The Amsterdam (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
SAR- For Three Year Olds
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Dirt
July 25, 2025

With so many of the horses in the Amsterdam having much of their recent history running long, the race was a bit hard to predict and had all the making of being a “longshot race”. That’s how it would play out on Friday as 15/1 Balestier Road took home the victory. Finishing second would be Highway Robber, and that would mean a 1-2 finish for Mb Stables in this race. This is now the sixth win in the race for the trainer, and his third in the last five years. The winning rider, once again, was F Prat, as he has now won the Adirondack three years in a row. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:15.31, which is not as fast as other recent winning times, though was all that was needed. Let’s take a look at it:

(1/4 Mile- :22.27)- Food Man would be the quickest out of the gate, but the Williams9 entry would not be the leader after a quarter mile. That distinction would go to the post time favorite, Fantasy Blaze, from Maxmillion Farm, as K Carmouche pushes him forward and a half length ahead of Food Man. Scorched will settle into the third spot, stalking the top two for Mb Stables, and is a length ahead of his stablemate, Highway Robber. The La Canada Racehorses- trained Mr Cockypants runs by himself in fifth, a little more than a length ahead of the remaining three, who run alongside one another. That’s where we find our eventual winner from Mb Stables, Balestier Road, as he runs on the rail with Grimley’s Fighter Ship. Turning Point, from TwinTowersRacing, runs in the outside lane here.

(½ Mile- :45.30, Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- The pace slows over the second quarter mile as the leaders work their way around the turn. Fantasy Blaze still seems to be in good shape, hugging the rail and emerging at the top of the stretch with almost a length lead on Food Man. Scorched is third, and has plenty of room to come between these frontrunners if he was able to do so. Meanwhile, Highway Robber was charging hard on exit of the turn and looked to be positioned very well entering the stretch. At this point, he was two and a half lengths ahead of Balestier Road, who was just beginning to come off the rail now to keep from running into Mr Cockypants, who was directly in front of him. Fighter Ship was a tad quicker than him during the turn, but still running at the back, as was Turning Point.

(Finish- 1:15.31)- Into the stretch, it would soon become clear that those in the front were not able to maintain their same pace, and those who were at the back quickly began to cut into the advantage. With a furlong to go, it was still Fantasy Blaze and Food Man, but unless they found a second wind in a hurry, it was not going to be their day. The only question would be which of the horses a little further back would be the one to capture the win. The one with the clearest lane would be Balestier Road, as he could make his charge to the outside of Fantasy Blaze. His stablemate, Highway Robber looked to be positioned nicely to capitalize on things, but he’d also slow up some. At the line, it would be Balestier Road, making the most of the clear lane in front of him, to get up in time to win by half a length over a photo for second between multiple horses that saw stablemate Highway Robber get the better of Food Man, Turning Point, and Mr Cockypants. Fantasy Blaze dropped to sixth, beating only Scorched and Fighter Ship.

About The Winner- Balestier Road, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by F Prat, is a three-year-old gelding by Twin Heights and is out of Space Duel. He was bred in West Virginia by Hygana Stables as a second quarter two-year-old and was acquired by Mb Stables for $325.000 in a June 2025 private sale. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in nine starts and first stake win of any sort. His career earnings are now $192.480.

Track: Fast
Time: :22¹  :45¹  1:09²  1:15¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 3 Paid 103.00
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 3 – 8 Paid 293.20

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES