Sophomores Seek Graded Score in Jersey Shore

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Photo: Lisa Dominguez/ Coady Photography

Borderland Derby winner Isn't He Clever faces 5 in the Jersey Shore.

Six sophomores seeking their first graded stakes score head postward in the $100,000 Jersey Shore Stakes (gr. III) July 14, sprinting six furlongs at Monmouth Park.

The Jersey Shore, race 10 on a 12-race card with an estimated post time of 5:17 p.m. EDT, has drawn a familiar name from the Triple Crown prep ranks in Kirk and Judy Robison's Isn't He Clever, a gelded son of Smarty Jones  . Trainer Steve Asmussen sent the runner to victory in the ungraded Borderland Derby Feb. 25, and a second-place finish in the March 25 Sunland Derby (gr. III) three-quarters of a length behind Daddy Nose Best.

But Isn't He Clever's past two races demonstrated declining form; he was eighth in the Arkansas Derby (gr. I) April 14 and seventh after a freshening in his most recent start, the June 9 Woody Stephens Stakes (gr. II) at Belmont Park. He is the lone stakes winner in the field. Mike Luzzi gets the mount from post three.

Patricia Generazio's homebred Cape Cod Canal, a gelded son of Wildcat Heir  , comes into the Jersey Shore off an 8 1/2-length wire-to-wire romp in a maiden special weight going the same distance June 23. It was only the second start for the Jane Cibelli-trained runner, who made his debut at six furlongs June 6 with a runner-up finish by a head. Elvis Trujillo will be in the saddle breaking from the outside. 

Another Wildcat Heir runner, Wildcat Creek, became an allowance winner by a neck for BNB Racing and Rick Shanley June 24 at Monmouth. Local conditioner Eddie Plesa Jr. trains; it was the colt's second score dating back to a maiden special weight score last Sept. 25. Wildcat Creek makes his second start in graded company after an unremarkable run in the Hutcheson Stakes (gr. II) Feb. 11, where he finished fourth out of five going seven furlongs. Angel Serpa rides from post five.

Scaramagna, a maiden winner who drew the rail and last ran third after pressing the pace in a one-mile allowance at Suffolk Downs, Rass Stone, last of six in a most recent start going 5 1/2 furlongs on the Monmouth turf June 16, and Well Spelled, third in a June 24 allowance going the Jersey Shore distance, complete the field.

$100,000 Jersey Shore Stakes (gr. III, Race 10, approximate post 5:17 p.m. EDT) 3YOs, six furlongs (dirt)
PP., Horse, Jockey, Trainer (all runners carry 116 pounds)
1.Scaramagna (KY), P. Lopez, M J Vitali
2. Rass Stone (KY), S. Uske, K J Fields
3. Isn't He Clever (KY), M.J. Luzzi, S M Asmussen
4. Well Spelled (KY), P. Fragoso, B W Perkins, Jr.
5. Wildcat Creek (FL), A. Serpa, E Plesa, Jr.
6. Cape Cod Canal (FL), E. Trujillo, J. Cibelli
 

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