Tag: Monmouth Oaks

Occult Dominates Rivals in Monmouth Oaks

It was a Halloween exacta come early as Occult (Into Mischief) dominated the GIII Monmouth Oaks over a determined Foggy Night (Khozan), giving jockey Feargal Lynch the black-type double in New Jersey.

Steadied last out in the GI Acorn at Big Sandy, but recovering well enough to finish third, the 7-5 favorite had already tasted success early this year in New York as the Busanda S. victress at Aqueduct before running fifth in the GIII Gazelle behind Promiseher America (American Pharoah).

Racing four wide after the jump and settling well in that spot off the rail, she was content to watch the contest unfold from seventh as the leading flight debated the pace. Advancing on the backside and five wide into the far bend, Occult caught the eye as she effortlessly circled the field to take charge at the top of the lane. Widening with every stride, she drew off from her rivals and left them 10 1/4 lengths in her wake as Foggy Night and Riding Pretty closed out the trifecta.

“She's a very big filly who needs time to find her stride and get into a nice rhythm. She'll keep going all day once she gets into her stride, so stamina was never an issue with her. I saw there was some cheap speed in here, so I let them go,” said the winning rider. “At the half-mile pole, I was just trying to find a way clear. Because she's such a big striding filly, you think you're going nowhere. But when I watch the replay, I am sure I will be impressed with the way she was moving. It's all about rhythm and momentum with a big horse like that.”

When asked if he'd been given any specific instructions to adhere to, Lynch replied: “Chad Brown never really ties you down with any instructions. He's great to ride for that way. We have a lot of faith in each other. He just said `get a good trip and win.'”

A half-sister to a pair of accomplished Tapits in Exulting and Magical, the latter with her own 2-year-old daughter by Into Mischief named Illusion, Occult is the most recent black-type runner for their dam and the 65th winner at the graded level for her sire. She has a 2-year-old full-brother Imagination and a 2023 half-brother already named Make My Day (Gun Runner).

 

Saturday, Monmouth Park
MONMOUTH OAKS-GIII, $272,500, Monmouth, 7-29, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:45.74, ft.
1–OCCULT, 119, f, 3, by Into Mischief
1st Dam: Magical Feeling (GSW & GISP, $554,532), by Empire Maker
2nd Dam: Magical Mood (GB), by Forestry
3rd Dam: Good Mood, by Devil's Bag
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($625,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Alpha Delta Stables, LLC; B-Peter E Blum Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Chad C Brown; J-Feargal Lynch. $150,000. Lifetime Record: GISP, 6-3-0-1, $327,450. *1/2 to Magical (Tapit), SW, $164,550; and Exulting (Tapit), MSW, $687,370. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click  for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free  Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Foggy Night, 121, f, 3, Khozan–Settling Seas, by Stormy Atlantic. ($20,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Pine Brook Farm; B-Brent & Crystal Fernung (FL); T-Robert E Reid Jr. $50,000.
3–Riding Pretty, 116, f, 3, Jack Milton–High Renaissance, by Girolamo. 1ST BLACK-TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK-TYPE. O/B-Holly Crest Farm (NJ); T-Eddie Owens Jr. $35,000.
Margins: 10 1/4, 1 1/4, HF. Odds: 1.40, 2.80, 27.50.
Also Ran: Atthecrossroads, Promiseher America, Seduction, Vegas Magic, Miss New York, Shidabhuti, Ruthanne. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Shahama Dominates Monmouth Oaks

Shahama stalked pacesetting favorite Juji's Map before exploding to the lead off the turn and sailing clear to her first U.S. victory in the GIII Monmouth Oaks Sunday on the Jersey Shore. Sent off at 8-5, the bay shadowed Juji's Map, the 4-5 favorite, through fractions of :24.67 and :48.71. Nudged at into the far turn, Shahama surged to the lead after three-quarters in 1:11.88 and bound away to an easy win.

“We thought Brad Cox's horse [Juju's Map] would be on the lead and we would be sitting second and that's just how it played out,” said Anthony Sciametta, assistant to winning trainer Todd Pletcher. “She's been training in New York and shipped down for this Saturday afternoon and did well and was well behaved. I know everyone who is around her likes her. She has a lot of class, as you can tell. I thought it was a two-horse race. You don't like to say that, but we thought it was between Juju's Map and us. Shahama was really good today.”

Winning jockey Jorge Vargas agreed the two favorites were the obvious class of the field.

