An ultra-game Get Serious was at it again at Monmouth Park Sept. 5, holding off the charging Nownownow by a neck for a repeat win the $197,500 Red Bank Stakes (gr. IIIT) on the turf before a crowd of 16,017 (VIDEO).
Odds-on choice Get Serious won for the 10th time in 13 starts on the Monmouth lawn and went over the $1 million mark in career earnings with his victory in the one-mile Red Bank.
Ridden by Pablo Fragoso, Get Serious stumbled at the start and was jostled early, then settled just off At the Disco's sizzling fractions of :21.89 for the first quarter of a mile, :45.10 for the half and 1:08.32 for six furlongs. Get Serious moved alongside At the Disco in upper stretch before kicking away to a clear advantage.
Nownownow, rallying from last while saving ground to the far turn, cut the corner with a head of steam and closed powerfully before running out of time in a game effort for jockey Joe Bravo.
Get Serious, carrying top weight of 123 pounds, reached the wire in 1:32.37 over firm turf.
“He stumbled pretty badly which I think cost him getting to the lead,” said winning trainer John Forbes. “He overcame a lot. He was giving some weight, stumbled, didn’t really have the perfect scenario, but still overcame it."
Get Serious won for the sixth time in seven starts at the one-mile distance.
"If he comes out of this race as good as he’s been coming out of his races, we can’t rule out Churchill," Forbes said, referring to the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (gr. IT) Nov. 6.
Owned by James M. Dinan, Jacques J. Moore and Phantom House Farm, Get Serious paid $3.20, $2.20 and $2.10 in the field of six. Nownownow, winner of the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, returned $3.40 and $2.40 and completed the $8.60 exacta. It was 4 1/4 lengths back to Boots Ahead, who paid $2.80 to show with Eibar Coa aboard.
At the Disco, Strike Again and Legal Move completed the order.
Get Serious won for the fourth time in five starts in 2010, all at Monmouth. He previosuly captured an allowance race in May, the Monmouth Stakes (gr. IIIT) in June and the Oceanport Stakes (gr. IIIT) Aug. 1.
The 6-year-old gelding by City Zip from the Java Gold mare Java Gal now sports a record of 13-2-2 from 30 starts. In winning the Red Bank, Get Serious earned $120,000 to boost his lifetime bankroll to $1,000,691.
Morgan's Ford Farm bred the winning chestnut in New York.