nownownow stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Now in his 33rd year as a trainer, Gregg Sacco knows that success or failure on the opening weekend of a new meet generally doesn't mean much in the long term. But the competitor in him still has that burning desire to get off to a fast start.

That's his hope for Monmouth Park's 76th season opener on Friday when he sends out It Can Be Done in the featured $100,000 Jersey Derby. First race post time for the six-race twilight card is 5 p.m.

“You always want to get off to a fast start opening weekend and win a race or two, especially at your home track,” said Sacco. “I think it picks up the morale of the barn and yourself. So in that sense it's important.”

The 78th Jersey Derby, scheduled for a mile on the grass, has drawn a field of eight 3-year-olds (plus one MTO) as Monmouth kicks off its 53-day meet with four straight days of live racing over the Memorial Day weekend. Post time for Saturdays, Sundays and special Monday holiday cards throughout the meet will be 12:15 p.m.

Even a forecast calling for rain, which could move the Jersey Derby to the main track, has Sacco undeterred.

“He broke his maiden on the dirt so we're running turf or dirt,” said Sacco. “He had a very good number on the dirt and he trains well on the dirt. He won the Nownownow Stakes here (at Monmouth on Oct. 4) on the turf last year so he has shown he can run well on either surface.

“We've kept him on the turf since he broke his maiden but he has proven he can handle both surfaces.”

A gelded son of Temple City-Gotham Girl by Freud, It Can Be Done sports a 2-2-2 record from seven career starts with earnings of $150,330. After breaking his maiden going six furlongs on the dirt at Monmouth Park on Sept. 22, It Can Be Done won easily at a mile on the turf in the Nownownow Stakes two weeks later.

Owned by Red Oak Stable, It Can Be Done returned at 3 with a solid second-place finish in a $50,000 optional claimer at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 24. He was then third, beaten just a neck, in the Cutler Bay Stakes on Florida Derby Day at Gulfstream Park March 27.

“He wintered great in Florida,” said Sacco. “He had a beautiful second comeback race at Gulfstream and we penciled in this race right after that. There were a few other options – the Penn Mile, a race in New York, another race in Kentucky — but we decided to stay at our home turf.

“He's a fresh, sharp horse. He's ready to go. It looks like a very competitive race but he's a talented gelding.”

Jose Ferrer has the mount for owners Red Oak Stable.

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The stakes were considerably higher but the tactics were exactly the same for jockey Jose Ferrer on Sunday at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. Get to the lead, slow down the fractions and steal off with a grass route race.

The veteran rider did that in a Maiden Special Weight race early on the card at Monmouth Park from an outside post on Sunday at odds of 18-1 and the repeated the strategy with 6-1 shot It Can Be Done in the inaugural running of the $150,000 Nownownow Stakes, scoring a comfortable 2½-length victory over Mischievous Dream in the one-mile turf feature for 2-year-olds.

Ferrer won five races on the 12-race card.

“Jose is a master of getting to the lead and slowing it down on the turf,” said winning trainer Gregg Sacco. “He had to go a little fast the first quarter but he slowed it down the second quarter and when that happens if you have horse you have horse.”

Neither Sacco nor Ferrer was sure about It Can Be Done's lasting power since he had only sprinted his first three career starts, including a 41/2-length victory in a Maiden Special Weight race in his last start on Sept. 20.

Though Ferrer had to use the Kentucky-bred son of Temple City to get the lead from the outside post in the eight-horse field, going :23.38 for the first quarter, he backed down the half to :48.33 and was able to lope to three-quarters of a mile in 1:13.52.

The final time over the firm turf course was 1:37.57.

Sapling winner Mischievous Dream, a closer and the only filly in the field, could never make up ground in the stretch because of Ferrer's ability to control a leisurely pace.

“The game plan was just what happened – get to the lead and slow it down,” said Ferrer. “That was the intention, to walk the dogs. Coming from races at three-quarters to this I knew he was going to want to show some speed. The first quarter was a little quick but once he made the lead he settled down and I was able to nurse him on the backside. In the stretch he took off like a jet.

“I was a little worried about going two turns the first time with him coming from three quarters. Of course I was. But the race worked out the way we wanted it to and needed it to.”

Sacco said taking off the blinkers, worn by It Can Be Done his first two starts but not his past two victories, has made the difference for the gelding.

“We only sprinted him before this but the first two starts we had blinkers on him. The key was taking them off,” said Sacco. “He's bred to run all day. He's a medium-sized horse with a great length of stride. From his gallops in the morning we didn't think distance would be a limitation but we were jumping from a Maiden Special Weight race to a stakes race and there were some talented horses in the race so we knew were coming into a tough heat.

“He ran dynamite on the turf in his only grass start (prior to this). He ran right up to the leader but he wouldn't go by him with the blinkers. He put it all together in his last start. You don't know about two turns until you stretch them out but it was really nice.”

It Can Be Done, owned by Red Oak Stable, paid $14.00 to win.

Mischievous Dream held off No One To Blame for second by a nose.

Racing resumes for the Meadowlands-at-Monmouth Park meet with a 10-race card on Wednesday, Oct. 7. First race post time is 12:50 p.m.

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