N. Y. Finest is Laurel’s Friday fastest
Graduates in fifth career outing
Frank Vespe
March 20, 2026
Uriah St. Lewis was all smiles in the winner’s circle after Friday’s third race at Laurel Park. He had himself a winner, and just as important: no speeding ticket.
N. Y. Finest, a three-year-old Connect colt he trains for his own Trin-Brook Stables, took care of the winning part, parlaying an idea setup into a 1 ¼-length victory in a $47,000 maiden special weight contest.
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As for the tickets, St. Lewis explained: “We named him after the police officers in New York,” he said with a hopeful laugh, “because when we run him in New York, if I’m driving too fast, they will give me a break.”
The horse had shown himself to be no laughing matter in three good sprint outings at St. Lewis’ home base of Parx Racing. Stretched out to 1 1/16 miles in the City of Brotherly Love Stakes, N. Y. Finest was up close for a half-mile before fading from the scene and finishing well up the track.
Just an experiment, St. Lewis said.
“We said, ‘If we’re trying him long, at least try him in your own backyard,’” St. Lewis explained. “And if he ran bad, we say we’re going back to the drawing board.”
There was no experiment today, however. Returning to a sprint distance – 5 ½ furlongs – against a field that included two first-time starters, N. Y. Finest was made the 7-5 post time favorite and ran to his odds.
Under jockey Mychel Sanchez, aboard for the first time, N. Y. Finest broke well enough but was quickly outfooted by the tearaway duo of R J’s Ice and Bruno – the former trained by Annette Eubanks, the latter by her son Daniel – who tore through an opening quarter-mile in 22.70 seconds.
N. Y. Finest, meanwhile, dropped to last and found himself briefly blocked by one of the first-timers, Big Tiger.
“When it happened, I thought he was in trouble because he was blocked by [Big Tiger],” St. Lewis said.
Sanchez steered N. Y. Finest outside that rival midway on the turn and took aim at the lead duo. Bruno got the best of R J’s Ice and went clear in upper stretch, but by then N. Y. Finest was in full flight.
N. Y. Finest caught and passed his rival inside the sixteenth pole and went on to win in 1:05.76 for 5 ½ furlongs on a fast main track. Bruno held second, while Big Tiger rallied into third. Dr. Buzzy was scratched after dumping rider Jevian Toledo during the post parade; Toledo walked off and indicated that he was uninjured.
N. Y. Finest paid $4.80 to win and topped an exacta that returned $13 for a one-dollar wager. He now has a win and $54,700 in earnings from five career starts.
NOTES Following its March 19 meeting, the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association announced several purse alterations that apply to racing at Laurel through the end of June. The starter bonus has been increased from $500 to $1,000, so all starters will receive a minimum of $1,000… The MTHA also approved an increase in certain off-the-turf races. Turf races that are forced onto the main track will receive a 20% purse increase if seven or more betting interests remain in the race. In this scenario, a maiden special weight purse would rise from $47,000 to $56,400…
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