Monmouth | Horse Racing Free Tips

Jersey-Bred Valedictorian Takes On Talented Field In Eatontown Stakes

In a turf race that features two horses sired in Ireland, one in Great Britain, three from Chad Brown's powerhouse stable and one trained by Todd Pletcher, Kelly Breen will take his best shot with his classy Jersey-bred Valedictorian.

Monmouth Park's leading trainer says it's what she does and has always done – take on top-notch grass distaffers almost every time she races.

With Breen's hope that she may be the lone speed, Valedictorian will look to get back on track in Saturday's $150,000 Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes, the feature on Monmouth Park's 14-race card. She won the race a year ago, one of 12 career victories that have helped her to $737,115 in lifetime earnings.

“I think it's pretty neat having a Jersey-bred to run against all these good mares,” Breen said. “But if she happened to be running as good as she has in the past and she was from Oshkosh I'd still be proud of her.”

Breen will look to get the 6-year-old daughter of Temple City jumpstarted after an 0-for-5 start to her 2020 campaign, with only a pair of third-place finishes to show for it. But three of those starts have been against graded stakes company, including the Grade 1 Just A Game at Belmont Park on June 27.

In her most recent start, the Grade 3 Matchmaker Stakes at Monmouth, she faded to sixth after setting the pace for a good portion of the nine-furlong grass feature. The Eatontown is at a mile and sixteenth.

“There were no easy spots to bring her back this year,” said Breen, who is looking for his third Monmouth Park training title after topping the track's standings in 2005 and 2006. “There were just no spots out there to maybe get her an easy win. So she keeps going up against the best of the best.

“Yes, it's been frustrating but she is still running and her numbers are still good and she's doing well. She looks great. It's just been a lot of tough spots.”

The Eatontown looks to be another tough spot, with the Brown-trained Nay Lady Nay back after winning the Matchmaker on July 18. Tapit Today, also trained by Brown, was fourth in that same race, beaten just a length and three-quarters. His third starter be Noor Sahara, who will be making her third start in the United States after racing in France.

Pletcher, meanwhile, will be represented by Valiance, who is 2-for-2 on Monmouth Park's turf course and 4-for-4 at a mile and a sixteenth during her six-race career.

There's a field of eight entered as well as two main track only alternates.

“We'll see what happens with the weather but I think we could be the speed of the race,” said Breen. “Everything about this race will be helpful to her – the mile and a sixteenth, being back on her home track, which she loves, the chance she could be the speed. All of it. And she is doing well.”

Owned by Epic Racing, Valedictorian shows a 12-6-6 line from 35 career starts. She is 4-for-6 on Monmouth's turf course and 5-for-12 at a mile and a sixteenth.

If the weather has an impact on the race, Breen said it won't affect his mare.

“She ran well on a soft, yielding turf course and if he comes off she has run well in the mud,” Breen said. “She can do it all.”

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NYRA Teams With Woodbine, Monmouth For Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 that will offer three graded stakes in total, featuring action from historic Saratoga Race Course as well as Monmouth Park and Woodbine Racetrack on Saturday.

Live coverage will be available with Saratoga Live on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. 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.

Saratoga will start the wager with an exciting juvenile maiden sprint, with a field of 10 contesting at six furlongs on the main track in Race 6 at 3:57 p.m. Eastern. Trainer Chad Brown has a pair of entrants in Highly Motivated and Founder, while Hall of Fame trainers Mark Casse and Steve Asmussen will send out Majestic Street and Happymac, respectively. Trainer Todd Pletcher will see Newbomb depart from the inside post.

Action will shift to Monmouth in Race 9 with a 4:14 p.m. post for the 1 1/2-mile turf route for 3-year-olds and up in an optional claimer. The 10-horse field will see trainer Kelly Breen saddle Epic Bromance, while Decisive Triumph and No Mans Land will be running with blinkers on.

Woodbine will commence the stakes portion of the Cross Country Pick 5 in the third leg with the Grade 3, $125,000 Ontario Colleen for 3-year-old fillies going one mile. Slated as Race 7 at 4:17 p.m., the contest will ironically feature Saratoga Vision. Owned and trained by Alexander Patykewich, the Kentucky-bred won't be running at the Spa, but instead will be looking to break her maiden in her 13th start and is coming off a runner-up effort as an 84-1 longshot in the Grade 3 Selene last month at Woodbine. The field also includes stakes-placed Avie's Samurai and Fly So Pretty, who won last year's Stewart Manor, as well as multiple stakes-winner Two Sixty and multiple graded stakes-placed Walk In Marrakesh.

