HALLANDALE BEACH - Led by such turf standouts as Memories of Silver, Wonder Again, Winter Memories and champion Soaring Softly, trainer Jimmy Toner has enjoyed many special winner’s circle moments over the past seven decades, but his latest might just top them all.

    Joseph Allen’s 7-year-old Siege of Boston, the star of Toner’s modest six-horse stable, split horses in mid-stretch and surged past multiple stakes winner Tank approaching the wire to register a half-length victory in Sunday’s $70,000 Empire Builder overnight handicap at Gulfstream Park, giving the 86-year-old trainer his career 900th win.

    Ridden for the first time by Samy Camacho, Siege of Boston ($7.40) bested six rivals for his sixth career win and first in a stakes, including favored dual Grade 3 winner Making the Cut and multiple stakes winner Prevent in the Empire Builder for 3-year-olds and up going a one-turn mile on the grass. The winning time was 1:33.37 over a firm turf course.

    It was the third starter for Toner since he earned win No. 899 July 5 at Gulfstream with Team of Rivals. He has first-time starter Citizen of London, a 3-year-old Allen homebred, entered in Monday’s finale.  “I feel pretty good right now,” Toner said, flanked by his son, James, and grandsons Stephen, 9, and Charles, 7. “When he got to the wire it was pretty exciting. I’m a little emotional about it now, especially when you have family here with you. It’s pretty special.”

    The Empire Builder was Siege of Boston’s 30th lifetime start, the last 28 coming since joining Toner in the summer of 2022. The bay son of War Front had three seconds and four thirds in 15 prior stakes attempts with three Gr. III placings, including runner-up by a half-length in Gulfstream’s 2024 Canadian Turf. Toner’s last stakes win came in the 2019 Caress at Saratoga with Monimou. 

    “I think it’s pretty neat because this is one of the first horses I got from Joe Allen four years ago. He’s hung in there pretty good since,” Toner said. “It was nice to get it with him, too.”

    Tank set the pace along the rail pressed by Private Thoughts through a quarter mile in 23.57 seconds with 16-1 longshot Prevent and Indecisiveness dueling for third and Siege of Boston settled in behind. The half went in 47 seconds with Camacho and Siege of Boston wedging up between Prevent and Indecisiveness trailing the top two.

    Siege of Boston rounded the far turn with plenty of energy and Camacho looking for room, which came as the field straightened out for home.

    “The horse was doing good,” Toner said. “I thought a mile might be a little short, but [Camacho] rode a beautiful race on him. I told him to stay inside and save ground and when you get to the backside get outside, because he runs his best races outside. He couldn’t have done it any better. Siege of Boston hit a seam between Private Thoughts and Indecisiveness and set his sights on Tank, coming with a steady run to reel in the pacesetter in his first start since a May 30 win at Laurel Park.”

    Tank stayed up for second, 1 ½ lengths ahead of late-running I Know I Know, followed by Missed the Cut, Indecisiveness, Prevent and Private Thoughts.

            “It was pretty exciting,” Toner said. “We got the best turned out [award before the race] and usually what happens when we get the best turned out is, we lose. When they gave it to us, I was like, ‘Oh, no.’ But it worked out good.”



            Toner began working on the backstretch as a teenage hotwalker in the 1950s, running his first horses in 1960. Since that time he has won 54 graded-stakes, 15 of them Grade 1, and banked more than $36.5 million in purse earnings. Among those graded wins are Soaring Softly in the 1999 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), held at Gulfstream, and 2008 Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2) with Sir Whimsey.



Toner is best known for his success with turf fillies, among them Grade 1 millionaires Soaring Softly, the champion grass female of 1999; Memories of Silver, Wonder Again and Memories of Silver’s daughter, Winter Memories, as well as Grade 1 winner Time and Motion, an earner of nearly $968,

    West Point Thoroughbreds’ Counting Stars (Honor A.P.- Paynterbynumbers, by Paynter) put herself squarely atop the 3-year-old filly division when she soundly defeating Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Always a Runner for the second time this year in the Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga Race Course, leading the slate of stakes-winning OBS graduates.

    Trained by dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Counting Stars was an authoritative winner of the Acorn last out over course and distance with a 3 3/4-length score over Always a Runner, and was just as dominant on Saturday as she drove home a 4 1/4-length winner. Counting Stars was third in the Kentucky Oaks ahead of their first rematch in the Acorn. 

    “She's a special horse. She is,” Casse said. “It was great for racing to see the two of them go at it. We said all along this week that this was round three, the rubber match. So, that's what happened. Luckily, we ended up on the right side of it.”

    Counting Stars was purchased by her owners at the 2025 OBS April Sale for $150,000 from the Wildheart Thoroughbreds consignment after breezing in :10 flat.

    The Saratoga card also saw Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ Built (Hard Spun – Sea Garden, by Curlin) earn his first graded win with a victory in the Grade 2, $400,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt. Trained by Wayne Catalano, the 4-year-old son of Hard Spun powered away to a 2 1/2-length score. He was purchased by his owner for $260,000 out of the Harris Training Center consignment at the 2024 OBS April Sale after breezing in :9 4/5.

    At Monmouth Park, Averill Racing, Mathis Stable and Tristan de Meric’s My Miss Mo (Uncle Mo – In a Dream, by Quality Road) followed up her May 15 score in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan with a gate-to-wire victory in the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks, winning comfortably by 1 1/2 lengths.

    Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., My Miss Mo was purchased by Averill Racing and Mathis Stable for $320,000 from the de Meric Sales consignment at the 2025 OBS March Sale after breezing in :10 1/5.

    At Saratoga, Klaravich Stables’ Fully Subscribed (Tiz the Law-Sweetbaby, by Candy Ride (ARG)) overtook dual Grade 1-winner and fellow OBS graduate Scottish Lassie in the final jumps to capture the Grade 2, $250,000 Shuvee Stakes.

    Trained by Chad Brown, the daughter of Tiz the Law earned her third graded win following past successes in the Grade 2 Mother Goose and Grade 3 Comely last winter at Aqueduct Racetrack. Fully Subscribed was purchased at the 2024 OBS April Sale by her owner for $300,000 from the Caliente Thoroughbreds consignment after breezing in :10 flat.

    At Del Mar, BAG Racing Stables and WSS Racing’s Baltic Fire (Flameaway-Fisc, by Lemon Drop Kid) held on gamely late to capture the $100,000 Osunitas Stakes by a neck. The victory in the 1-mile turf test was the first black-type stakes win for the 5-year-old mare, who is trained by Jeff Mullins.

    Baltic Fire was purchased by Paul Galli at the 2023 OBS April Sale for $70,000 from the Mason Springs Partnership consignment after breezing in :10 2/5.

    At Colonial Downs, the inaugural $100,000 Yorktown Stakes came down to a photo finish as Mark Grier’s Inveigled (Enticed—Kitty Quality, by Quality Road) outdueled odds-on favorite Barbadian Runner to score by a nose and earn his first stakes victory.

    Trained by Arnaud Delacour, Inveigled was purchased by Ben Gowans, agent at the 2023 OBS June Sale for $52,000 from the Hoppel's Horse & Cattle Co. consignment after breezing in :10 flat.