Monmouth Park Barn Notes for Tuesday, June 2, 2017

By John Heims —-

CALI THIRTY SEVEN GOES FOR BACK-TO-BACK WINS IN SATURDAY’S EATONTOWN

Cali Thirty Seven looks to make it back-to-back stakes victories and her first in graded company in Saturday’s $100,000 Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes going a mile and a sixteenth on the Monmouth Park turf.

The 5-year-old mare by Eskendereya took home the Powder Break Stakes for the second straight year last time out at Gulfstream Park, holding off competitors in the stretch to complete the wire-to-wire victory. C.J. McMahon was aboard for her latest win and will get the call once again Saturday.

The daughter of the Carson City mare Mama Tia has worked twice since her win on April 29, both over the fast Monmouth main track. Her latest came on May 28 where she went four furlongs in :53. Prior to that, she worked a bullet four furlongs in :48, fastest of the 64 that went the distance on May 21.

“She came out of the race great and has been doing good since coming up from Florida,” said trainer Joe Orseno. “We worked her fast two works ago and then she came back worked excellent again.”

She made her most recent run in a graded stakes on Feb. 11 in the Grade 3 Suwannee River at Gulfstream Park where she led most of the way before finishing fifth.

“I like being closer to the inside with the big field and her speed,” said Orseno. “We are just going to let her break and run her race.”

Owned by Crush Racing LLC and DJ Stable LLC, Cali Thirty Seven has a win over the Monmouth turf course in five career starts. In 2015, she took home a $40,000 allowance event in her usual front-running fashion.

A deep field of 15 including two entered for main track only was drawn for Saturday’s Eatontown led by Grade 1 winner Time and Motion, who won the Queen Elizabeth II Cup last October at Keeneland.

Multiple Grade 3 winners will also enter the gate including Tin Type Gal, for Graham Motion, who makes her 2017 debut after taking last year’s Grade 3 Boiling Spring Stakes at Monmouth, and Zipessa, trained by Michael Stidham, who took home the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap at Parx on July 4 last year.

The Eatontown Stakes will be run as race 11 on Saturday’s 12-race card. Gates open at 11:30 a.m. with first post scheduled for 12:50 p.m.

POPULAR DAWN PATROL RETURNS JUNE 24

Monmouth’s popular Dawn Patrol program, which gives fans a look into racing life behind the scenes, is scheduled to resume on Saturday, June 24 and run all the way through Aug. 20.

This year, Dawn Patrol will be held on Saturdays and Sundays, starting at 8 a.m. The free morning tour consists of a tram ride through the Monmouth Park stable area during workout hours, a close-up look at the starting gate, a tour of the jockeys’ room, which is usually off-limits to the public, and a running commentary on racetrack life by hostess Laurie Lane. Learn about the life of Thoroughbred race horse including training programs and equipment, feed programs and a variety of other topics.

Reservations are required and can be made by call 732-571-5542.