“No disrespect to the others, but Shahama and Juju's Map were the classiest horses going in,” Vargas said. “I put my horse right on Juju's Map early. I was travelling good the whole time and I kept her just outside because Todd told me she doesn't like kickback from the dirt–she has a pretty face, she doesn't want to get that dirty. At the half-mile pole I picked it up with her. Paco Lopez tried to do the same, but didn't have as much horse as I did. By the three-eighths pole I was in front and it was over.”

Shahama had a productive winter in Dubai, where she won the UAE 1000 Guineas Trial and UAE 1000 Guineas in January and earned a spot in the GI Kentucky Oaks field with a win in the G3 UAE Oaks Feb. 18 for trainer Fawzi Nass. Transferred stateside to Pletcher's barn, she suffered her first loss when sixth in the Oaks and was coming off a runner-up effort in the June 25 GII Mother Goose S.

Pedigree Notes:

Shahama is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Kensei (Mr. Greeley) and to champion Lookin at Lucky (Smart Strike). The filly has a weanling half-brother by Catalina Cruiser who was purchased by Tami Bobo's First Finds for $200,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale. Her dam, Private Feeling, who was purchased by SF Bloodstock with the winner in utero for $40,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November sale, was bred back to Tom's d'Etat.

Under the winner's second dam, Regal Feeling, is champion Wait a While.

Sunday, Monmouth
MONMOUTH OAKS-GIII, $245,000, Monmouth, 7-31, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:41.54, ft.
1–SHAHAMA, 121, f, 3, by Munnings
                1st Dam: Private Feeling, by Belong to Me
                2nd Dam: Regal Feeling, by Clever Trick
                3rd Dam: Sharp Belle, by Native Charger
'TDN Rising Star'. ($425,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR). O-KHK Racing;
B-SF Bloodstock LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Jorge A. Vargas,
Jr. $150,000. Lifetime Record: GSW-UAE, 7-5-1-0, $435,984.
*1/2 to Lookin At Lucky (Smart Strike), Ch. 3-year-old Colt, Ch.
2-year-old Colt, MGISW, $3,307,278; 1/2 to Kensei
(Mr. Greeley), MGSW, $751,364. Werk Nick Rating: A+++.
   *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Shotgun Hottie, 119, f, 3, Gun Runner–Re Entry, by Malibu
Moon. ($45,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR). O-Omar Aldabbagh & Jeff
Ganje; B-Vincent Colbert (KY); T-William E. Morey. $50,000.
3–Juju's Map, 117, f, 3, Liam's Map–Nagambie, by Flatter.
($190,000 Ylg '20 KEEJAN; $300,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP).
O-Albaugh Family Stables LLC; B-Fred W. Hertrich (KY); T-Brad
Cox. $25,000.
Margins: 2HF, 3/4, 6 1/4. Odds: 1.70, 4.00, 0.90.
Also Ran: Runaway Wife, Office Etiquette. Scratched: Silverleaf.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Corniche Returns in Amsterdam

Champion Corniche (Quality Road) makes his highly anticipated return to the races and first start for trainer Todd Pletcher Sunday in Saratoga's GII Amsterdam S.

The 'TDN Rising Star' spent some time at WinStar after his championships season and, with Bob Baffert serving his suspension, was sent to Pletcher in May with an eye on the late season sophomore highlights. (Click here for Pletcher's thoughts in Mike Kane's Saturday feature).

“We're hoping that with the good fortune we had with his sire Quality Road and him making his debut for us in the Amsterdam, which produced a track record performance, that hopefully some of that good fortune will follow through here,” said Pletcher, who seeks his fifth Amsterdam win.

While he will be the favorite, he won't have it easy. Corniche is joined by Grade I winner Gunite (Gun Runner) and graded stakes-winning fellow Pletcher trainee My Prankster (Into Mischief), who finished one-two in Churchill's Maxfield S. last out July 3. The champ also faces one of his former shedrow mates from the Baffert barn in GISW Pinehurst (Twirling Candy).

Also on tap at Saratoga Sunday is the GII Bowling Green S. for turf marathoners. Grade I winners Arklow (Arch) and Rockemperor (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}).

Juju's Map Headlines Monmouth Oaks

Never worse than second in a juvenile campaign that included a win in the GI Darley Alcibiades S., Juju's Map (Liam's Map) looks to return to winning ways Sunday in the GIII Monmouth Oaks. Making her seasonal debut with a dominant optional claimer score on the GI Kentucky Oaks undercard, the dark bay checked in third as the favorite last out in Belmont's GII Mother Goose S. June 25.

