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Vigilantes Way Finds Path To Winner’s Circle In Eatontown At Monmouth Park

Even after 11 career starts, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has been saying that the best is yet to come for Vigilantes Way.

Sunday's Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. may be the start of that for the 4-year-old filly.

Perfectly positioned to chase soft early fractions by jockey Paco Lopez despite leaving from post position 12, Vigilantes Way showed an impressive closing kick to win the $150,000 G3 Eatontown Stakes by 2¼ lengths before a season-high crowd of 12,562 on Father's Day.

It marked the first graded stakes victory for the Phipps Stable homebred, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro out of Salute by Unbridled.

“I thought Paco rode a good race,” said McGaughey. “He got her away from there from the outside and had her in good position. I knew she would finish. She had trained very well before she went down there. It was just a matter of whether she would take the shipping on a hot day like today. She obviously did. I'm very proud of her.”

Able to break alertly with Vigilantes Way, Lopez sat behind pacesetter Valletta through tepid fractions of :24.54, :48.70, 1:12.12, and 1:35.87 for the opening mile of the mile and a sixteenth race on a turf course that has been playing fast. Lopez asked his filly coming out of the final turn, and she responded in a big way, easily surging past Valletta, who held on for second. Crystal Cliffs and Counterparty Risk finished in a dead heat for third, another half-length back, in the full field of 12 fillies and mares 3 years old and up.

The winning time for the race was 1:41.90.

“Sometimes this horse has speed, sometimes not,” said Lopez. “The post position (12) is something I usually don't like but today it worked to our advantage. I was able to get out there and get in a good position behind (Valletta). It set up nicely for us.

“Shug told me to do whatever I felt I needed to do. She is usually in the top three early and I knew she would finish. She has a strong kick. It looked like there was a lot of speed in the race but they went kind of slow so I was happy with the position I was in throughout the race. I didn't have to make up a lot of ground.”

McGaughey was especially encouraged by Vigilantes Way's prospects for the Eatontown Stakes off her last race, when she closed into slow fractions on the Preakness Day undercard at Pimlico, falling a half-length short to multiple-graded stakes winner Mean Mary.

“I thought her last race in Pimlico was a really good race because she kind of got jumbled up at the start and got out of position,” said McGaughey. “She only got beat a half-length by Mean Mary, a multiple-graded stakes winner. Now maybe we can go on and get her stretched out, maybe to a mile and an eighth. She's handy. She might be able to get it. When that will be, I don't know. But today I am very pleased with the way she ran and very proud of her.

“Getting a graded stakes win is important, especially for a filly with a pedigree like hers. It's as good a pedigree as you are going to find. So now she's a graded stakes winner. Hopefully, it might lead to something even better.”

Vigilantes Way returned $9.20 to win for her fifth lifetime victory in 12 starts. She has failed to hit the board only twice in her career.

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McGaughey Confident About Vigilantes Way In Sunday’s Eatontown Stakes

Even after 11 career starts, six of them wins or runner-up finishes, Shug McGaughey believes the best is yet to come for the 4-year-old filly Vigilantes Way.

Her last race underscored that belief for the Hall of Fame trainer.

The regally-bred Vigilantes Way was able to close into slow early fractions before just missing by a half-length in the Grade 3 Gallorette Stakes at a mile and a sixteenth on the grass on Pimilco's May 15 Preakness card. The horse that held on to beat her? Mean Mary, a five-time graded stakes winner and millionaire who is 7-for-11 lifetime, including a win in the Grade 2 New York Stakes in her next start.

Now Vigilantes Way, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro – Salute by Unbridled, will look to build off that effort in Sunday's Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park. The $150,000 feature, which drew a full field of 12 (plus four alternates), is also scheduled for a mile and a sixteenth on the turf.

“We didn't get the position out of the gate that we wanted to in (her last race),” said McGaughey. “She had a little trouble early and we were further back than we wanted to be. But I was pleased with the way she closed. She got beat a half-length by a very good filly.

“That gives us some more hope that the future is bright for her.”

After a solid 3-year-old campaign in which the Phipps Stable homebred won 4-of-7 starts, Vigilantes Way is 0-for-3 this year. But two of her losses have come in Grade 3 events.

“I think she has come back this year even better than I expected her to,” said McGaughey. “She has been a bit of a surprise. She was small as a yearling and she would not have been one that you picked out in the field for her pedigree. But everything she has done so far has been right.

“I think she still has a pretty good future in front of her.”

McGaughey said that adding a graded stakes win to her credentials would be significant for Vigilantes Way but that it's not something he is obsessed with.

“With her pedigree, it is something we're looking to get,” he said. “Basically, I'm just looking to win a race with her, whether it's graded or not. I thought this race was a good spot on the calendar. It gave her plenty of time from Pimlico to here. We'll see what happens.”

