vigilantes Way | Horse Racing Free Tips

Tamahere Finds Winner’s Circle In Violet Stakes At Monmouth

Tamahere found non-graded stakes company to be exactly what she needed to return to the winner's circle.

The Chad Brown-trainee, who had raced against Grade 1 or Grade 2 in five of her six starts since coming to the United States last fall, went to the front and was never threatened in romping to a 7¼-length victory in Saturday's $100,000 Violet Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

The 4-year-old filly was unbothered by a yielding turf course, a gate scratch that caused a delay, and a last-minute rider switch in returning to the winner's circle for the first time since winning the Grade 2 Sands Point at Belmont Park on Oct. 10, 2020.

The winning time for the mile and a sixteenth was 1:45.74.

“This is a good filly, a really good filly,” said Luis Cabrera, who oversees Brown's division at Monmouth Park. “Chad was trying to give her an easier spot so she could get her confidence back.

“We weren't worried about the yielding turf. She's a French horse. She's used to it. She can handle a yielding turf. This was pretty much the way she ran in her last race (the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga, where she was caught late) but it was an easier group.”

Vigilantes Way, a two-time stakes winner at the Monmouth Park meet, was second. It was another 1¾ lengths back to the Brown-trained Counterparty Risk in third.

Malborough Road was a gate scratch, reducing the field to five fillies and mares three and up.

Ferrer wound up filling in as a replacement for scheduled rider Hector Diaz, Jr., who went down a race earlier when his horse clipped heels. Diaz, excused from his remaining mounts, suffered facial cuts and was complaining of dizziness.

“I was taking a shower because I was off and I got out of the shower and Luis asked if I would ride his horse,” said Ferrer. “Of course I'll ride a Chad Brown horse – any time. This really doesn't happen that much where you pick up a mount this late and win a stakes race. I've been riding 37 years and it's the first time I ever picked up a stakes-winning mount like this at the last minute.”

Ferrer said the paddock instructions from Cabrera were simple: get to the front and get the daughter of Wootton Bassett to relax.

“I came out to the paddock and talked to Luis about her. He said she likes being on the front and you can get her to relax there,” Ferrer said. “I got to the lead, she relaxed real nice on the backside, and after that, it was game over. She handled the turf real nice. She was really comfortable out there.”

Tamahere returned $5.40 to win in posting her fourth victory in 13 career starts.

Monmouth Park's 55-day meet concludes with a 14-race card on Sunday, highlighted by the $500,000 Nownownow Stakes for 2-year-olds at a mile on the grass.

First race post time is 12:15 p.m.

The post Tamahere Finds Winner’s Circle In Violet Stakes At Monmouth appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Lopez Caps Record-Tying Day With Win On Vigilantes Way In Miss Liberty

It may be true that records are made to be broken, but jockey Paco Lopez keeps tying his own one at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

Lopez matched the record he set twice in 2014 by winning seven races on Saturday's 14-race card, capping the performance with a half-length victory aboard Vigilantes Way in the $100,000 Miss Liberty Stakes.

Lopez, well on his way to an eighth Monmouth Park riding title, won five consecutive races spanning the fifth through ninth races before matching his track record in the co-featured Miss Liberty Stakes aboard the heavily-favored Vigilantes Way.

Trained by Shug McGaughey, Vigilantes Way rebounded from a loss in the Grade 1 Diana in her last start. Prior to that, she won the Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park on June 20.

In the co-featured $100,000 Rainbow Heir Stakes at 5½ furlongs on the turf, Belgrano found an opening along the rail early in the stretch and burst through for a two-length victory. It marked the first time 79-year-old trainer Frank Russo saddled a winner in a six-figure race.

But the day belong to Lopez, the runaway leader in the Monmouth Park jockey standings with 72. Isaac Castillo, who rode Belgrano to victory, is second with 40 winners.

“I think I was very lucky today,” said Lopez, who won the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks aboard R Adios Jersey on Friday night. “You look at these last couple of horses I won with and they handled the track. It's a little wet both on the dirt and turf. I'm lucky this horse (Vigilantes Way) likes this grass course.

“When I looked at the horses I was riding today I felt good. I felt quite a few had a shot. I am very grateful to do this again. I guess the next thing I have to get to is eight wins here.”

Vigilantes Way covered the mile and a sixteenth over a turf course listed as “good” in 1:43.14, having just enough to hold off the late-running Miss Teheran. It was another 1½ lengths back in third to Counterparty Risk.

The victory was the sixth in 14 career starts for the 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro, who was bred and is owned by the Phipps Stable. She is 2-for-2 on the Monmouth turf course.

“I was pleased with the way she ran,” said McGaughey. “It was a little bit different. She was stuck there for a minute but Paco Lopez worked out of it and we beat a nice filly who was second.

“I think she likes the quick turns. She does like Monmouth but the quick turns seem to suit her, because she has run good at Pimlico. She handles about any type of turf course. So when it rained a little, it didn't bother her. I think we'll try her in the Violate Stakes (Sept. 25 at Monmouth Park) next.”

Vigilantes Way returned $3.20 to win in the field of six fillies and mares, three and up.

Belgrano, who won the Virgil “Buddy” Raines Stakes at Monmouth Park a year ago, earned his fourth win in six starts on the track's turf course. The 7-year-old gelding was coming off a six-length win in handicap company at a mile, with the shorter distance proving to be no issue. He finished two lengths ahead of Grateful Bred, who was a neck better than The Connector.

Belgrano returned $8.40 to win in the field of nine 3-year-olds, flashing under the wire in 1:02.52.

