The weekend’s mid-Atlantic stakes winners…
Blue Sparkler Stakes, Monmouth Park
Joya Real (#8) barged through to win the Blue Sparkler narrowly on Saturday at Monmouth Park. Photo By Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO
- Joya Real
- trained by Kathleen DeMasi
- ridden by Roberto Alvarado, Jr.
- owned by Pewter Stable
- Storyline: Favored Joya Real rallied stoutly from fifth, bursting through a seam in the late stages to take the Blue Sparkler Stakes, a turf sprint for fillies and mares, at Monmouth Park by a neck Saturday. She made up more than three lengths in the last eighth of a mile to overhaul Aquinnah and early leader Strikinglybeautiful. It marked the second stakes win and eighth win overall for Joya Real, who has finished in the trifecta in nine straight starts and has earned $337,349 in her career. “She is just a wonderful mare,” said trainer Kathleen DeMasi, who indicated that she would look towards Parx Racing’s Turf Amazon as a potential next start.
Frank Gall Memorial Stakes, Charles Town Races
- Lucy’s Bob Boy
- trained by Sandra Dono
- ridden by Jevian Toledo
- owned by Michael Furr
- bred in West Virginia by Robert Furr, Sr.
- Storyline: Hard-hitting Lucy’s Bob Boy stalked the speed of favored Hidden Canyon before dispatching that rival and drawing off to a 5 1/4 length win in Saturday’s Frank Gall Memorial for older runners, giving the six-year-old son of Flatter his third straight triumph in this event. The win pushed Lucy’s Bob Boy’s earnings to nearly $970,000, with 25 wins from 39 starts. Longshot Little Big Sime was third, and fan favorite Russell Road — himself a two-time Gall winner — finished fourth in an event expected to serve as a prep for several runners for October’s West Virginia Breeders’ Classic. Running time for seven furlongs was 1:24.67 in the $50,000 event.
Colleen Stakes, Monmouth Park
Ruby Notion was much the best in Sunday’s Colleen Stakes at Monmouth Park. Photo By Taylor Ejdys/EQUI-PHOTO
- Ruby Notion
- trained by Wesley Ward
- ridden by Rafael Hernandez
- owned by Silverton Hill LLC
- bred in West Virginia by Silverton Hill Farm, LLC
- Storyline: Ruby Notion, a two-year-old West Virginia-bred who made her most recent start prior to Sunday at Royal Ascot, made her return Stateside a winning one when she blitzed a field of two-year-old fillies in the grassy, five-furlong Colleen Stakes at Monmouth Park. With the win in the $60,000 event, she has now won two of three starts and earned more than $51,000. On Sunday, she took an immediate clear lead, opening up three lengths on the field while motoring through an initial quarter mile in 21 3/5 seconds. She was never challenged en route to a 2 1/4 length victory in 56.77 seconds. “She just broke easy and so quick from the gate,” said rider Rafael Hernandez of the daughter of Great Notion. “Once we turned for home, she had plenty left.”
