Forty Thieves captured the colt and gelding division of the NATC (National Association of Two-Year-Old Consignors) Futurity just after R Betty Graybull scored in the filly division Sept. 27 at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.
Ridden by Rafael Mojica Jr., Forty Thieves rolled to a 5 ½-length win, covering six furlongs over a sloppy main track in 1:09 4/5. The colt by Read the Footnotes returned $7.80, $3.60, and $3.20 and topped a $22.60 exacta. Valiancy, the 6-5 favorite in the field of six, paid $2.80 and $2.40. Pray for Action was another 1 ¼ lengths back in third and paid $3.20 to show.
Forty Thieves “did everything right,” said winning trainer Steve Klesaris. “He was very impressive and definitely has a bright future in front of him. We’ll take him back to the training center, evaluate him, and then go on from there.”
Forty Thieves scored for the second time in as many races while taking the $200,000 male division of the NATC Futurity, which is restricted to horses that have cataloged for sale during 2008 and whose consignors paid a 2008 advertising fund fee. He has banked $144,000 for owner Puglisi Racing.
Fantasy Lane Stable’s R Betty Graybull stalked the early pacesetters before powering past her rivals in deep stretch to post a neck victory in the $200,000 Fillies Division of the NATC Futurity.
Trained by Alan Seewald, R Betty Graybull, a daughter of Holy Bull, covered the six furlongs in the slop in 1:10 3/5 and returned $4, $2.60, and $2.10 as the odds-on choice. Kays and Jays, one of the early pacesetters, returned $3.60 and $2.20 and completed a $14.20 exacta. Trusty Temper, the other pacesetter, was another length and a half back in third, good for a $3 show mutuel.
“She broke real sharp,” said winning jockey C. H. Marquez Jr., “and a few horses were going head-to-head for the early head. I didn’t want to pull back so I kept my ground and a couple horses backed off. I sat third around the turn and she kicked in when I asked her in the lane.”
R Betty Graybull has now won two races in three starts with earnings of $153,200.
Monmouth Park will present its 100th and final live race card of the 2008 season on Sunday, Sept. 28. Gates open at 11:30 a.m. with first post set for 12:50 p.m. Closing Day is fan appreciation day with free grandstand and half-price clubhouse admission.
