‘Everything Has Come Together This Year’ For Jersey-Based Trainer Rory Huston

For a trainer whose stable consists of “about 95 percent” Jersey-breds, Rory Huston could not have hand-picked a better final card for the Meadowlands-at-Monmouth Park meet as he closes out the best year of his career.

Saturday's 11-race program features three stakes races for Jersey-breds: The $75,000 Smart N Classy for fillies and mares 3 and up going a mile; the $75,000 Dan Horn for 3 year olds and up at a mile and a sixteenth on the grass, and the $75,000 Pinot Grigio for fillies and mares 3 and up at 5½ furlongs on the turf.

Huston has entered five horses in the three stakes races.

“I told someone the other day it's like New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival Day all over again,” said Huston.

With six horses entered overall for the final day of the Thoroughbred racing season in New Jersey, Huston has a chance to finish the best season of his 11-year training career with a flourish.

He has already matched a personal best with 14 wins (from 100 starters) this year and his 2020 earnings of $701,125 are a career-best.

“I would say yes, it has been our best year yet,” said Huston, who gears down most of his operation when the New Jersey racing season ends, returning to his role as manager of Overbrook Farm in nearby Colts Neck. “Everything came together well this year. The horses, knock on wood, have been healthy. The track has been good. A lot of the pots we won were for Jersey-breds worth $60,000, so that accounts for the earnings we've had.”

Huston will only start a handful of horses at other tracks after Saturday, with his focus every year on Monmouth Park.

“We'll run a few elsewhere after this, but mostly I will be at the farm,” he said. “We're foaling 15 mares and we have 11 yearlings that we're breaking. I usually stop once the weather starts to go bad. We give the horses a couple of months off and then have them ready to come back when Monmouth Park re-opens.”

Before that happens, Huston has some unfinished business.

He has Groovy Surprise and Dantastic in the Smart N Classy, Wallercito in the Dan Horn and both Joy's Pride and Pretti Tricki in the Pinot Grigio.

Groovy Surprise is coming off a third-place finish in a $16,000 optional claimer while Dantastic is coming off a solid Maiden Special Weight victory.

“I like the way Groovy Surprise is coming into this race,” he said. “I feel good about her. I feel good about Dantastic, too. She has needed to go longer. We've tried to go long all summer with her but every time we entered her the race didn't go.”

Wallercito comes into the Dan Horn off of consecutive runner-up finishes and is trying the turf again after breaking his maiden on the grass last year in his only career try on the surface. In the Pinot Grigio Stakes, Pretti Tricki will race for the final time, with the 5-year-old mare having banked $161,136 during a 21-race career.

“She's going to be a broodmare after this,” said Huston. “Hopefully she will run big and end her career well.”

Joy's Pride comes into the same race with her only career win on the turf, but is trying a grass sprint for the first time.

If just one of Huston's starters manages to find the winner's circle his win total for the year will be a career best.

“If it happens it happens,” he said. “This has been a very good year either way. My crew did a great job, my wife helps gallop and run the shed row, and everything has come together this year, even with the late start due to the virus.

“I have no complaints.”

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Jersey-Bred Horologist Affirms Her Love Of Monmouth With Molly Pitcher Triumph

New Jersey-bred Horologist ran her Monmouth Park record to a perfect 5-for-5 on Saturday, winning the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher Stakes by two lengths at the Oceanport, N.J., track. Our Super Freak finished second at odds of 40-1, with 3-2 favorite Royal Flag finishing  5 1/2 lengths farther back in third.

Ridden by Joe Bravo, Horologist covered 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:43.88 and paid $9.40 for the win — her sixth overall from 17 career starts. Owned by There's a Chance Stable, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Medallion Racing and Abbondanza Racing, the 4-year-old daughter of Gemologist is trained by Bill Mott. She was bred by Holly Crest Farm.

Winner of the G3 Monmouth Oaks in 2019 when trained by John Mazza, Horologist made her last five starts for trainer Richard Baltas, most recently being pulled up before the finish of the G2 Santa Maria Stakes at Santa Anita on May 31.

Horologist, breaking from the outside No. 10 post,  sat just off the pace as longshots Wrong Color and Our Super Freak battled on the front end through fractions of :23.64, :47.09 and 1:11.32. Wrong Color threw in the towel before turning into the stretch, but Our Super Freak only stubbornly gave way in deep stretch.

“I just didn't want to lose ground going around the first turn,” said Bravo. “I was so scared of getting away slowly and getting carried 10 wide. I was able to breathe and relax a lot better when I was able to fit her in and get over and there were only two horses in front of us. At times she was pulling me. Nothing to say other than she ran well.”

Cameron Beatty of There's a Chance Stable said: “Sometimes the horse goes to something new that they're not familiar with (in reference to Horologist pulling up in her last start in the Santa Maria). It's all a risk. Me and my partners took the risk. We regrouped and we decided to bring her back to Monmouth Park. We knew she loved it here. She's 5-for-5 here now. She just loves it here. I love it here. It's unbelievable that she's a multiple graded stakes winner now as Jersey-bred. Just a tremendous feeling of accomplishment.”

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