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8-Year-Old Almanaar Repeats In Monmouth Stakes Off Lengthy Layoff

Despite being idle for more than 16 months Almanaar reinforced two well-known beliefs in Saturday's Grade 3 Monmouth Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. One is that age is just a number. The other is that trainer Chad Brown has the rare ability to have a turf horse ready no matter how long it has been between races.

Almanaar made his 8-year-old debut a winning one in capturing the Monmouth Stakes for the second straight year, rallying stoutly from next-to-last after three quarters of a mile to give Brown a 1-2 finish in the $150,000 feature race on the 11-race card.

The gelded son of Dubawi, who rolled home one length ahead of stablemate Serve the King in the nine-furlong turf stakes, had last raced on May 25, 2019, at Monmouth Park when he won the Monmouth Stakes, then a Grade 2. Prior to that race, his only start in 2019, he had been idle for four months.

None of that mattered as the 3-2 favorite in the field of nine 3-year-olds and up used his strong late kick to overpower the field.

Serve the King finished 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Bal Harbour.

“He has been training well at Belmont the whole time,” said Luis Cabrera, who oversees Brown's string at Monmouth Park. “The guys there really like the way he has been training. So he has been doing well. These type of horses know what to do. They know where the wire is. So you don't worry about the layoff with those types. And he has a lot of class. We know that.

“He ran great. I'm very happy with his performance. I can't say I'm surprised because this horse has been training consistently. He has not missed a work. He was fit and he was ready. Chad always makes sure the horses are 100 percent ready to run.”

Owned by Shadwell Stable, Almanaar won for the eighth time in 21 career starts, a record that includes a victory on the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap in 2017.

Though far back in the field early, jockey Joe Bravo said he knew exactly what he was sitting on and tried to be patient through fractions of :48.82 to the half, 1:12.93 to three quarters and 1:37.31 for the opening mile.

The final time for the nine furlongs over a firm turf course was 1:49.22

It was just two weeks ago that Brown trainees finished 1-2 in the $100,000 Violet Stakes on the grass at Monmouth Park, with She's Got You winning off a 12-week layoff.

“Only Chad Brown does this. He's amazing,” said Bravo. “This is the second time this year that he has done this in a stakes race at Monmouth Park by winning off a long layoff. (This is) an old horse but he's a trouper. He's so strong and powerful that I just wanted to give him some daylight turning for home. Class prevailed.”

Almanaar paid $5.00 to win, boosting his career earnings to $900,349.

After the opening half mile, and even after three quarters had been run, Almanaar had just one horse beat until he made his explosive move coming out of the turn, overhauling Bal Harbour while having more than enough in reserve to hold off Serve the King.

Racing resumes at Monmouth Park with a special eight-race holiday card on Monday, Oct. 12, with the $100,000 Born to Run Stakes for 2-year-olds serving as the feature. First race post is 12:50 p.m.

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Wicked Whisper, Bravo Team Up For Miss Preakness Stakes Victory

Winless since her victory in the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont Park nearly one year ago, Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's Wicked Whisper got a ground-saving trip from Joe Bravo, came off the rail at the furlong pole, then ran down frontrunning Ain't No Elmers to win Saturday's Grade 3 Miss Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

Ain't No Elmers finished second, beaten one length after setting all the fractions, with Sound Machine third, another three-quarters of a length back, and 1-2 favorite Mundaye Call fourth in the field of seven 3-year-old fillies.

Wicked Whisper ran the six furlongs on a fast track in 1:10.36 and paid $12.60 for the win, her third in six career starts.

Trained by Steve Asmussen, Wicked Whisper is from the first crop by Liam's Map out of the Bernardini mare Zayanna. She was bred in Kentucky by Siena Farms and sold for $500,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Fly On Angel and Angel Cruz broke on top, but Gabriel Saez sent Ain't No Elmers through on the inside to take command in the run down the backstretch, the opening quarter mile in :23.08. Wicked Whisper sat just behind the top pair on the inside after a half mile in :45.78, awaiting racing room as the field turned into the stretch.

A patient Bravo swung Wicked Whisper off the rail when seeing an opening after five furlongs in :57.97, and the Liam's Map filly took command from Ain't No Elmers in the final sixteenth of a mile to win going away.

“You just can't draw them up to be any better than that,” said Bravo. “She broke good. The only thing I was really told was 'make sure you pay attention to her leaving the gate. She's been having trouble getting away from there.' When she broke so cleanly it was like the pressure got off me. She was able to breathe around the turn. I know the '5' horse (Mundaye Call) is a very good filly, but all horses relaxed and it just gave me all the confidence.”

