KARAKONTIE juveniles continued to impress on Friday when Gainesway homebred Memorialize won the Tepin Stakes at Aqueduct.
Trained by Graham Motion, the filly raced nearly five lengths behind the leader early on before putting herself in the mix in the one-mile turf race. Coaxed for more by Manny Franco with just over a quarter left to run, Memorialize was on a mission as she swung wide into the stretch.
Flying up the outside, she closed strongly in the final furlong to have her neck in front as the race favorite at the line.
“At the three-sixteenths pole, I said, ‘come on, filly!’ I felt that I had the horse to go by them, but she still didn’t put it together. From the sixteenth to the eighth pole, she leveled up and gave me what she had left,” Franco said.
2YO MEMORIALIZE, by @Gainesway stallion Karakontie, wins the Tepin by a nose under @jockeyfranco for @GrahamMotion! pic.twitter.com/DZ2amiC220
— NYRA (🗽) (@TheNYRA) November 17, 2023
It was the third top two finish in four starts for the KARAKONTIE juvenile, who has won two of those starts.
The filly is the first out of the stakes-placed Smart Emma, a half-sister to the stakes winning Kagura. They are out of multiple group winner and Irish champion Miss Emma, who produced seven winners from nine to race.
Smart Emma also has a KARAKONTIE yearling filly, who sold to Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Gary Barber, and Bridlewood Farm for $525,000 in September and she foaled a KARAKONTIE colt this year.
This is the third juvenile stakes winner and fourth juvenile stakes performer for KARAKONTIE in 2023 with the stallion seeing nearly half his juveniles win at least one race this term.