Upstart's Manuka Honey Gives Them No Chance, Dominates Ellis Park Debutante

Manuka Honey, who was a dazzling 7 1/4-length winner of her five-furlong debut at Churchill Downs June 20, sparkled in her stakes bow, gliding home the easiest of winners in the Ellis Park Debutante Stakes Sunday.

The heavy favorite was content to watch the action unfold as Glory Run (Girvin) and Sweet Mary (Mitole) contested the pace through an opening quarter in :22.28. Glory Run asserted control as the half-mile went up in :45.05, but her advantage was short lived as Manuka Honey grabbed the lead out of the turn before cruising home unchallenged and under wraps.

Drop Dead Red produced a colt by Jack Christopher this year and was bred back to that stallion. Click for the Equibase.com chart.

ELLIS PARK DEBUTANTE S. PRESENTED BY HAUSMANN OUTDOOR SOLUTIONS, $249,163, Ellis, 8-9, 2yo, f, 7f, 1:23.15, ft.
1–MANUKA HONEY, 120, f, 2, by Upstart
                1st Dam: Drop Dead Red (SP, $190,425), by Hold Me Back
                2nd Dam: Stylish Affair, by Not For Love
                3rd Dam: Fabulous Fame, by Cherokee Colony
($19,000 RNA Ylg '25 FTKOCT). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Lee,
Lisa, Sciortino, Jason, Lynch, William and Howe, Brian; B-Terry
Hamilton (KY); T-Brian A. Lynch; J-Luis Saez. $150,175. Lifetime
Record: 2-2-0-0, $202,271.
2–For the Win, 120, f, 2, Drain the Clock–Fleeting Glimpse, by
Malibu Moon. ($50,000 Ylg '25 FTKJUL). 1ST BLACK TYPE.
O-Black Type Thoroughbreds, Brunetti Dugan Stables,
Swinbank Stables LLC, Adkisson, Steve and Atkinson, Andrew;
B-Steve Long Thoroughbreds (KY); T-George Weaver. $49,250.
3–Cardio Cat, 121, f, 2, Catalina Cruiser–Mo Shopping, by Uncle
Mo. ($15,000 Ylg '25 KEESEP). O-Heiligbrodt, Corinne,
Heiligbrodt, L. William, and Reimer, Ken T.; B-Hronis Racing,
LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $24,625.
Margins: 7, 3HF, 1 3/4. Odds: 0.45, 10.89, 8.75.
Also Ran: Glory Run, Velvet Beretta, Greatest Joy, Caffeine Fix, Sweet Mary.

gets the lead down the stretch and wins the Ellis Park Debutante S. for trainer @BLynchRacing with @luissaezpty aboard.#TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/Lte2g5vRqB

— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) August 9, 2026