Mundaye Call raced in the clear to the outside of Wicked Whisper for the opening three furlongs, made a three-wide bid on the turn and lacked any stretch punch.

Wicked Whisper captured the 2019 Frizette after a stylish debut at Saratoga, winning a maiden special weight race by 6 1/4 lengths. She ran fifth at 7-2 in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies to wrap up her 2019 campaign, then finished a well-beaten fourth going seven furlongs in the G3 Beaumont Stakes on July 10 in her 2020 debut at Keeneland. Wicked Whisper ran a good second to Fly On Angel in most recent start, the G3 Charles Town Oaks on Aug. 28, then returned to the Asmussen stable in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to train up to the Miss Preakness.

“She's been definitely interrupted by this year's racing calendar,” said Asmussen. “She was getting ready late for things and then with the cancellations, we got off track. It's beautiful to see her show the quality that she's always had. Joe gave her a great trip today. There are big things in her future.”

Trainer Bret Calhoun said the inside post position did not work in Ain't No Elmers' favor.

“It probably wasn't the best post to have, but she ran great and did everything to win,” Calhoun said. “She got pressed the whole way and that's the difference between an inside and outside post and being a presser instead of a pressee.”

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‘They Are Changing The Competitiveness Of A Horse Race’: Bravo Reacts To New Jersey Whip Rules

Jockey Joe Bravo, a 13-time leading rider at Monmouth Park and board member of the Jockeys' Guild, shared his opinion of the recently announced more stringent whip rules with the Asbury Park Press this week.

New Jersey's new rule prevents riders from whipping a horse “to achieve a better placing,” while new rules in California restrict riders to two strikes in succession and six strikes in total.

“How many times have you watched a race where a horse opens up one or two lengths in the lane like he's going to win for fun, and then he puts his ears up,” Bravo told app.com. “Anyone can see the horse is looking at something and he's going to stop. But whoa, I can't hit him because I can't hit him for something other than a safety issue. Well, that is a safety issue, and am I going to get fined? And if you don't have that quick instinct to react, there could be danger.

“They are changing the competitiveness of a horse race. I feel they should be respecting the gamblers, the breeder, the owner, who all invest heavily in the game.”

Mischievous Dream Overcomes Trouble To Win Sorority

With a dozen 2-year-old fillies going a mile on the turf in Monday's 65th Sorority Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., jockey Joe Bravo expected it to be a bit of an adventure. Trainer Christophe Clement anticipated the same thing – and issued a reminder to Bravo before the race indicating as much.

“Christophe had said to me 'it's going to be a mess out there. There's a lot of horses for a flat-mile turf race. Try to ride a smart race and keep your eyes open,' ” said Bravo.

Bravo wasn't quite able to avoid the expected trouble but he was able to win nonetheless, delivering himself an early birthday present when Mischievous Dream split horses in deep stretch for a half-length victory in a wild finish in the $100,000 stakes race. That marked the third victory on the card for Monmouth Park's 13-time riding champion, who celebrates his 49th birthday on Thursday.

“I thought she was very impressive,” said Clement. “She scared me at the eighth pole (when Bravo had to check severely). I didn't know she was good enough to overcome that and make it to the wire first. But I guess she is.”

Back in the pack in ninth place along the rail early through fractions of :23.20 for the opening quarter and :48.37 to the half, Mischievous Dream was still in ninth entering the final turn. Bravo was able to find room along the rail in the stretch, but had to check in traffic behind Miss Wild and Social Exclusion before swinging his filly outside of both to an open seam.

From there the New York-bred daughter of Into Mischief, bred and owned by Patricia A. Generazio, shot past half the field. Invincible Gal closed for second, a half-length ahead of longshot Tic Tic Boom.

The winning time for the mile on a turf course listed as firm was 1:38.98. Mischievous Dream returned $9.80 to win.

“I had a lot of horse the entire time,” said Bravo. “At first she was hyper but she settled and relaxed. She was in the pocket. I just had to steer her out. I thought I had room in the middle of the lane to go between horses but I had to check big time.

“For a 2-year-old filly to pick herself up after trouble like that is impressive. It happened so fast. A couple of horses ducked in and out and I was able to split them. When a horse is able to pass horses in two or three jumps it's fun.”

After winning her debut on the grass at 5 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga on July 19, Mischievous Dream faltered a bit in her second start, finishing fourth in the Bolton Landing Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 19, also in a 5 1/2-furlong sprint.

Clement felt she deserved another shot a stakes race.

“We always thought she was a nice filly,” he said. “She broke her maiden impressively and we saw that she was better than she had done in her last start. She was training very well at Saratoga. That's why we were trying to be a bit more ambitious with her and it worked out today.”

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