Natalie Victoria #8 with Jose Ortiz riding won the $75,000 Monmouth Beach Stakes at Monmouth Park on Sunday May 25, 2014. Photo by Aubrey Therkelsen/EQUI-PHOTO.
There were five stakes in the mid-Atlantic this past weekend, with plenty more to come.
- Monmouth Park hosted three stakes, one each on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. On Saturday, 3-10 Itsmyluckyday dominated a field of just four rivals in the $75,000 Majestic Light for three year-olds and up going 1 mile 70 yards. Paco Lopez rode for trainer Eddie Plesa. Sunday’s Monmouth Beach, on the other hand, drew an interesting group of 10 fillies and mares making the same 1 mile 70 yard voyage for a similar purse. Bettors had eyes for just four of them — making four horses 7.60-1 or less and all the rest at least 11.40-1. The bettors were prescient, as their four preferred runners filled out the superfecta, with Natalie Victoria speeding to the early lead under Jose Ortiz and taking the field all the way home for a 3 1/2 length victory in a zippy time, 1:41 2/5, that was a tick faster than the Majestic Light. Michelle Nevin trains the winner. On Sunday, just five fillies and mares faced the starter in the 1 1/16 mile Miss Liberty on the grass; but three of them finished within a head of each other. Julian Pimentel piloted favored Tannery, trained by Alan Goldberg, to a head victory over Overheard and Lonesome Town.
- In the six-furlong My Juliet at Parx Racing, favored Bridgehampton, trained by Michael Hushion, thrashed a field of older fillies and mares under Frankie Pennington. En route to her first stakes victory, and third win from six career starts, the four year-old Bernardini filly grabbed the early lead and cruised to a five-length win.
- The top three finishers in the Its Binn Too Long Stakes at Charles Town all were within a half-length. In the end, Jeff Runco’s Pocket Gift, under JD Acosta, earned the win over favorite Practical Ideas and Joanne Elizabeth. It was the second straight win for Pocket Gift, her third overall, and her first in stakes company.
Elsewhere…
It wasn’t a weekend, but it was a stake: Julian Pimentel won another stake this past week, this one last Wednesday at Delaware Park, when he guided Montana Native to a front-running score in the Winter Melody for trainer Christophe Clement. It was the third stakes win of the four year-old filly’s career and gave her a career mark of 15-5-0-3, with earnings of $314,198…
Only one member of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred/The Racing Biz Top Midlantic-bred Poll, was in action over the weekend. Maryland-bred Daring Dancer, fifth on the Three-year Old Poll, ran a disappointing fifth, as the favorite, in the $200,000 Wonder Again Stakes at Belmont…
Trainer Dylan Smith won the first race of her career on Monday at Pimlico. Four year-old Lively Times, a horse she also owns, sped to the lead and hung on to win the $25,000 lifetime claimer. Lively Times was bred in Maryland by Smith’s mentor, the late Dickie Small, who gave her the horse, making the win especially sweet…
In our featured race o’ the day from Pimlico, 3.10-1 Dido scored by a length over longshot Green Wave Girl to win the second-level allowance/optional claimer on the turf. Dido has now won three straight and finished in-the-money seven times in eight career starts…
Coming up this weekend: the $500,000 Penn Mile at Penn National headlines a busy weekend in Central Pennsylvania.
