Whitney Day ‘25 brings in highest purse ever by wild amount
And other tidbits from an epic racing weekend.
Whitney Weekend ‘25 was an epic one.
The actual race was electric down the stretch, with the favorite, Fierceness, being smoked in front of 42,000 screaming spectators. The great Sierra Leone — with Flavien Prat aboard — came from behind (literally, from last place) to take home the Whitney Stakes prize. It was wild. Highland Falls was next, with Disarm in third and White Abarrio (my fave) in fourth.
I hadn’t felt a crowd on fire like that since last year’s Belmont.
Earlier in the day, the Mark Casse-trained Ewing won (Race 3) again, but Frank Mirahmadi this time did a more classic call, having already stretched his sports trivia muscles for his slam dunk of a call for Ewing’s first win last month (Ewing is named after NBA great Patrick Ewing). It was an exciting win, as Obliteration, who placed, was the 1-4 favorite for the top of the board.
Instead, he saved his sports zingers for Sunday’s Race 2. Johnny’s Red Storm, co-owned by St. John’s University head basketball coach Rick Pitino’s RAP Racing, was the favorite to win. And boy, did he deliver, winning by four and a half lengths. Frank’s call: “Johnny's Red Storm. Nothing but net.”
Back to Saturday, just a few local sightings in the crowd: former Channel 10 meteorologist (and huge horse racing fan) Jill Szwed with current Channel 10 reporter Cassie Hudson in almost-matching pink hats, Renee Walrath in hot pink, Leigh and Kim McConchie in coordinated (of course) rose pink and an adorable new member of the extended family, Zane Carruth and family, photographer Cathy Duffy making the rounds in the Cutwater boxes, and King’s Tavern owner Adam Fitch with his own camera.
And that (record-breaking) purse. NYRA announced yesterday that Saturday’s “blockbuster” handle was a whopping $49,651,341 million — a 22.7 percent increase over 2024’s record of $40,461,888. That makes it almost $10 million more than any other Whitney.
What a weekend — I highly recommend clicking on the below video from NYRA.
Related Links!
King’s Tavern owner takes his shot at the Whitney