New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival | Horse Racing Free Tips

Led by Haskell, Monmouth Releases Stakes Schedule

Led by the $1-million TVG.com GI Haskell S., Monmouth Park is set to offer $8.135 million in stakes races when the track kicks off its 77^th season Saturday, May 7.

This year's race meet, which runs through Sept. 17, will feature 50 total stakes, 10 graded events, and nine stakes restricted to New Jersey-bred horses.

Several stakes will see purse boosts in 2022, including the GI United Nations, which goes from $500,000 to $600,000 and is now double its purse from just two years ago; the GIII Monmouth Cup going from $300,000 to $400,000; the GIII Molly Pitcher going from $250,000 to $400,000; and, the GIII WinStar Matchmaker, moving from $150,000 to $200,000. All of those races, along with the $100,000 Wolf Hill Stakes, will be run on Haskell Day.

In preparation for the July 23rd Haskell program, Monmouth will offer a “Haskell Preview Day” with four stakes events Saturday, June 18–TVG.com Pegasus, GIII Monmouth, GIII Salvator Mile and GIII Eatontown.

The 20th annual New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival, with three stakes events, will be renewed on Aug. 28, with the $125,000 Charles Hesse III Handicap headlining that card.

The meet will conclude Sept. 17 with the third running of the $500,000 Nownownow S. for 2-year-olds going a mile on turf.

Stall applications, which are due by March 16, are now available online at www.monmouthpark.com or in hard copy format in the Monmouth Park racing office.

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Lopez Wins With Amatteroftime, Alta Velocita On New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival Day

It only seemed fitting that a day celebrating New Jersey-bred horses belonged to jockey Paco Lopez, trainer Kelly Breen, and breeder-owner John Bowers.

Lopez, who tied his own Monmouth Park record by riding seven winners on Saturday, captured two of the three stakes races during Sunday's New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., while Breen won the $100,000 New Jersey Breeders' Handicap with Pickin' Time, last year's champion New Jersey-bred 2-year-old.

Pickin' Time, who held off Golden Brown to win by 1¾ lengths in the six-furlong New Jersey Breeders' Handicap for 3-year-olds and up, is owned and was bred by John Bowers.

Bowers was honored during the day as the 2020 New Jersey Breeder of the Year.

“It's great that Pickin' Time and Mr. (John) Bowers would win this race on Jersey-bred day,” said Breen. “He's a top breeder. It's difficult when you have a top 2-year-old and you have to transition to 3. Then at 3, having to run against older horses in a race like this like Golden Brown, who is a top older horse, one of the best Jersey-breds ever.

“We knew we had our work cut out for us. Our horse was training well and doing well. I'm just glad he showed up. We talked a lot about the cut back (to six furlongs from a mile and an eighth in the TVG.com Haskell Invitational in his last start). We sharpened him up with the breezes. We did all I thought we needed him to do to get him ready for a top effort off the shelf. He showed up. They went fast. But he's a fast horse too.”

Ridden by Nik Juarez, Pickin' Time looped three-wide coming out of the final turn while Golden Brown, ridden by Lopez, shot the rail.

“It was for the best that I had to go wide coming out of the final turn,” said Juarez. “The favorite (Golden Brown) was down on the rail so I wanted to get the jump before he got through and make sure I was clear and kick some dirt. We were able to get the jump on him and that made a difference.”

Pickin' Time, making his first start since being elevated to fourth in the Grade 1 Haskell, returned $8.60 to win.

The winning time for the son of Stay Thirsty was 1:09.58, with Dr. Doyle getting third.

The other two stakes races on the 12-race card for state-breds belonged to Lopez.

The track's leading rider guided Amatteroftime to a 4¾-length victory over Prendimi in the $125,000 Charles Hesse III Handicap at a mile and a sixteenth and also captured the $100,000 Eleven North Handicap, doing so with a rousing stretch run that saw Alta Velocita get up to win by a nose over Jersey Jewel.

Amatteroftime, trained by Silvino Ramirez, earned his first stakes win since capturing the 2018 New Jersey Breeders' Handicap. The 6-year-old gelding is now 5-for-13 at Monmouth Park during his career.

Amatteroftime paid $5.40 to win, covering the mile and a sixteenth in 1:44.49. Optic Way finished third, another two lengths back.

Lopez's victory in the six-furlong Eleven North aboard Alta Velocita wasn't nearly as easy, with the filly rallying from eighth, seven lengths back, at the quarter pole, finally catching Jersey Jewel on the wire. The winning time was 1:10.45.

Though Alta Velocita has won four of her last five starts, the Eleven North marked the first stakes victory in her 15-race career.

“At the top of the stretch, I was hoping we'd get fourth because of how far back she was. Maybe fifth and then a long drive home,” said winning trainer Andrew Simoff. “As it got closer my hopes picked up. I still didn't she was going to get there inside the sixteenth pole. She had that late surge and switched to that right lead and took off and that was it.”

