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Raased Gives Escobar First American Stakes Win In Oceanport Stakes At Monmouth

Trainer Alison Escobar has waited three years for his first stakes win in the United States, but the trainer didn't have to sweat it out when it finally happened.

Raased, the overwhelming favorite in a reduced field when the race was taken off the turf, glided across the slop at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., on Sunday to capture the $100,000 Oceanport Stakes by 19¼ lengths.

For Escobar, who has won 11 graded stakes races in Puerto Rico, the victory in the 74th edition of the Oceanport Stakes was his first since he started training in the United States in 2019.

“It feels very good,” he said. “I have won many stakes races in Puerto Rico, but to get the first one here feels great.”

Ridden by Heriberto Figueroa, Raased tracked Island Commish through early fractions of :23.56 for the opening quarter and :47.39 to the half. The 5-year-old son of Tapit then took off, leaving his three rivals in the lurch. The winning time for the mile and a sixteenth was 1:44.43.

Raased, who won his only other slop start at Monmouth Park by 10½ lengths against allowance company on May 30, returned $2.40 to win. Crown and Sugar was second, 6¼ lengths in front of Island Commish.

“I had 100 percent confidence in this horse whether it stayed on the turf or was in the slop and off the grass,” said Figueroa. “But when they changed to the dirt and it was sloppy, I knew I had a really big chance, especially in a four-horse field. He loves the slop. So I was happy when they changed it.

“I was just waiting behind Island Commish. (Raased) started running by himself. He just took off. You could tell he loved the slop by the way he was running.”

The victory also marked Figueroa's first stakes win at Monmouth Park since he moved his tack here from California.

Raased, owned by Candido Esquivel, has three wins and a second from his five career starts, with his only off-the-board finish in the Grade 3 Poker Stakes on the turf at Belmont Park in his previous start.

“I felt very excited when the race came off the turf,” said Escobar, who has 760 career victories. “He has won on the turf. He broke his maiden on the turf. But he really likes the slop. He's a good horse. He runs on any surface. He has shown us that. The horse is good quality.”

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Earlier on the card, jockey Isaac Castillo escaped with only a sprained right knee when his mount, Chublicious, broke down during the 10th race, according to Dr. Angelo Chinnici, the track's medical director. Castillo, third in the Monmouth Park jockey standings with 33 wins, was treated and released and said he expects to resume riding this week.

In addition, jockey Gerardo Corrales, injured in Saturday's Tyro Stakes when his horse, Vodka N Water, clipped heels with a rival, is scheduled for a follow-up exam on his sprained right shoulder on Wednesday and said he expects to resume riding sometime next week if he is cleared to do so by doctors.

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Pudding Much The Best In Handicap At Gulfstream

During her five-plus years of training on her own, Elizabeth Dobles has demonstrated a deft hand in bringing out the best in old-warrior Thoroughbreds.

The proof was in Pudding Sunday at Gulfstream Park, in Hallandale Beach, Fla., where she saddled the 6-year-old gelding for late-rallying victory in the featured $60,000 handicap for older horses, three weeks after claiming him for $25,000 for herself.

Pudding's upset victory over odds-on favorite Double Crown in the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up was Dobles' second high-profile success of the weekend with a recent claim. Saturday, Dobles saddled Harry's Ontheloose for a triumph in Saturday's $60,000 Miami Beach Handicap at Gulfstream three starts after claiming the 5-year-old campaigner for $35,000 for Imaginary Stables LLC.

“Pudding caught my eye. He had won a couple in a row, and he had some back class. Those are the ones that I really get attracted to,” said Dobles, who has enjoyed success with veteran performers, War Story, Royal Squeeze and My Point Exactly, among others, in the past.

Pudding broke from the No. 1 post position and saved ground under Chantal Sutherland along the backstretch, as One Fast and Jackson contested the pace during the first quarter of a mile in :22.26 seconds. Double Crown, a multiple-stakes winner who has been graded stakes-placed twice, raced a few lengths behind the pace into the far turn before making a three-wide sweep to the lead on the turn into the homestretch, as Pudding remained trapped behind the tiring pacesetters at the top of the stretch.

Just as Double Crown appeared on his way to victory, Sutherland sent Pudding through an opening that had developed inside the 1/8th-pole, and the son of Two Step Salsa accelerated quickly to catch the favorite by three-quarters of a length.

“I thought we were in a horrible spot to be in, but when it opened up, it was heaven,” Dobles said.

Pudding ran six furlongs in a swift 1:09.94 to win his fourth straight race. Double Crown, who was ridden by Luca Panici, finished 2 ½ lengths clear of third-place finisher Tonalism.

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Capuano Considering Next Start For Alwaysinahurry

Mopo Racing's Alwaysinahurry is set to return to action later this month for the first time since his impressive upset victory over Grade 3-winning favorite Mighty Mischief in the July 4 Concern Stakes at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

Trainer Dale Capuano said the Great Notion gelding is being considered for both the $75,000 Star de Naskra Aug. 21 at Pimlico as well as the $150,000 Robert Hilton Memorial Aug. 27 at Charles Town in Charles Town, W. Va., contested at six and seven furlongs, respectively. Both races are restricted to 3-year-olds.

