jersey shore stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Real Talk Gets First Stakes Win In Jersey Shore At Monmouth

A few jumps out of the starting gate, jockey Paco Lopez knew he was a winner in Sunday's $100,000 Jersey Shore Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

With a pair of speedsters – Mighty Mischief and Moonlite Stroke – inside of him, Lopez and Real Talk got the jump on both from the start of the six-furlong feature and cruised to a front-running 4½-length victory, with the 3-year-old son of Gemologist notching the first stakes win of his 10-race career.

Mighty Mischief, in post position three, and Moonlight Strike, in post position one, both looked to have superior early speed on paper. But Lopez never let either one get close to the lead, opening up on the field a few jumps out of the gate.

“I'm not surprised he made the lead even with all of the speed inside of him,” said winning trainer Carlos David. “I had Paco Lopez. When the horse was in Gulfstream (before shipping to Monmouth) I called Paco's agent and said `I need him for this race.' He said `we have to wait for nominations.' I told him `I don't care. I need Paco on this horse.'

“Paco was the key. The horse is nice and he's fast but Paco getting him out there on the lead was the difference. He rode him great. I was worried about Mighty Mischief but I was also worried about Moonlite Strike because he had the one post and I was thinking he was going to go. I felt I needed to beat both to the spot to get the rail and we got it and he got the job done.”

After breaking on top, Lopez rolled through fractions of :22 flat for the opening quarter and :44.44 for the half. With yet another speedster, Fire Sword, backing out after being frustrated from chasing the leader, Mighty Mischief made a three-wide bid coming around the final turn. But he found himself in the uncomfortable position of chasing instead of being chased. It was another length back to Moonlite Strike in third.

“Sometimes you have to be lucky,” said Lopez, well on his way to an eighth riding title at Monmouth Park. “Sometimes you have to come out there firing, sometimes not. He just broke out of the gate so fast. He was right on top after the gate opened. It reminded me of when I rode quarter horses.

“I knew Mighty Mischief was the horse to beat and that we would probably have to get the jump on him to win. I let him go and he was able to get comfortable.”

The winning time for the six furlongs was 1:10.02, with Real Talk returning $6.40 to win.

Owned by Bell Racing LLC, Real Talk now has four wins and three seconds from 10 career starts. David, Gulfstream-based but with a division at Monmouth Park the past three years, notched his first stakes win at the track with the victory.

The post Real Talk Gets First Stakes Win In Jersey Shore At Monmouth appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Softer Spot Helps Premier Star Find Winner’s Circle In Jersey Shore

If Premier Star's solid showing in his last race wasn't enough to convince trainer Michael Trombetta that the colt was sitting on a breakout performance, his recent works erased any doubts.

Those two indicators proved to be spot on.

Able to squeeze through an opening after three-eighths of a mile to take the lead, Premier Star powered his way to an impressive 4 3/4-length victory in Wednesday's $100,000 Jersey Shore Stakes for 3-year-olds at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

One race after finishing four lengths behind Yaupon, a top contender for the Breeders' Cup Sprint trained by Steve Asmussen, and two lengths behind multiple Grade 1 winner Basin in the Grade 2 Amsterdam at Saratoga on Aug. 29, Premier Star dispatched his six rivals with ease.

Winning time for the six furlongs was a sharp 1:09.61.

“This horse has trained really well,” said Trombetta. “I was a little concerned when (Paco) squeezed up the inside and it looked like he might have room, and then you're thinking maybe not, but he was able to get through and grab the spot and the lead, which he wanted. He's a pretty fast horse. These type of horses don't like to be checked or steadied. They just don't recover from that a lot of times. I'm glad (Paco) was able to make it work.

“As tough as his last race was and as well as he ran in my mind that day they still have to run. Every horse race is a different race. A lot of things have to go right to win them. Today was his day.”