Alta Velocita returned $6.20 in the field of 11 fillies and mares, three and up.

“At the five-eighths and then the half-mile pole I was thinking `she is dead last,' ” said Lopez, who is virtually assured of his eighth Monmouth Park riding title. “I let her go very wide and let her do her thing. She was flying. I think she made up 10 lengths in the stretch.”

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Ketner Sweeps NJ Thoroughbred Festival Card

Dr. Mark Ketner was celebrating a rare feat at the conclusion of Monmouth’s New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival Sunday–the Colts Neck-based vet foaled all 10 winners on the card.

“It was pretty crazy,” Ketner said. “We have kind of an unusual practice. I have a farm practice with a racetrack practice based here in Monmouth County. Most of the Jersey-breds are foaled here in Monmouth County, and we’ve just been lucky enough to have some of the same farms for many years–they’re all good farms and they’re all right here.”

Highlights of the card included Prendimi (Dance With Ravens)’s head victory over favorite Golden Brown (Offlee Wild) in the Charles Hesse III H. for older males around two turns; heavy favorite Liz’s Cable Girl (Cable Boy)’s seventh win at Monmouth and second in the Eleven North H. to increase the 6-year-old mares earnings to more than $500,000; and in-form Royal Urn (Kantharos)’s runaway victory in the New Jersey Breeders H. for sprinters.

“I’m just very fortunate to have good associates who help at the farms,” said Ketner, who also noted that he foaled two runners-up on the card as well. “With some of them, we’ve actually had the stallions, and some of them we’ve bred, and foaled and then worked on them all the way through their racing career. In some cases, even after they’re done racing. It’s a neat little niche.”

Five-year-old Prendimi’s dam Cigno d’Oro (Tour d’Or) completed a double of her own, as her 3-year-old son Our Man Luke (Redeemed) broke his maiden one race after the Hesse. Both horses were bred and owned by Jon Coles’s GJ Stable and trained by Luis Carvajal, Jr., who also saddled Don’s Marsh (Don Six) to an optional claiming victory two races later. Coles and Carvajal campaigned Cigno d’Oro to seven career wins and earnings of more than $372,000.

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‘Jersey Racing’ At The Forefront For Trainer Pat McBurney This Sunday At Monmouth

Though trainer Pat McBurney estimates that only “30 percent or so” of his barn consists of Jersey-breds that group of horses will have 100 percent of his attention on Sunday at Monmouth Park.

Of the 10 races scheduled for the 18th New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival on Sunday – with $743,125 up for grabs in purse money for state-bred runners – McBurney has nine horses entered in seven races, including defending champion Golden Brown in the $125,000 Charles Hesse III Handicap.

The all Jersey-bred card also features the $100,000 Eleven North Handicap and the $100,000 New Jersey Breeders' Handicap.

“I have three or four clients who have Jersey-breds, so this is always a big day for them and the barn,” said McBurney.

Golden Brown, coming off a 2¼-length victory in the Irish War Cry Stakes on July 25 at Monmouth, will be the prohibitive favorite against five rivals (including the McBurney-trained Ashley's Hope) in the Charles Hesse III Handicap at a mile and a sixteenth on the dirt. The 5-year-old son of Offlee Wild has won eight of 22 career starts, capturing three state-bred stakes races at Monmouth a year ago.

“I think against Jersey-breds going long on the dirt, with Sunny Ridge on the sidelines, he is at the top of the heap,” McBurney said. “His starts have been spaced out a little more than usual but I thought we'd take advantage of more Jersey racing with him this year.”

The start will be Golden Brown's third of the year after he made his seasonal debut in the John J. Reilly Stakes at six furlongs on July 5, finishing third. Had the Monmouth meet started as originally scheduled on May 2 he would have been ready then, McBurney said. COVID-19 forced Monmouth's opener to be pushed back to July 3.

“He's not a great `doing' horse and he is tough to get along with, so I kept him in New Jersey all year,” said McBurney. “He was up and training in February and was ready for the (original) start of the meet. We ran him in that Jersey-bred sprint but that's not really his distance. But he was ready to race.”

McBurney, who says he has never started nine horses on a card before, is optimistic he will have a good day.

“To me, looking at the races, I expect Golden Brown to win. I expect Crafty Don and Amazing Cat (both entered in an allowance optional claimer) to turn in the next-best performances,” he said. “Jingo (who goes in the second race) disappointed in his first race back last start but (jockey) Paco Lopez said he kind of got away from him the first quarter mile and ran himself into the ground. So we're looking for a good race from him.”

“Three wins (on the day) would be fantastic. I'm hoping for at least two.”

McBurney will also send out Powergirl in the first race, Lucky Jaime in the third, first-time starter Wild Czar in the sixth and Holy Guacamole in the 10th.

Overall, McBurney is having another solid Monmouth Park meet, with eight winners from 53 starters entering the weekend.

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