Monmouth Notes & Stakes Recap

By Tom Luicci —-

TRAINER BREEN HOPING ROAMING UNION FINDS BEST STRIDE
IN $1 MILLION BETFAIR.HASKELL INVITATIONAL ON JULY 29

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Trainer Kelly Breen hasn’t yet been able to coax the best out of Roaming Union but he’s hoping that changes during the 3-year-old colt’s next start. That will be in the $1 million betfair.com Haskell Invitational, with the 51st edition of Monmouth Park’s showcase race set for Sunday, July 29.

Second by a neck in the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth on June 17, Roaming Union will face his stiffest test yet in the Grade 1 Haskell.

Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic, Preakness runner-up Bravazo, Navy Commander and late invitee Reride, third in the UAE Derby, are the other likely starters, with two or three more possible from a group that includes Lone Sailor, Mr Freeze, Promises Fulfilled, Core Beliefs and Flameaway.

The nine-furlong Haskell Invitational will be televised live on NBC-TV from 5-6 p.m.

Roaming Union, with a 1-3-2 line from 11 lifetime starts, faltered in his first try to compete with top 3-year-olds in the winter, but Breen is hoping the son of Union Rags-Double Gelato, owned by George Hall, is finally coming into his own.

“I was hoping he would get bigger and stronger in his frame at the start of the year but he never really did,” said Breen, currently third in the Monmouth Park trainer standings. “Maybe he’s a late bloomer. That’s my hope.”

Breen was encouraged by the horse’s second-place finish in the Pegasus, as well as a work on July 17 of :59.60 handily for five furlongs.

“No question in my mind that the horse to beat is Good Magic,” said Breen. “I don’t know if we’re going to be a target for Good Magic or not but I’d like to be forwardly placed and hopefully he will turn in the type of effort I think he is capable of.”

Breen has had his share of success from his four previous Haskell starters, with Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice finishing third in 2011 and Praying For Cash getting second to Bluegrass Cat.

“It’s the Haskell, it’s my home track and we have a 3-year-old who is ready to run,” said Breen. “I’m all in.”

SELECT SEATS REMAIN FOR HASKELL INVITATIONAL

Select seats remain for the July 29 betfair.com Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, ranging from $13 to $18 to $20.
The Grade 1 race, which annually attracts the top 3-year-olds in training, highlights a stakes-filled card that starts with a special noon first post. Admission that day includes the popular Haskell hat while supplies last.
For more information, call 732-571-5580 or visit www.monmouthpark.com and look under “All Things Haskell” on the main page.

MISS DEPLORABLE SCORES UPSET IN BLUE SPARKLER STAKES
TO GIVE TRAINER BALTAZAR GALVAN FIRST STAKES WIN

Miss Deplorable survived an early speed duel and then had enough to hold off even-money favorite Auldwood Lane by one length to capture the $60,000 Blue Sparkler Stakes at Monmouth Park on Saturday, providing trainer Baltazar Galvan with his first career stakes win.

Sent off at 12-1 in the field of seven 3-year-old fillies, Miss Deplorable stayed on the flanks of Elizabeth Darcy early on before pulling away from the early leader. She was then able to hold off the late-closing Auldwood Lane to win the 5½-furlong turf sprint in 1:02.70.

Saturday marked the first time the Delaware Park-based Galvan had ever been to Monmouth Park.

“I have mostly cheaper horses and claimers but this one is a good one,” said Galvan, who oversees a 24-horse stable. “She acted like a grass horse all along. So we tried her on the grass and she has been very good since we put her on the grass. It feels great to get my first stakes win with her because I always thought a lot of her.”

After starting her career in a stakes race on the dirt at 2 – and finishing a tiring sixth – Galvan put the daughter of Big Drama-Usual Manner on the grass at Gulfstream on March 21. She finished a late-closing second in that five-furlong dash, then broke her maiden at Delaware Park in her next start on June 28 at five furlongs on the grass. She made the transition from Maiden Special Weight company to stakes company look easy.

“I started her in a stakes race (on the dirt) in her very first start so I always felt she had ability,” said Galvan. “I break my own babies. No one else has ever put the saddle on her. It’s a very good feeling to get that first stakes win.”

Ridden by Carlos Hernandez and owned by Six Sandbaggers Stable, Miss Deplorable now has two wins and a second in three career grass tries.

“The trainer told me to try to break quickly with her and maybe sit second, right off the speed,” said Hernandez. “I did that and I felt like I was waiting, waiting, waiting. At the quarter pole it was time to go and we did. I was worried about the favorite coming at us. I looked at the infield screen and saw her coming. I just rode my horse a little harder. She was able to get the job done.”
Miss Deplorable returned $27.20 to win.

PICK 6 CARRYOVER AT $151,683 FOR SUNDAY’S CARD

The Jersey Shore Pick 6 avoided being hit by a single winner yet again on Saturday, with the carryover now at $151,683 heading into Monmouth Park’s 10-race card on Sunday.

The 20-cent wager pays out the entire pool only if there is a single winning ticket
Picking six winners on Saturday returned $855.64 for 20 cents. The sequence started with Magic Hatter ($2.80) in the 6th race and was followed by Draxhall Woods ($9.00) in the 7th race, Amapola ($3.60) in the 8th race, Be A Hero ($5.00) in the 9th race, Miss Deplorable ($27.20) in the 10th race and A Sixties Tune ($17.00) in the 11th and final race.
First race post on Sunday is 12:50 p.m. The Jersey Shore Pick 6 starts in the 5th race.