VETERAN TRAINER KELLY BREEN LOOKING FOR A FAST START; PACO LOPEZ LISTED TO RUN IN ALL EIGHT RACES ON SATURDAY

By Tom Luicci —-

VETERAN TRAINER KELLY BREEN LOOKING FOR A FAST START

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Kelly Breen is no longer chasing training titles with the gusto he once did but that doesn’t mean his competitive fire has dimmed.

The 56-year-old Breen will embark on his 35th season at Monmouth Park with three horses entered on Saturday’s eight-race opening card, and he does so with the anticipation of a fast start and a summer of steady success, as has been the case the past few years.

Breen won training titles at Monmouth Park in 2005, 2006 and 2020.

“We’ve held our own recently at Monmouth Park. I assume we’ll do the same this year,” he said. “If things go well I think we’ll be in the hunt and that’s always fun. But I’m not sure if we have enough horses to be the leading trainer.”

Breen, who has 45 horses currently bedded down on the Monmouth Park backstretch – with several more arriving from farms shortly, he said – is looking for immediate success from the outset of Monmouth Park’s 81st season with Duck Duck Goose in the first race of the meet. He has also entered Clean Winner in the fourth race and Royal Performance in the seventh race.

First race post time for Saturdays and Sundays during the 50-day meet is 12:50 p.m. When Fridays are added to the schedule starting on June 26 first race post time will be 2 p.m. those days.

“One of the things I’m optimistic about is that we have a good variety of horses,” said Breen. “Everyone always wants better quality. That will never change. But I feel like we have a little bit of everything. We have some lower-end claimers, middle claimers, allowance horses and a stakes horse or two.

“We have some nice babies coming in too. You’re always optimistic about the babies.”

Breen comes off a winter in Florida where he said “we held our own.” He won with seven of 59 starters at Gulfstream Park and was 4-for-19 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Overall, Breen has 1,127 career wins, the most notable being Ruler On Ice’s victory in the 2011 Belmont Stakes.

Training titles, though, are a thing of the past for him – maybe.

“I don’t focus on that anymore,” he said. “The problem with trying for a training title is that you’re trying to run your horses in the best spots and a lot of times you don’t have a choice because the races don’t fill. And if you have a nice one you might want to send him or her somewhere else for a stakes races and that can cost you a win at Monmouth Park.”

A year ago, Jorge Delgado edged out Chad Brown for the training title by a single victory on the final weekend of the season.

For Breen, who won 14 races at Monmouth Park a year ago, the only major change from his title years is his health. It’s almost three years since he had neck fusion ceremony that caused him to wear a heavy neck brace and walk with a cane for nearly two years.

“The first year after surgery, not being able to go to sales, not seeing people, hurt my business,” said Breen, who started as an exercise rider at Monmouth Park for then-leading trainer Walter Reese in 1986. “Right now I’m feeling the best I have in a while. I feel as if I’m back. I’m doing much better.

“I don’t know if I will ever be 100 percent again but I can still do most things around the barn. I can be more involved again even though I can’t do everything around the barn any more. I’m delegating more responsibility. It’s not easy for a person who is used to doing it all.”

Winning, though, makes everything easier.

“I feel I’m still as competitive as I’ve ever been,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get the right races to go at Monmouth Park this season. We’ve got enough of a smorgasbord of horses – colts, fillies, long, short, dirt, grass – to have a chance for some success.”

PACO LOPEZ LISTED TO RUN IN ALL EIGHT RACES ON SATURDAY

AS MONMOUTH PARK’S 50-DAY MEET GETS UNDERWAY

Jockey Paco Lopez at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, NJ Photo By Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Paco Lopez isn’t wasting any time in his quest for a record-tying 13th Monmouth Park riding title – and eighth straight – with the 40-year-old listed to ride in all eight races on Monmouth Park’s opening-day card on Saturday following Tuesday’s draw.

Lopez is coming off a 2025 season in which he finished second nationally in wins with 325. He won at a 33 percent clip (86 of 264) at Monmouth Park a year ago, outdistancing runner-up Samuel Marin by 20 wins.

Joe Bravo currently holds the track record with 13 Monmouth Park riding titles, recording his final one in 2007, the year Lopez started riding in the United States.

First race post time for the start of the Jersey Shore track’s 81st season on Saturday is 12:50.

A total of 63 horses were entered for the eight races, with a $65,625 New Jersey-bred allowance at 5½ furlongs headlining the card.

Sonny Leon, looking to challenge Lopez’s dominance, is listed to ride in seven races, as is Samuel Marin.

Lopez, who has 4,421 career wins, will be on three horses for three-time leading trainer Kelly Breen – Duck Duck Goose in the opening race, Clean Winner in the fourth race and Royal Performance in the seventh race.

Jorge Delgado, who edged out Chad Brown on the final weekend of last year’s meet to win his first-even training title, has two entered in the second race (Lumber Legacy and Captain Oats).

Monmouth Park’s 50-day meet will feature 36 stakes races (nine graded) worth $5.85 million. The annual highlight is the 59th edition of the Grade 1, $1 million NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes on July 18. The undercard on the Haskell program will feature five stakes races, including the Grade 2, $500,000 United Nations and the Grade 2, $500,000 Molly Pitcher Stakes.

First race post time on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays is 12:50 p.m. Post time for Friday racing, which begins June 20, is 2 p.m.

Parking is free throughout the meet.