Saratoga Snacks, owned by Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells, won the $250,000 Empire Classic on Saturday, the richest race of Empire Showcase Day at Belmont Park.
The 11-race card, including seven stakes, was devoted to horses bred in New York.
Saratoga Snacks, second in the Empire Classic last year, beat Bigger is Bettor by three-quarters of a length with Joel Rosario aboard. The 4-year-old trained by Gary Sciacca improved to 7 for 10 with the richest victory of his career. Saratoga Snacks paid $5 to win. The time was 1:48.79 for 1 1/8 miles.
Parcells watched the race on television in Florida, according to Sciacca.
In the other stakes:
• Miss Narcissist pulled a 5-1 upset over 3-5 favorite Court Dancer in the $150,000 Joseph A. Gimma for 2-year-old fillies.
• Wired Bryan, the 1-5 favorite, easily won $150,000 Bertram F. Bomgard Stakes for 2-year-olds.
• Cluster of Stars improved to 7 for 7 with a pacesetting win as the 1-10 choice in the $150,000 Iroquois for fillies and mares.
• Effie Trinket edged Sally's Dream by a nose in the $200,000 Ticonderoga for fillies and mares on the turf.
• Palace rallied to beat Moonlight Song by 1 1/4 lengths in the $150,000 Hudson for sprinters.
• King Kressa held off Lubash in the $200,000 Mohawk on the grass.
