Emphasis Wires Competitive Maiden Field at Saratoga
Spendthrift Farm and Repole Stable‘s Emphasis delivered a wire-to-wire victory in Saturday’s $100,000 maiden special weight at Saratoga, giving freshman sire Yaupon his seventh winner from his first crop.
The Todd Pletcher-trained juvenile broke inward at the start before quickly establishing the lead up the backstretch. Despite mild pressure from Growth Equity (Nyquist) in the final sixteenth, Emphasis maintained his advantage to win by a length, completing six furlongs in 1:11.83.
Growth Equity settled for second, while the highly-regarded first-timer Stradale (Yaupon) rallied for third. The “Insighted” Our Magical Moon (Good Magic) was scratched earlier from the competitive field.
Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. continued his hot streak, securing his third win of the day aboard the dark bay colt.
[Spoiler Alert] The victory marked an impressive debut for the $625,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, who demonstrated both early speed and late determination when challenged in the stretch.
Emphasis is a half-brother to multiple stakes performers, including Curly Jack (Good Magic), a graded stakes winner with earnings of $437,470, and multiple stakes-placed Fannie and Freddie (Malibu Moon), who has earned $199,037.
The winner’s dam, Connie and Michael (Roman Ruler), was herself a Grade I-placed performer with earnings of $136,860. She produced a colt by Life Is Good last year and was bred to Cogburn for 2026.
Emphasis comes from a productive female family that includes stakes winner Afleet Tizzy (Tizway) and multiple graded stakes winner High Stakes Player (High Brite).
Yaupon, a son of Uncle Mo standing at Spendthrift Farm, continues to make an impact with his first crop of runners.
🙌 @RSantana_Jr is on a roll! Win number three on the card comes aboard EMPHASIS in Race 7, breaking his maiden for trainer @PletcherRacing. pic.twitter.com/y9b777Ptp9
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA)
🙌 July 19, 2025