Saratoga will close the sequence with a pair of Grade 1 contests, starting with the $300,000 Forego presented by America's Best Racing in Race 8 at 5:07 p.m. The seven-furlong contest for older horses on the main track will showcase Whitmore, who won the race's 2018 edition and will now attempt to join Groovy (1986-87) and Quick Call (1988-89) as the only horses to win multiple runnings of the Forego. The 7-year-old enters with a record of 35-14-11-3 and lifetime earnings of over $3.1 million. The Forego will also see Mind Control looking to become a Grade 1-winner at the Spa at ages 2, 3 and 4, while six-time graded stakes-winner Firenze Fire seeks his first Grade 1 triumph since taking the 2017 Champagne during his 2-year-old campaign.

The wager concludes in Saratoga's Race 9 with the Grade 1, $500,000 Sword Dancer for 4-year-olds and up going 1 1/2 miles on the inner turf at 5:43 p.m. A “Win and You're In” qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Turf on November 7 at Keeneland Race Course, the Forego will see trainer Mike Maker send out a trio of contenders in Aquaphobia, Marzo and Cross Border. Also in the race will be Sadler's Joy, who will make his fourth appearance in the Sword Dancer for trainer Tom Albertrani. The 7-year-old Kitten's Joy horse won this event in 2017, finished sixth in 2018 and last year rallied bravely to finish second by a neck to Annals of Time.

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, August 30:
Leg 1 – Saratoga, Race 6: (3:57 p.m.)
Leg 2 – Monmouth, Race 9: (4:14 p.m.)
Leg 3 – Woodbine, Race 7: G3 Ontario Colleen (4:17 p.m.)
Leg 4 – Saratoga, Race 8: G1 Forego (5:07 p.m.)
Leg 5 – Saratoga, Race 9: G1 Sword Dancer (5:43 p.m.)

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Nine-Day Meadowlands-At-Monmouth Meet Added To Thoroughbred Racing Calendar

A nine-day Meadowlands-at-Monmouth Park meet will be added to the Thoroughbred racing calendar starting on Preakness Day, Saturday, Oct. 3, pending regulatory approval, it was announced Wednesday.

Live racing will be held Oct. 3 and 4 at Monmouth Park and then every Wednesday and Saturday for the remainder of the month. There will also be a special Columbus Day holiday program on Monday, Oct. 12.

The Meadowlands-at-Monmouth meet will feature a stakes schedule totaling $900,000, highlighted by the Grade 3 Monmouth Stakes at a mile and an eighth on the turf on Oct. 10.

First race post time throughout October will be 12:50 p.m. Parking and admission are free.

Monmouth Park was originally scheduled for a 56-day meet starting May 2, but had that reduced to 37 days starting July 3 because of COVID-19. An additional live racing program was lost due to inclement weather.

The Monmouth Park meeting ends on Sunday, Sept. 27.

The stakes schedule for the Meadowlands-at-Monmouth Park meet:

3-Oct-20: Virgil “Buddy” Raines Stakes – $75,000 – 3 and up – 5 1/2 furlongs (Turf)

4-Oct-20: Nownownow Stakes – $150,000 – 2 YO – 1 Mile (Turf)

7-Oct-20: Lady's Secret Stakes – Listed $100,000 – F & M 3 and up – 1 1/16 miles

10-Oct-20: Monmouth Stakes – G3 $150,000 – 3 and up – 1 1/8 Miles (Turf)

12-Oct-20: Born to Run Stakes – $100,000 – 2 YO – 5 1/2 furlongs (Turf)

14-Oct-20: Jersey Shore Stakes – $100,000 – 3 YO – 6 Furlongs

17-Oct-20: Dan Horn Handicap – NJ Breds $75,000 – 3 and up – 1 1/16 miles (Turf)

21-Oct-20: Smart N Classy Handicap – NJ Breds $75,000 – F & M 3 and up – 1 Mile

24-Oct-20: Pinot Grigio Stakes – NJ Breds $75,000 – F & M 3 and up – 5 1/2 Furlongs (Turf)

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New Jersey: Proposed Budget Cuts $20 Million From Annual Purse Subsidy

Owing to revenue loss caused by the coronavirus pandemic, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's proposed budget released on Wednesday includes multiple spending cuts. According to njonlinegambling.com, one of those cuts is to the annual horse racing purse subsidy that became law in February of 2019, in the amount of $20 million.

The purse subsidy, financed by slot machine revenue, is typically split evenly between Thoroughbred and harness horsemen, affecting Monmouth Park and harness tracks Meadowlands and Freehold.

The 2019 law was approved for $100 million over five years, at $20 million per year.

While 2020's subsidy has already been paid, there is still a lot of negotiating that may be done before the state budget is finalized in late September, so the purse subsidy may be revived for 2021.