Merry Maker rallied from last of seven in the final half-mile to win the $150,000 Lonesome Glory Handicap (NSA-1) Sept. 14 to open the Belmont at the Big A meeting at Aqueduct.
Winning trainer Archibald Kingsley Jr. swept the top three spots as L’Imperator finished second followed by Barbados .
Campaigned by Hurricana Farm, Merry Maker secured the first stakes victory of his career. Parker Hendriks was aboard. The top-level stakes win arrives in the seventh steeplechase start for Merry Maker, a 6-year-old Malinas gelding.
“It’s a journey with these horses, they develop over time and it takes time to grow into this kind of horse,” Kingsley said. “You’re looking at a progression of a horse in his development.”
