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Jersey Derby Winner Vanzzy Returns To Monmouth For Red Bank Stakes

After seeing Vanzzy run one of the better races of his career in winning last year's Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park, trainer Michael Pino is hoping to recapture some of that magic when he sends the colt out in Saturday's $150,000 Red Bank Stakes.

Now a 4-year-old, Vanzzy heads into the one-mile grass race that serves as the feature on Monmouth Park's 12-race card off two solid efforts to start his 2021 campaign.

“He was a little unlucky in his first start of the year (a third-place finish at Pimlico on July 11),” said Pino. “He threw a shoe in the paddock and got a little too keyed up. After he broke he wanted to run off with the rider and never settled at all.

“But he ran well all things considered and then came back and won his second time out (at Delaware Park on July 31) despite some trouble.”

Pino said the son of Verrazano “is a stronger horse this year.”

He will have to be Saturday, despite the short field. Among the six entered for the turf are the Mark Casse-trained Proven Strategies, who comes off a strong third-place finish in the Grade 2 Connaught Cup at Woodbine on July 18, and the Chad Brown-trained Value Proposition, listed as the 4-5 morning line favorite. Value Proposition ships in from New York for the race, with Paco Lopez listed to ride.

“Mark Casse's horse has speed but Vanzzy should be forwardly placed,” said Pino. “Obviously, Chad Brown's horse off the numbers looks like the horse to beat in the race. But you've got to run against that kind every now and then.

“Vanzzy is definitely a more mature horse this year and a stronger horse. I know we're going to see some strong races out of him. I'm planning and hoping that happens.”

Vanzzy, owned by Smart Angle LLP, has generally held his own through his 14-race career, with five wins, a second and a third and career earnings of $280,364. He shows two wins and two thirds in seven turf tries, the most notable being at a mile and a sixteenth in the 2020 Jersey Derby last year.

Pino has also entered Bird King in the race, with the 4-year-old gelding looking to make his turf debut after 16 dirt races.

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NYRA Partners With Three Tracks For Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5

The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 featuring action from historic Saratoga Race Course, Monmouth Park, Ellis Park and Woodbine on Saturday.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/cross-country-wagers.

The four-track wager will kick off at Monmouth with a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden contest for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up in Race 8 at 3:33 p.m. Eastern. Trainer Chad Brown will send out a pair of entrants, including the British-bred Capital Allocation, who will be making her career debut. The $384,392 purchase at the 2019 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale will face a field that includes stablemate Autostrada, who finished on the board in her third career start last out when third on August 8 at Monmouth. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will send out Endless Front and Candy Lua for the race at the Oceanport, New Jersey-based track.

Woodbine will get in on the action with a 6 1/2-furlong allowance contest for fillies and mares 3-and-up competing over the Tapeta track in Race 7 at 4:13 p.m. Imagery has posted back-to-back runner-up finishes for trainer Michael Trombetta with both efforts coming at the Rexdale, Ontario track, while the Kevin Attard-trained Hard Street will look for class relief after finishing sixth in the Alywow on July 31 at Woodbine.

Alternating back to Monmouth, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-olds and up in a claiming contest in Race 10 at 4:33 p.m. will comprise the third leg. Trainer Wayne Potts will send out Duncastle, a last-out winner on July 23 at Monmouth.

Ellis Park, located in Henderson, Kentucky, will join the sequence with a one-mile turf maiden turf contest for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up in Race 8 at 5:10 p.m. Closet Shopper, trained by Gregory Foley, finished third at the track last out on July 18 and will be looking to break through in her ninth career start while listed at 3-1 on the morning line. The Dale Romans-trained Temper Time, 9-2, also ran second in her previous start at Ellis Park, finishing as the runner-up on July 30.

Saratoga will conclude the wager with a 6 1/2-furlong main track sprint for 3-year-olds and up in Race 10 at 5:37 p.m. Brown, who is looking to secure his fourth Saratoga training title for the meet that concludes on Monday, will look to bolster his win total by sending out Crowded Trade and Hometown. Crowded Trade, the runner-up in the Grade 3 Gotham in March at Aqueduct Racetrack, competed on the Triple Crown trail this, running third in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino in April at the Big A before running fifth in the Grade 1 Preakness in May at Pimlico. He finished third last out in the Grade 2 Amsterdam on August 1 at the Spa. Hometown, a chestnut son of Constitution, finished second to eventual graded-stakes winner First Captain last out in a May 29 allowance tilt at Belmont traveling a one-turn mile.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, September 4:
Leg A: Monmouth – Race 8 (3:33 p.m.)
Leg B: Woodbine – Race 7 (4:13 p.m.)
Leg C: Monmouth – Race 10 (4:33 p.m.)
Leg D: Ellis Park – Race 8 (5:10 p.m.)
Leg E: Saratoga– Race 10 (5:37 p.m.)

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O’Conner Has High Expectations For 2-Year-Old You Look Cold In Monday’s Sorority

There's a unique sense of excitement that consumes even the most grizzled of trainers when they have a promising young horse just starting out. Or, as veteran conditioner Rob O'Connor II put it: “Nobody ever dies when they have a good 2-year-old.”

