Songandaprayer Returns in Jersey Shore

Songandaprayer will face City Zip as the 122-pound co-highweight in Wednesday's Jersey Shore Breeders' Cup Stakes (gr. III), the third race on Monmouth Park's 10-race holiday card. The six-furlong sprint marks the first race for Songandaprayer since finishing 13th in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I).

"He's ready to roll," trainer John Dowd said. "His works have all been designed to get him back to a sprint after all those two-turn races."

Songandaprayer and City Zip last raced against each other in the Florida Derby (gr. I) in March at Gulfstream Park. In that 1 1/8-mile race, both colts finished off the board. Prior to that, Songandaprayer won the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. I), in which City Zip finished third.

The Jersey Shore also marks Songandaprayer's return to Monmouth Park, the site of his maiden win last June. In his racing debut, Songandaprayer held off Starbury to win by a half-length on a track listed as good. Also as a juvenile, Songandaprayer won Aqueduct's six-furlong Huntington Stakes.

"City Zip is the horse to beat," Dowd said. "He's the most accomplished at the distance. But we've won sprinting, and Songandaprayer is doing well now. We're ready."

City Zip will race under three less pounds than Songandaprayer when he breaks from post-position four under jockey Jose Ferrer. The son of Carson City last raced at Pimlico in May, winning the six-furlong Hirsch Jacobs Stakes by three lengths over Jersey Shore entrant Sea of Green.

"He's really been a very good sprinter," trainer Linda Rice said. "We'll keep him running at distances from six furlongs to a mile from now on. That's where he does his best running."

The field for the $100,000 Jersey Shore Breeders' Cup Stakes will consist of:

1 -- Sea of Green, Harry Vega, 117, 6-1
2 -- San Mont Andreas, Simon Husbands, 122, 20-1
3 -- Multiple Choice, Eibar Coa, 115, 9-2
4 -- City Zip, Jose Ferrer, 119, 7-5
5 -- Songandaprayer, Joe Bravo, 122, 1-1