Naveed Chowhan's Seaneen Girl shipped into Monmouth Park from her Kentucky base and left town Aug. 10 with an authoritative six-length victory in the $105,000 Monmouth Oaks (gr. III) (VIDEO).
Trained by Bernie Flint, the 3-year-old daughter of Spring At Last and jockey Paco Lopez set just off the pace of Makayla's Angel and jockey Kendrick Carmouche through moderate fractions of :23.91 and :48.03 before taking charge midway through the second turn.
After stopping the timer in 1:12.70 for six furlongs and 1:37.72 for a mile, Seaneen Girl rolled unchallenged in deep stretch to complete the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.04 on a fast track.
Mr Hall's Opus, off at 14-1 odds for jockey Stewart Elliott and trainer Kelly Breen, made a late run along the rail after being last early to get second, a neck in front of Lucky Rag Doll and Joe Bravo
Seaneen Girl, the 7-5 favorite in the eight-horse field, paid $4.80, $3, and $2.40. Mr Hall's Opus, an Officer filly making only her fifth career start, paid $12.60 and $6.60. The exacta was worth $66.40. Lucky Rag Doll returned $2.60 and completed a $97.50 trifecta for $1.
Zenzara finished fourth, followed by Alli Leigh, Makayla's Angel, Mary Bernice, and C C Gold. Makayla's Angel, angled over to the rail to take the early lead after the break, was disqualified after a stewards' inquiry and relegated to last.
The victory was the third in 13 starts for the winning chestnut filly who also has five placings to her credit and has earned $343,636. Previous to the Oaks, Seaneen Girl's last victory had come at Churchill Downs in November when she won the Golden Rod Stakes (gr. II) at 31-1 odds in her first outing for Flint. She had lost six straight since then.
"She basically did that right off the van," winning trainer Flint said of the Monmouth Oaks. "She left Churchill on Thursday night and had a 15-hour van ride. That was a real impressive race from her. She's such a nice filly. The Breeders' Cup (Distaff, gr. I) down the road is always something you look at, but for now we'll just see how she comes out of this one."
Bred in Kentucky by John Trumbulovic out of the Afternoon Deelites mare Afternoon Krystal, Seaneen Girl was a $5,000 purchase by trainer Robert Tiller, agent, from the Darby Dan Farm, agent, consignment to the 2011 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale.
Racing for Tiller and Rolph A. Davis, the filly was victorious in her career debut and was then purchased by Chowhan following a second-place effort in the Mazarine Stakes (Can-III) at Woodbine last October.