Baby Yoda

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed Jerry Zaro to the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) Board of Directors, the organization announced Wednesday. This appointment fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Michael J. Del Giudice and is effective immediately. Zaro, an active breeder and Thoroughbred owner, has campaigned such horses as three-time stakes winner Blindwillie McTell (Posse) and Grade I placed Baby Yoda (Prospective), who recorded the fastest Beyer Speed Figure [114] at all NYRA tracks in 2021. A resident of Harrison, New York, Zaro is Chair...

In a summer full of impressive and promising performances in allowance races at Saratoga, it was the Sept. 4 run of a total no-name who could've been had by anyone in the sport for just $10,000 months earlier that stood out the most on the speed-figure scale. And Saturday, modestly-bred Baby Yoda (Prospective) will try to back that monster effort up while making his stakes debut against four rivals in Belmont's GII Vosburgh S., a Win and You're In qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. Debuting for owner Gerald...

This is the story of Baby Yoda (Prospective): Bought shortly after he broke his maiden for $10,000 at Pimlico, he ran a 114 Beyer figure in a Saratoga allowance race, tying him for the fastest number on the year, and will now be sent into a graded prep for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. It sounds impossible. But it's not. "It's crazy," said Baby Yoda's co-owner Adam Wachtel. "It's hard to rationalize or accept. It's highly unusual to see something like this. He ran for $10,000 nine weeks ago and...