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Double Thunder Rallies Late To Take Sapling At Monmouth

In a field of 2-year-olds going a mile for the first time, favorite Double Thunder grabbed his third win in four starts with a late rally to win the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the Super Saver colt had to go three-wide on the far turn to find running room, giving Monmouth's leading jockey Paco Lopez another win at the track's summer meet.

Breaking from post one, Lopez took Double Thunder back early, sitting fifth on the rail behind leaders Under the Gun and Midnight Worker. After fractions of :23.87 for the first quarter and :47.54 for the half mile, Double Thunder was boxed in on the rail and shuffled back to sixth entering the far turn as Midnight Worker caught Under the Gun and moved to the lead, Chancellor Bay tracking him.

On the turn, Lopez moved his colt to the outside, going three-wide to find racing room as the field entered the stretch. Into the Monmouth straight, Chancellor Bay took over the lead from Midnight Worker as both American Sanctuary and Double Thunder rallied to his outside, both catching Chancellor Bay in the last sixteenth of a mile. Double Thunder was fastest to the wire, sprinting by American Sanctuary to win the Sapling by a half-length.

The race's final time for the mile over a fast track was 1:38.76. Find this race's chart here.

Double Thunder paid $4.20, $2.60, and $2.40. American Sanctuary paid $4.80 and $3.40. Midnight Worker paid $3.60.

“In the mornings it took him a little while to figure things out but his gate works showed he was probably going to be okay. I don't think there was any concern about going two turns for the first time. If you look at all of his races it seems like he breaks a little slow, a step slow, but he always seems to come running. So I didn't think that would be an issue. We were actually waiting for him to go longer. I'm pleased with the way he ran. He took dirt, he got in trouble by coming in and going out, so it wasn't the best of trips and he still won,” Anthony Sciametta, assistant to Todd Pletcher, said after the Sapling.

“It was a tough trip for sure. They didn't make it easy for him. The horse broke well today. I was surprised he broke that well – maybe because he was on the rail. I don't know. I didn't want him that close early so I tried to get him to settle but it was a very rough trip,” Paco Lopez told the Monmouth Press Office after the race. “For a while a had nowhere to go. (American Sanctuary) had me pinned in. Finally, he made his move at the eighth pole and I was able to get some room to get my horse running. I think (American Sanctuary) moved a little too early, which was good for me. I had nowhere to go for a while. I was waiting on that horse and he finally went and that helped me.”

Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm and out of the Tapit mare Rattataptap, Double Thunder is owned by Phoenix Thoroughbred III. He was purchased by agent Gerard Butler from Taylor Made Sales Agency for $60,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase

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Davis Hoping To Use Monmouth’s Sapling As Breeders’ Cup Steppingstone With American Sanctuary

For trainer Christopher Davis to venture East to Monmouth Park, something he has done just once before in his brief career, there has to be a good reason.

Visions of the Breeders' Cup would qualify as that.

Davis, currently based at Arlington Park, will send American Sanctuary to Monmouth Park for Sunday's $200,000 Sapling Stakes at one mile for 2-year-olds, one of the highlights of four straight days of live racing that starts on Friday.

A Kentucky-bred son of American Freedom-Haven's Honey by E Dubai, American Sanctuary will be seeking his first stakes win, with a bigger prize in Davis' sights down the road for the aptly-named Dare to Dream Stable-owned colt. American Sanctuary finished second in the Prairie Meadows Gold Juvenile Stakes in his last start on Aug. 14.

“He got a rough trip in that race, finished really strong and galloped out great,” said Davis. “He's a horse that we want to go long with. He came out of that race in good order and worked back last week. We're trying to make the Breeders' Cup with him.”

Davis, 32, is having the type of career year that suggests that he may not be over-reaching with that goal. He is just two wins shy (with 30 overall) of matching his career best for a year and his $859,457 in earnings are already a personal best. On July 17 he earned his first graded stakes win when Naval Laughter captured the Grade 3 Modesty Star at Arlington Park.

American Sanctuary, though, has not tried more than six furlongs.

“I like the distance of the Sapling for him,” said Davis. “I like going from three-quarters of a mile to a flat mile, as opposed to a mile and a sixteenth. Looking at the nominations I feel we're right there with the top ones in the field.”

Davis, who grew up under parents who were both trainers, has been on his own since 2016. He currently has 35 horses and is looking to branch out beyond the Midwest, with plans to try Gulfstream Park this winter.

His trip to Monmouth will be just the second of his career. In 2018, he saddled Moonlit Garden to a second-place finish behind Divine Miss Grey in the Lady's Secret Stakes.

“I was going to send a couple to Monmouth last year but it didn't work out,” he said. “They were going to give me stalls, but with COVID-19 and the late start they had we had to change out plans and wound up at Churchill.

“With Arlington closing we could potentially have some horses at Monmouth Park next year. We'll see.”

Accompanying American Sanctuary on the trip East will be stablemate Quick Tempo, with Davis pointing that one to the Rumson Stakes on Sept. 11 at Monmouth Park.

In addition to the 87th running of the Sapling on Sunday, Monmouth Park will feature the Grade 3 Red Bank Stakes on Saturday and the $200,000 Sorority Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on Monday.

First race post time on Friday is 3 p.m. Post time for the remainder of the meet through Sept. 26 will be 12:15 p.m. starting on Saturday.

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Monmouth Park Announces Purse Increases, Additional September Dates

Monmouth Park, located in Oceanport, N.J., will increase purses across the board starting July 17 and is adding three live racing days on Fridays in September, racing secretary and director of racing John Heims announced on Saturday.

The purse increases take effect the day of the $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes, the track's showcase race.

The Nownownow Stakes for 2-year-olds going a mile on the turf will see the biggest purse boost, increasing to $500,000 from $150,000. Named for the 2007 winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Monmouth Park, the second edition of the Nownownow Stakes will be the closing day feature on Sunday, Sept. 26.

Maiden special weight races and allowance races will see a purse increase of 20 percent, with claiming races over $12,500 getting a 10 percent increase and claimers that go for $12,500 or less seeing a five percent purse increase.

Purses for all non-state bred stakes races that are currently $75,000 will go to $100,000 while Jersey-bred stakes races that are now $75,000 will be increased to $85,000.

“We're thankful to Gov. Philip Murphy and to the leadership in the state Senate and Assembly who continue to support racing in New Jersey,” said Dennis Drazin, the Chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, the operators of Monmouth Park. “A supplemental appropriation was passed and signed into law, and with rain preventing us from writing more races during the early stages of the meet, we have $5.5 million to spend on purses to support the Monmouth Park product as a result.

“We believe it was important to make the announcement at this time so horsemen can plan for the balance of the meet. We feel these increases will further strengthen what is already a quality product.”

Several other stakes races will see purse boosts as well. The Sapling Stakes (Sunday, Sept. 5) and the Sorority Stakes (Monday, Sept. 6), fixtures for 2-year-olds on the Monmouth Park racing calendar, will each get a $100,000 purse bump to $200,000.

The Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks on July 31 will now carry a purse of $250,000, a $50,000 increase. The Grade 3 Iselin Stakes on Aug. 21 will see the same increase from $200,000 to $250,000.

Monmouth Park's original schedule called for live racing on Saturdays and Sundays only for the final three weekends of September. Friday day cards will now be added to those weekends.

Monmouth Park will conduct live racing from Friday through Monday over the Labor Day weekend Sept. 3 through 6.

Following a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Monmouth-at-Meadowlands meet will return with nine live Thoroughbred cards in October. Those all-turf programs in East Rutherford will see significant purse increases as well. The purse structure for that meet will be announced when the racing dates are finalized.

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