She will be made to work for it though with the presence of Meydan sensation and 'TDN Rising Star' Shahama (Munnings), who receives Lasix for the first time Sunday. The $425,000 OBSAPR acquisition was second in the Mother Goose after rallying for sixth in the Oaks.

A pair of Gun Runner fillies look to add to their sire's stakes success at Monmouth last weekend in SW Shotgun Hottie and GSP Runaway Wife.

Sunday's graded action wraps at Del Mar with the GII Eddie Read S., where GII Charles Whittingham S. top two Beyond Brilliant (Twirling Candy) and Masteroffoxhounds (War Front) top the field.

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Jaxon Traveler, Alwaysinahurry Lead Nominations For Star De Naskra At Pimlico

Multiple stakes winner Jaxon Traveler, stakes winners Alwaysinahurry and Shackled Love, and graded-stakes placed Hemp head a list of 16 horses nominated to the $75,000 Star de Naskra Saturday, Aug. 21 at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

The Star de Naskra for 3-year-olds is among four $75,000 stakes restricted to Maryland-bred/sired horses on the Maryland Pride Day program, joined by the Miss Disco for 3-year-old fillies, also sprinting six furlongs; 1 1/16-mile Find for 3-year-olds and up; and 1 1/16-mile All Brandy for fillies and mares 3 and older, both on the grass.

West Point Thoroughbreds and Marvin Delfiner's Jaxon Traveler was a 10-length debut winner last September at Pimlico and capped an undefeated 2-year-old season by defeating state-breds in the Maryland Juvenile Futurity at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md. Winner of the April 24 Bachelor at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., he was second to stablemate Mighty Mischief in the Grade 3 Chick Lang May 15 at Pimlico and made his two most recent starts on synthetic and grass, running third in the July 15 Grade 3 Quick Call at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Dale Capuano trains Mopo Racing's Alwaysinahurry, who emerged from multiple stakes-winning stablemate Kenny Had a Notion's shadow with a commanding victory over Mighty Mischief in the July 4 Concern at Pimlico. Kenny Had a Notion, also nominated, was entered at Pimlico Sunday.

ZWP Stable, Inc. and Non Stop Stable's Shackled Love won the 1 1/16-mile Private Terms March 13 at Laurel but has finished sixth in three subsequent starts, the Federico Tesio, Chick Lang, and Bald Eagle Derby, the latter 1 ½ miles on the Pimlico turf July 24. Narrow Leaf Farm's Hemp ran third in the Chick Lang and exits a runner-up finish after setting the pace July 2 at Charles Town in Charles Town, W. Va.

Six-time stakes winner Street Lute and Grade 3-placed Edie Meeny Miny Mo are prominent among 15 nominees to the Miss Disco. Lucky 7 Stables' Street Lute won five straight stakes last fall and winter at Laurel and captured an off-the-turf Stormy Blues June 13 at Pimlico. Most recently, she finished sixth, beaten 2 ½ lengths, in her first try on dirt and against older horses in the 5 ½-furlong M. Tyson Gilpin July 19 at Colonial Downs in New Kent, Va.

Holly Hill Stables' Edie Meeny Miny Mo is undefeated at Pimlico, capturing an April 23 waiver maiden claimer by 4 ½ lengths and romping by six in a June 13 optional claiming allowance, her first two career starts. Last out, the Miguel Vera trainee ran second as the favorite after setting the pace in the July 31 Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

Most popular among horsemen was the Find, whose 29 nominees include 2019 Maryland Million Turf winner Mr. d'Angelo; 2020 Maryland Million Starter Handicap winner Beltway Bob; Cannon's Roar, second in the 2020 Maryland Million Turf and third in the West Virginia Speaker's Cup Aug. 7 at Mountaineer Park in New Cumberland, W. Va.; and dirt stakes winners Air Token, Alwaysmining, and Cordmaker.

The All Brandy attracted 27 nominations led by Danger Zone, 2-2-1 in seven starts since being moved to the turf this winter at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La.; Dendrobia and Quiet Company, respectively second and third in the five-furlong Jameela July 4 at Pimlico; Fool Yourself, a winner of two straight for Preakness Meet leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez; and Artful Splatter, a multiple stakes winner on dirt.

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