“After this race, I think I can say for sure that this is the best horse I have ever had,” said Russo, who has been training since 1976. “I thought it might be tough for him at the end, especially going shorter, but he sort of got his way at the beginning of the stretch when the rail opened. It was a perfect trip.

“It's a great feeling. This is the biggest race (purse-wise) I have ever won. I was worried about the rain. If it was off the turf we were out. So I'm happy it stayed on the grass. I think he is at his best right now. Could not be happier with him than I am right now.”

The post Lopez Caps Record-Tying Day With Win On Vigilantes Way In Miss Liberty appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Vigilantes Way Finds Path To Winner’s Circle In Eatontown At Monmouth Park

Even after 11 career starts, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has been saying that the best is yet to come for Vigilantes Way.

Sunday's Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. may be the start of that for the 4-year-old filly.

Perfectly positioned to chase soft early fractions by jockey Paco Lopez despite leaving from post position 12, Vigilantes Way showed an impressive closing kick to win the $150,000 G3 Eatontown Stakes by 2¼ lengths before a season-high crowd of 12,562 on Father's Day.

It marked the first graded stakes victory for the Phipps Stable homebred, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro out of Salute by Unbridled.

“I thought Paco rode a good race,” said McGaughey. “He got her away from there from the outside and had her in good position. I knew she would finish. She had trained very well before she went down there. It was just a matter of whether she would take the shipping on a hot day like today. She obviously did. I'm very proud of her.”

Able to break alertly with Vigilantes Way, Lopez sat behind pacesetter Valletta through tepid fractions of :24.54, :48.70, 1:12.12, and 1:35.87 for the opening mile of the mile and a sixteenth race on a turf course that has been playing fast. Lopez asked his filly coming out of the final turn, and she responded in a big way, easily surging past Valletta, who held on for second. Crystal Cliffs and Counterparty Risk finished in a dead heat for third, another half-length back, in the full field of 12 fillies and mares 3 years old and up.

The winning time for the race was 1:41.90.

“Sometimes this horse has speed, sometimes not,” said Lopez. “The post position (12) is something I usually don't like but today it worked to our advantage. I was able to get out there and get in a good position behind (Valletta). It set up nicely for us.

“Shug told me to do whatever I felt I needed to do. She is usually in the top three early and I knew she would finish. She has a strong kick. It looked like there was a lot of speed in the race but they went kind of slow so I was happy with the position I was in throughout the race. I didn't have to make up a lot of ground.”

McGaughey was especially encouraged by Vigilantes Way's prospects for the Eatontown Stakes off her last race, when she closed into slow fractions on the Preakness Day undercard at Pimlico, falling a half-length short to multiple-graded stakes winner Mean Mary.

“I thought her last race in Pimlico was a really good race because she kind of got jumbled up at the start and got out of position,” said McGaughey. “She only got beat a half-length by Mean Mary, a multiple-graded stakes winner. Now maybe we can go on and get her stretched out, maybe to a mile and an eighth. She's handy. She might be able to get it. When that will be, I don't know. But today I am very pleased with the way she ran and very proud of her.

“Getting a graded stakes win is important, especially for a filly with a pedigree like hers. It's as good a pedigree as you are going to find. So now she's a graded stakes winner. Hopefully, it might lead to something even better.”

Vigilantes Way returned $9.20 to win for her fifth lifetime victory in 12 starts. She has failed to hit the board only twice in her career.

The post Vigilantes Way Finds Path To Winner’s Circle In Eatontown At Monmouth Park appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

McGaughey Confident About Vigilantes Way In Sunday’s Eatontown Stakes

Even after 11 career starts, six of them wins or runner-up finishes, Shug McGaughey believes the best is yet to come for the 4-year-old filly Vigilantes Way.

Her last race underscored that belief for the Hall of Fame trainer.

The regally-bred Vigilantes Way was able to close into slow early fractions before just missing by a half-length in the Grade 3 Gallorette Stakes at a mile and a sixteenth on the grass on Pimilco's May 15 Preakness card. The horse that held on to beat her? Mean Mary, a five-time graded stakes winner and millionaire who is 7-for-11 lifetime, including a win in the Grade 2 New York Stakes in her next start.

Now Vigilantes Way, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro – Salute by Unbridled, will look to build off that effort in Sunday's Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park. The $150,000 feature, which drew a full field of 12 (plus four alternates), is also scheduled for a mile and a sixteenth on the turf.

“We didn't get the position out of the gate that we wanted to in (her last race),” said McGaughey. “She had a little trouble early and we were further back than we wanted to be. But I was pleased with the way she closed. She got beat a half-length by a very good filly.

“That gives us some more hope that the future is bright for her.”

After a solid 3-year-old campaign in which the Phipps Stable homebred won 4-of-7 starts, Vigilantes Way is 0-for-3 this year. But two of her losses have come in Grade 3 events.

“I think she has come back this year even better than I expected her to,” said McGaughey. “She has been a bit of a surprise. She was small as a yearling and she would not have been one that you picked out in the field for her pedigree. But everything she has done so far has been right.

“I think she still has a pretty good future in front of her.”

McGaughey said that adding a graded stakes win to her credentials would be significant for Vigilantes Way but that it's not something he is obsessed with.

“With her pedigree, it is something we're looking to get,” he said. “Basically, I'm just looking to win a race with her, whether it's graded or not. I thought this race was a good spot on the calendar. It gave her plenty of time from Pimlico to here. We'll see what happens.”

Paco Lopez has the mount.

The post McGaughey Confident About Vigilantes Way In Sunday’s Eatontown Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post