowerRacing, A. Beschizza)
She put together a three-race win streak earlier in the year which understandably encouraged her first forays into stakes level competition. She has had three stakes attempts since those three wins and has not yet achieved the same success. She faded to fifth in The Anchorage Stakes after pressing the pace early. She then produced a payday with a fourth in the G3 Trillium Stakes and a disappointing fourteenth and last in the G2 KD Ladies Turf in her last start. She now steps back to a less ambitious state bred test which may bring her back to her winning ways. 

10. Stormin Eros (Slanes End, M.J. Sanchez)
The four-year-old filly has been first or second nine times in seventeen lifetime starts which is an impressive ratio. She has been a consistent performer this season with five on the board finishes in eight starts and two wins in conditional allowance races. She is coming off of a win routing on the grass in a N1X a month ago and now is given a class test in her stakes debut. She sports two straight bullet works including her last on the main turf at this track. She likes to be forwardly placed and will need to expend some energy to get position out of the far outside gate. It looks like a tough assignment. 

I like Bronxbabesarebest drawing favorably and showing recent good form in graded company. Put Dark Peel behind her followed by Stormin Eros and Hit The Mark.

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded