Graded stakes victors Get Serious and Nownownow headline a seasoned, seven-horse cast of stakes winners slated to go postward in the Sept. 5 Red Bank Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Monmouth Park.
The $200,000 Red Bank, which will be contested at one mile on the turf, is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.
Local hopeful Get Serious, the only horse to have won a graded stakes last out, looks ready to fire again following his neck victory in the Aug. 1 Oceanport Stakes (gr. IIIT). The 6-year-old gelding by City Zip, who also captured this year’s Monmouth Stakes (gr. IIIT) June 12, is trained by John Forbes for James Dinan, Jacques Moore, and Phantom House Farm.
Get Serious is also no stranger to the one-mile distance on Monmouth’s turf, as he scored in last year’s Battlefield and Elkwood Stakes at the same conditions. Bred in New York by Morgan’s Ford Farm, Get Serious boasts a record of 12-2-2 from 29 starts, for earnings of $880,691. Carrying top weight of 123 pounds, he will break from post 4 under regular rider Pablo Fragoso.
The Patrick Biancone-trained Nownownow scored his big victory in the 2009 San Fernando Stakes (gr. II) at Santa Anita Park, but the 5-year-old son of Whywhywhy has failed to find the winner’s circle since. Owned by Fab Oak Stable, Kona Stables, Bobby Trussell, and Lewis Lakin, the bay horse’s best effort thus far on turf came as a 2-year-old when capturing the With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga.
Coming into the Red Bank off a fourth-place effort behind Get Serious in the Oceanport, Nownownow will look to redeem that loss while ridden by Joe Bravo for the first time. The pair will break from post 3.
Other previous stakes winners on turf looking to step up in class in the Red Bank include Boots Ahead, Strike Again, and General Perfect. At the Disco, a winner last out in an optional claimer on Monmouth’s turf Aug. 7, and Legal Move round out the field. Both are multiple stakes victors on dirt.
$200,000 Red Bank Stakes (gr. III, Race 11, 5:30 p.m.), 3 & Up, One Mile (Turf)
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Boots Ahead, E Coa, 116, G Weaver
2. Strike Again, E Trujillo, 116, W I Mott
3. Nownownow, J Bravo, 116, P Biancone
4. Get Serious, P Fragoso, 123, J Forbes
5. At the Disco, E Castro, 118, M Hartmann
6. General Perfect, P Lopez, 116, F Costa
7. Legal Move, H Vega, 116, M Wright Jr.
