Zanim R. Meahjohn's 13-1 chance Rusty Slipper seized the lead nearing the sixteenth pole and comfortably earned her first graded stakes win in the $109,000 Violet Stakes (gr. IIIT) Aug. 23 at Monmouth Park.
Starstruck, Calumet Farm's 5-year-old Galileo mare, headlines the $100,000 Violet Stakes (gr. IIIT) Aug. 20 on the Jersey Shore, but the chestnut will have her work cut out for her against a full field.
Led by the $1 million William Hill Haskell Invitational (gr. I) July 27, Monmouth Park has announced a total stakes schedule of $5.8 million, including 17 graded events worth $3.55 million for the 2014 racing season.
Trainer Chad Brown, enjoying remarkable success with his grass runners in recent months, sends out a strong pair in Samitar and Pianist for the $200,000 Athenia Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Belmont Park Oct. 12.
Richard Santulli's Laughing tops 2-5 favorite Dayatthespa in Monmouth Park's Eatontown Handicap (gr. IIIT). The 5-year-old Irish bred daughter of Dansili sets a turf course mark of 1:39.26 for 1 1/16 miles.
Grade I winner Dayatthespa heads a solid lineup for the $100,000 Eatontown Handicap(gr. IIIT) June 29 on the grass at Monmouth Park, but weather conditions could play a factor.
Seven-year-old Romacaca will try to secure the 11th stakes victory of her career and third at Gulfstream Park when she faces an expected seven other fillies and mares in the $150,000 Suwannee River Stakes Feb. 9.
Romacaca was back in familiar surroundings after capturing the $100,000 South Beach Stakes, but she wouldn't have been in the Gulfstream Park winner's circle had owner Frank Calabrese received his price at auction.
Phillips Racing Partnership's homebred La Cloche, a half sister to Winter Memories, came flying with a tremendous late kick to win the $150,000 Athenia Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Belmont Park Oct. 13.
While Ruthenia and Laughing are co-highweights in the $150,000 Athenia Stakes at Belmont Park, they do not figure to hook up until late in the 1 1/16-mile turf race for females because of their different running styles.
Grade I winner Summer Soiree, last seen finishing second in the Matriarch Stakes (gr. IT) last November, makes her 2012 debut in the $250,000 Ballston Spa Stakes Presented by Jose Cuervo (gr. IIT) on Saratoga's inner turf.
With horses invading from at least four countries as well as various parts of the U.S. for the Beverly D. Aug. 18, it is somewhat ironic that the 3-1 morning line favorite has been based at Arlington much of the summer.
The Beverly D. Stakes that is part of Arlington Park's International Festival of Racing is ripe with contenders who are hard to separate on paper.
Silver Screamer, winner of the June 30 Eatontown Handicap (gr. IIIT) last out, is the 123-pound high weight in a field of eight fillies and mares entered for the $150,000 Taylor Made Matchmaker Stakes (gr. IIIT) July 29.
Frank Calabrese's Romacaca gamely held off Snow Top Mountain by a neck in the Modesty Handicap (gr. IIIT)at Arlington Park. The 6-year-old Running Stag mare covered the 1 3/16 miles in 1:56.67.
Two-time 2012 stakes winner Upperline carries top weight of 121 pounds July 14 in the 1 3/16-mile Modesty Handicap (gr. IIIT). The Modesty is one of four stakes on Arlington's 'Million Preview Day.'
An evenly-matched field of nine older fillies and mares heads postward July 3 in the $250,000 Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap (gr. IIIT), each seeking her first graded stakes score.
Gaining the services of jockey Jose Espinoza for the first time, Silver Screamer kicked clear under urging in the stretch to prevail by 1 1/2 lengths in the June 30 Eatontown Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Monmouth Park.
The June 30 Eatontown Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Monmouth Park has attracted a diverse group of fillies and mares, with graded stakes winners Ruthenia, Heavenly Landing, and Unbridled Humor being the standouts.
Virginia Kraft Payson's Ruthenia made the most of her Monmouth Park debut with a come-from-behind victory in the $100,000 Violet Stakes (gr. IIIT) May 28 at the New Jersey racetrack.
Unbridled Humor will be looking for her first win of the year and her first graded stakes victory since last September when she goes postward in the $100,000 Violet Stakes (gr. IIIT) over the Monmouth Park turf May 28.
Love and Pride, who has made it a habit of getting out to the lead, will be trying for her second stakes win of the year when she takes on eight rivals in the Allaire DuPont Distaff Stakes (gr. III).
Senada and Upperline, the respective winner and runner-up in the Rood & Riddle Dowager last fall over the Keeneland turf course, will meet again in the $150,000 Grey Goose Bewitch Stakes (gr. IIIT) April 26.
Robert Smithen's Bay to Bay hasn't won since taking the Nassau (Can-IIT) last summer at Woodbine, but she figures to be one of the main competitors in her season debut, the $150,000 Honey Fox Stakes March 18 at Gulfstream.
Zagora's great turn of foot delivered a win in the Hillsborough Stakes, just 3/5ths of a second off the Tampa Bay Downs track record for 1 1/8 miles on the turf.
| Horse | Trainer | Breeder / Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Here to Win (BRZ) | Kiaran P. McLaughlin |
|
| In the Rough | Kelly J. Breen |
|
| My Redbyrd | John P. Terranova, II |
|
| Pinch Pie | Anthony W. Dutrow |
|
| Romacaca | Danny L. Miller |
|
| Ruthenia | Christophe Clement |
|
| Unbridled Humor | H. Graham Motion |
|
| Whipsaw City (FR) | Chad C. Brown |
|
| Race | Track |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan H. (gr. I) | BEL |
| Ogden Phipps H. (gr. I) | BEL |
| TVG Acorn S. (gr. I) | BEL |
| Lone Star Park H. (gr. III) | LS |
| Gamely S. (gr. I) | BHP |
| Race | Track | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Azalea S. | DED | |
| Islamorada H. | GP | |
| Downthedustyroad Breeders' S. | OP | |
| Mt. Cristo Rey H. | SUN |
