Kenzadargent took Monday’s Miss Liberty Stakes at Monmouth Park. Photo by Ryan Denver/EQUI-PHOTO.
What happened at Monmouth Park this past weekend…
[su_list icon=”icon: check”]- Favored Kenzadargent bided her time before closing smartly up the rail to win Monday’s $75,000 Miss Liberty Stakes over the Monmouth Park lawn, more than three lengths clear of runner-up Patsy’s Holiday. Trained by Chad Brown, Kenzadargent, a French-bred, four-year-old daughter of Kendargent, has now won four of 16 starts and earned over $280,000. “I was on the rail the whole way and was very comfortable,” said winning rider Jose Lezcano. “She finally got the hole as we hit the turn. She had plenty left for the stretch because she was behind horses the entire race. That was an impressive performance.”
- Stiffed, the longest shot on the board, staged a furious late rally under jockey Gabriel Saez to win Sunday’s featured $75,000 Monmouth Beach Stakes for fillies and mares. Trained by John Mazza, the four-year-old New Jersey-bred daughter of Stephen Got Even-High Noon Nellie, by Silver Deputy, paid $71.60 to win and triggered a $338.80 exacta payoff. “I wasn’t too worried when she was a little slow coming out of the gate,” said Saez. “The fractions were quick up front, but we were comfortable far off the lead. That’s just how she runs. She answered the call at the top of the stretch perfectly.”
- Red Vine overhauled leader Valid in the lane and went on to a two-length win in Saturday’s Monmouth feature, the $75,000 Majestic Light Stakes. Valid held second. “I had a beautiful trip,” said winning jockey Joe Bravo, who earlier on the card became just the 31st rider in history to win 5,000 career races. “Christophe (trainer Clement) told me this morning to just guide the horse into a good position and he will do the rest. All I had to do was be a passenger and the horse answered the call when I asked. He keeps on improving with each start.” It was the first stakes win for Red Vine and his third straight win overall.
- More than 60,000 fans attended Monmouth’s three days of weekend racing, with 26,268 of those coming out on Sunday of the holiday weekend. The weekend’s handle, more than $15 million, was an increase of more than 15 percent from the prior year’s same-weekend handk