Owned by Sonata Stable, the son of Tapiture improved to 4-for-7 lifetime with his first stakes score. Longshot Johnny Ritt held second, a neck ahead of Meru.

Lopez made the winning move by squeezing through an opening down the backside as Johnny Ritt and As Seen On TV dueled through an opening quarter of :22.09, with Premier Star just off of them.

“He's a big horse and a couple of them broke faster than he did but he was running once he got going,” said Lopez. “I guess it was about the three-eighths that I had to decide to go outside or inside and I saw room on the rail and I took and he went right to the lead. He was very strong today.”

Once Premier Star made the lead he started extending his advantage through an opening half in :44.74. He returned $4.20 to win.

“I knew he ran against some monsters last race but I was surprised the instructions were to send him. But they know him. They know how he likes to race,” said Lopez. “Once he made the lead no one was catching him.”

Premier Star now has two wins and a third in the four starts for Trombetta, who took over the horse's training from Jorge Navarro this spring.

Racing resumes at Monmouth Park with a 10-race card on Saturday, Oct. 17. First race post time is 12:50 p.m. ET.

The post Softer Spot Helps Premier Star Find Winner’s Circle In Jersey Shore appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Sloppy Track Won’t Be Problem For Premier Star In Wednesday’s Jersey Shore Stakes

The initial scouting report that Michael Trombetta received when he took over the training of Premier Star this spring was pretty basic.

“All they told me when I got him was that he was a very nice horse,” Trombetta said.

What the veteran conditioner has found out since then is that the son of Tapiture has the ability to be a top-notch sprinter, maybe even one with a graded stakes-winning future. For now, Wednesday's $100,000 Jersey Shore Stakes at Monmouth Park is the next step toward that, with Premier Star set to take on nine other 3-year-olds in the six-furlong feature, including stablemate Newstome.

Trained by Jorge Navarro for his first three career starts, Premier Star opened with two impressive victories before faltering in the Grade 3 Sam Davis.

Trombetta has had the colt for his three starts since then, the most recent being a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 29. In that race, Premier Star finished four lengths behind race winner Yaupon, a leading contender for the Breeders' Cup Sprint trained by Steve Asmussen, and was two lengths behind multiple Grade 1 winner Basin.

“The first time I ran him (a fourth-place finish at Laurel) he took a bad stumble leaving the gate and it really compromised his chances,” said Trombetta. “Then we were able to get things going much better after that.

“He won his next start and then we took him to Saratoga for the Amsterdam. As tough as that race was he showed up in a good way and ran credible.”

The Amsterdam was contested over a muddy track, which is significant given the two days of steady rain Monmouth Park has had Monday and Tuesday.

“He can deal with a sloppy track,” Trombetta said. “I think he will be fine if it's off. Quite frankly, it's getting late in the season for 3-year-olds so we only have so many opportunities left.”

Owned by Sonata Stable, the Kentucky-bred Premier Star has won three of his six career starts, with two of the defeats in graded stakes and the other because of a stumbled start.

But he does have his limitations.

“I don't know if he's truly a two-turn horse. Hopefully at some point he can be,” Trombetta said. “Hopefully he can go a little bit further. We would certainly entertain seven furlongs for sure and maybe a one-turn mile. Whether he is a two-turn horse or not only time will tell.”

For this race, Premier Star is at his optimal distance, facing a solid mix of sophomore runners. The field includes the Kelly Breen-trained As Seen On TV, who is back sprinting after lackluster effort in the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park in his last start. He was similarly unimpressive in the Grade 1 Florida Derby after a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth.

Newstome, Stidham's other entry in the race, will mark his 10th straight stakes appearance, but is just 1-for-5 as a 3-year-old after winning three of five starts at 2. The son of Goldencents has four career victories and has banked $226,646.

First race post time for the eight-race card on Wednesday is 12:50 p.m.

The post Sloppy Track Won’t Be Problem For Premier Star In Wednesday’s Jersey Shore Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post