O'Connor hopes to know Monday if he does indeed have a good one in You Look Cold, sending her out in the $200,000 Sorority Stakes for 2-year-old fillies that will serve as the feature race on the Labor Day card at Monmouth Park.

The early indications have already caused some giddiness: You Look Cold, a Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Frosted-Lucky Draw by Lookin at Lucky, ran off the screen in her debut on Aug. 7, cruising to a 6½-length victory in Maiden Special Weight company at Monmouth Park.

Now comes the next step and next test.

“It's always ambitious when you go from breaking your maiden to a stakes race,” said O'Connor. “But most everybody is in the same situation.

“In her first start we actually thought she was the horse to beat (You Look Cold won at odds of 6-1). She has shown a lot of potential. We're very excited about her. She's got the look, she's got the temperament and she does everything right.”

Owned by Kinsman Stable and FLI Racing, You Look Cold faces the added challenge of going two turns for the first time in the 66th edition of the one-mile Sorority after winning her debut at six furlongs.

The 62-year-old O'Connor, who has been training since 1985, isn't overly concerned about the added distance, calling it part of the growth process.

“If you look at her training format going into the race she has shown some speed in all of her works,” O'Connor said. “I've really tried to back up on her and get her to relax. So we've tried to concentrate on that.

“We haven't put any real speed works into her. With that being said, her fitness is not in question. She is plenty fit.”

O'Connor said the Sorority Stakes became an appealing option as the next race in part because You Look Cold is stabled at Monmouth Park.

“Mrs. Jessica Steinbrenner and her group, along with Christian Black, are the owners of the horse. We talked about moving forward and what our options would be,” said O'Connor. “They want to give her the opportunity to be a good horse.

“Saratoga was a possibility. We discussed it and felt it was in the best interests of her development to let them come to our home track and she could walk out of her stall and race. We felt it would be an advantage to us.”

O'Connor, who has been based at Monmouth Park the past three years, is keeping his plans short-term for You Look Cold, waiting to see how she responds to her next challenge on Monday.

“She thinks she's a pretty good horse and she acts like a good one,” he said. “Every horse in the race is really going into new territory, so we'll see how it plays out. But I can tell you we're very excited about her potential.”

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Davis Hoping To Use Monmouth’s Sapling As Breeders’ Cup Steppingstone With American Sanctuary

For trainer Christopher Davis to venture East to Monmouth Park, something he has done just once before in his brief career, there has to be a good reason.

Visions of the Breeders' Cup would qualify as that.

Davis, currently based at Arlington Park, will send American Sanctuary to Monmouth Park for Sunday's $200,000 Sapling Stakes at one mile for 2-year-olds, one of the highlights of four straight days of live racing that starts on Friday.

A Kentucky-bred son of American Freedom-Haven's Honey by E Dubai, American Sanctuary will be seeking his first stakes win, with a bigger prize in Davis' sights down the road for the aptly-named Dare to Dream Stable-owned colt. American Sanctuary finished second in the Prairie Meadows Gold Juvenile Stakes in his last start on Aug. 14.

“He got a rough trip in that race, finished really strong and galloped out great,” said Davis. “He's a horse that we want to go long with. He came out of that race in good order and worked back last week. We're trying to make the Breeders' Cup with him.”

Davis, 32, is having the type of career year that suggests that he may not be over-reaching with that goal. He is just two wins shy (with 30 overall) of matching his career best for a year and his $859,457 in earnings are already a personal best. On July 17 he earned his first graded stakes win when Naval Laughter captured the Grade 3 Modesty Star at Arlington Park.

American Sanctuary, though, has not tried more than six furlongs.

“I like the distance of the Sapling for him,” said Davis. “I like going from three-quarters of a mile to a flat mile, as opposed to a mile and a sixteenth. Looking at the nominations I feel we're right there with the top ones in the field.”

Davis, who grew up under parents who were both trainers, has been on his own since 2016. He currently has 35 horses and is looking to branch out beyond the Midwest, with plans to try Gulfstream Park this winter.

His trip to Monmouth will be just the second of his career. In 2018, he saddled Moonlit Garden to a second-place finish behind Divine Miss Grey in the Lady's Secret Stakes.

“I was going to send a couple to Monmouth last year but it didn't work out,” he said. “They were going to give me stalls, but with COVID-19 and the late start they had we had to change out plans and wound up at Churchill.

“With Arlington closing we could potentially have some horses at Monmouth Park next year. We'll see.”

Accompanying American Sanctuary on the trip East will be stablemate Quick Tempo, with Davis pointing that one to the Rumson Stakes on Sept. 11 at Monmouth Park.

In addition to the 87th running of the Sapling on Sunday, Monmouth Park will feature the Grade 3 Red Bank Stakes on Saturday and the $200,000 Sorority Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on Monday.

First race post time on Friday is 3 p.m. Post time for the remainder of the meet through Sept. 26 will be 12:15 p.m. starting on Saturday.

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