Paco Lopez has the mount.

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Stidham Hoping For Big Effort From Micheline In Sunday’s Eatontown Stakes

Now that Micheline has notched her first graded stakes victory, doing so in her 2021 debut, trainer Michael Stidham is convinced there's much more to come this year for the 4-year-old daughter of Bernardini.

The next step is Sunday's Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park, with the $150,000 Father's Day feature race attracting a full field of 12 (as well as four alternates). Stidham is hoping the mile and a sixteenth grass race sets up the Godolphin runner for the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes on Aug. 14 at Arlington.

“We had her ready to go at Belmont Park on June 4 (in the Grade 2 New York Stakes) but it absolutely poured rain,” he said. “It had rained there for a couple of days and right before the race they had to postpone the post parade because it was raining so hard. So we scratched her out of that.

“We needed a race for her. We knew this one would come up tough but we're pointing to the Beverly D. So we needed a race. It's time to get another race in her.

“Hopefully we'll get a good firm turf course on Sunday at Monmouth.”

Stidham learned about Micheline's aversion to a soft or yielding turf the hard way. After a sharp seasonal debut that saw her win the Grade 2 Hillsborough Stakes at Tampa Downs on March 6 off a five-month layoff – “I didn't feel like I had her cranked up to 100 percent but she won anyway,” Stidham said – Micheline was a tiring sixth in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland on April 10.

That race was run over a yielding turf course.

“The race at Keeneland was a disappointment but the rain came down in buckets all morning and all day and the turf was horribly soft,” said Stidham. “She hated it. She never looked comfortable on it. When it came time for her to make her move she was spinning her wheels.

“To me it's a throw-out race.”

Micheline has proven to be a consistent turf router during her 14-race career with five wins, two seconds and a third. She has earned $671,978.

“She was always a filly that showed us a lot of ability and talent,” said Stidham. “The proof of that is we shipped her to Saratoga for her first career start (in 2019). That will tell you what we thought of her. We rarely ship to Saratoga unless we really like one.”

Micheline finished third in her racing debut. Stidham then shipped her to Monmouth Park, where she won the Sorority Stakes at a mile on the grass – as a maiden.

If Stidham has any reservations about the Eatontown Stakes — beyond the full, competitive field — it's the distance. Micheline won the Hillsborough at a mile and an eighth and has also won a mile and a half stakes race.

She is 1-for-5 lifetime at the Eatontown distance.

“I would say it's a little short for her,” Stidham said. “I would say she is better going a mile and an eighth and up. We hope she can overcome the distance Sunday with her class and talent.”

Mychel Sanchez has the mount.

First race post time for Sunday's 12-race card is 12:15.

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Pricey Valiance Handles Switch From Turf To Slop, Wins Eatontown At Monmouth

Valiance added another dimension to an impressive start to her career, drawing away in mid-stretch over a sloppy track to win Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, the $650,000 yearling purchase entered the Eatontown with four wins from six career starts, with five of those races on the grass. She raced once on the dirt but never over a sloppy track.

“I thought she ran great,” said Pletcher. “It definitely seemed like she improved in her training on the dirt so we weren't concerned when it came off. It looks like she handled it really nicely. He (jockey Nik Juarez) rode her very confidently.”

The Eatontown Stakes, originally scheduled for a mile and a sixteenth on grass, was switched to the main track because of early morning rain.

“I wasn't worried about the sloppy track with her,” said Juarez. “I got to ride a race on the dirt with her at Gulfstream. Todd had her in a stakes race in Florida (the Powder Break Stakes on May16) and it came off the grass and she ran on the dirt that day. So I was happy she had a dirt race under her because all of her other starts have been on the grass. I was really confident today.”

Juarez was able to sit tucked in behind dueling leaders Valedictorian and Gotham Gala in the reduced field of five through fractions of :23.85 to the opening quarter, :47.68 to the half mile and 1:12.60 to six furlongs.

Midway through the final turn he nudged Valiance to the outside and she immediately drew even with Gotham Gala, with Valedictorian starting to retreat. Gotham Gala tried gamely to stay with Valiance, but Juarez had plenty in reserve, winning by a widening 1 1/2 lengths. It was another 15 1/4 lengths back in third to Valedictorian.

Final time for the mile and a sixteenth was 1:44.25.

“We had a perfect trip, sitting right behind the speed,” said Juarez. “When we turned for home I was able to tip her out and she was much the best. She just ran away from them. I knew Valedictorian would go out for the lead. So I just wanted to wait with her and let her settle and we were able to do just that.”

Valiance, a daughter of Tapit, paid $3.80 to win as the favorite. The 4-year-old filly, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Martin Schwartz and CHC Inc., started her career 3-for-3 as a 3-year-old, with two of those victories on the turf at Monmouth Park. She is now 5-for-7 lifetime.

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