The Star de Naskra is among four $75,000 stakes for Maryland-bred/sired horses on Pimlico's Maryland Pride Day program, along with the Miss Disco for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs on the main track, 1 1/16-mile Find for 3-year-olds and up, and 1 1/16-mile All Brandy for fillies and mares 3 years old and older, each on the turf.

“He's doing well. We're looking at the race at Charles Town, possibly the Star de Naskra. We're just going to play it by ear,” Capuano said. “We'll take a look at things and see how it shakes out.”

Bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman, Quin Bowman, and Rebecca Davis, Alwaysinahurry burst from beneath the shadow of his multiple stakes-winning stablemate Kenny Had a Notion with a 4 ½-length triumph in the Concern at odds of 9-1. Mighty Mischief, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, had won three straight races including the May 15 Grade 3 Chick Lang at Pimlico.

The six-furlong Concern was only the second race this year for Alwaysinahurry, who needed five tries to break his maiden and raced eight times at 2 with two wins and a second to Kenny Had a Notion in the Maryland Million Nursery, one of his three runner-up finishes. Alwaysinahurry came back six months later to run fourth in a Delaware Park starter allowance as a tune-up for the Concern.

“It was impressive, wasn't it? He did it the right way,” Capuano said. “I always felt this horse could run. It took a little while for him to come around, so, hopefully, he's gotten it together now. We'll see what happens.”

Alwaysinahurry has worked three times at Pimlico since the Concern, with bullets going four and five-eighths and, most recently, an easy five-furlong move in 1:02.80 Aug. 6.

“Hopefully, he'll just improve a little bit more and get a little bit better as we go on,” Capuano said. “Time will tell.”

Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser's Kenny Had a Notion won stakes on turf and dirt as a 2-year-old and opened his 3-year-old season with a neck triumph over favored Maythehorsebwithu in the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid Jan. 16 at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md. He got a break after running third in the one-mile Miracle Wood Feb. 20 and was sixth to Wondrwherecraigis in his July 18 return at Pimlico.

Capuano put Kenny Had a Notion back on the grass for his most recent start, a five-furlong dash July 30 at Pimlico, where he raced between horses early before tiring to be seventh behind Mamba On Three.

“He ran OK the other day on the turf,” Capuano said. “He just hasn't come back to himself. It's a bit disappointing.”

Capuano said he plans to run Taking Risks Stable's Cannon's Roar in the Find. The 7-year-old gelding, second in the 2020 Maryland Million Turf and third in the July 8 Sussex at Delaware Park, was third to Logical Myth and Monarchs Glen in the West Virginia House of Delegates Speaker's Cup Aug. 7 at Mountaineer Park in New Cumberland, W.Va.

“He ran a big race, so my plan is to back in the Find,” Capuano said. “He ran his race and ran terrific. The two favorites beat him. He got beat a length and a half. They just outran him. He did everything right, he just wasn't quite good enough. The Maryland-bred race hopefully will be a little bit easier, and we won't have to ship six hours to get there.”

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Tasting The Stars Headlines Van Clief Stakes At Colonial Downs

Virginia-bred Tasting The Stars, an impressive 5-for-7 in her career, headlines Monday's $100,000 Van Clief Stakes for Virginia-restricted horses at Colonial Downs in New Kent, Va. The field of nine includes Todd Pletcher's Apurate, the second early choice.

The restricted stakes, open to those that are Virginia-bred, sired, or certified, is 1 1/16th miles on grass and is the eighth of nine races scheduled.

Newtown Anner Stud Farm's Tasting the Stars is fresh off turf stakes wins in the Nellie Mae Cox at Colonial July 19 and in the Brookmeade at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md., last October. The 5-year-old Bodemeister mare prevailed three times in 2019 — in the Just Jenda Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., and in allowance and maiden special weight races at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La. The Van Clief headliner finished sixth in the 2019 Virginia Oaks as the betting favorite. She has bankrolled $204,600 and is 3-for-4 on turf. The 9-5 early choice is trained by John Kimmel and will be ridden by Feargal Lynch.

A1A Racing's Apurate is the second choice and was runner-up most recently in a Monmouth turf allowance. The 4-year-old Summer Front filly broke her maiden October 20 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., and has earned $129,360 from 13 starts including a win and five runner-up finishes. David Cohen will ride the Kentucky-bred.

Larry Johnson and RDM Racing Stable's No Mo Lady is third early choice at 6-1. The 5-year-old Uncle Mo mare finished third in the Grade 3 Gallorette Stakes last October at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., and previously, had back-to-back seconds in the All Along Stakes and Indiana General Assembly Distaff Stakes. The Michael Trombetta trainee will be ridden by Julian Pimentel.

Also in the field is Inside The Box, Unruly Julie, Fionnbharr, Sweet Sandy, Princess Theorem, and Dare to Promise.

First post at Colonial Monday is 1:45 PM. The Van Clief is scheduled at 5:01 PM. The summer racing season in New Kent will continue on a Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday basis through September 1. The $250,000 New Kent County Virginia Derby (Gr. 3) is Tuesday, August 31.

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