Mia’s Crusade seeking three-peat in Saturday’s Spruce Fir Handicap at Monmouth Park

By Tom Luicci —-

MIA’S CRUSADE, OFF A LENGTHY LAYOFF, LOOKS TO THREE-PEAT

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Trainer Chuck Spina isn’t sure how much longer he will be able to follow the routine that has helped make Mia’s Crusade so successful in her seasonal debuts, but he’s going to give it at least one more try with the 6-year-old mare.

Mia’s Crusade will look for a three-peat in Saturday’s $85,000 Spruce Fir Handicap for New Jersey-breds at Monmouth Park, following the same pattern that saw the daughter of Greenpointcrusader win the race in 2023 and 2024.

In both of those years, the Spruce Fir was her first race back after being idle for eight month-plus. This time, she is coming off a 243-day layoff, vanning in again from her winter residence at Overbrook Farm in nearby Colts Neck.

“She is ready to come back,” said Spina, whose mare would top the $500,000 career earnings mark with another win in the Spruce Fir. “She worked a minute out of the gate (for five furlongs) on May 1 and it might be sloppy. She loves the slop.

“She runs great fresh. She has won this race off the layoff the past two years. But she is six now, so you don’t know.”

Owned by Joe Ioia’s Prancing Horse Farm, Mia’s Crusade has an 8-2-4 line from 21 career starts and is 6-for-15 at Monmouth Park. She is also 2-for-3 on off-tracks.

“She runs long, short, dirt, turf, fast track, sloppy track,” said Spina. “She is just an honest horse.”

But this year’s six-furlong Spruce Fir may be a challenge unlike the previous two, with her two main competitors – Bel Pensiero and Riding Pretty – having both raced at Gulfstream Park over the winter.

“She has beaten those two before and they have beaten her,” said Spina. “But those two have been running in Florida and they have been getting ready for this against tough horses. She has her work cut out for her. I respect those two horses. She can certainly get beat by either one of them.”

The Spruce Fir, which drew a field of nine, offers another potential milestone for Mia’s Crusade, who has won five Jersey-bred stakes races over the course of her career.

“I was told they don’t think any horse has ever won more than five Jersey-bred stakes races. So that would be significant,” Spina said.

There is, however, one major disruption to Mia’s Crusade’s routine.

Jomar Torres, who has ridden her in her last 18 starts, will not have the mount this time. Isaac Castillo has the call instead.

Spina insists it’s not a concern.

“She’s pretty honest and pretty easy to ride,” he said. “She always gives 100 percent.”

Saturday’s nine-race card has a first-race post time of 12:50 p.m. Gates will open a half hour earlier at 10:30 a,m. to accommodate the Preakness Stakes card from Pimlico Race Course.