Takethemoneyhoney holds off Catherine Wheel to win Serena’s Song Stakes at Monmouth Park

By Tom Luicci —-

TAKETHEMONEYHONEY HOLDS OFF CATHERINE WHEEL BY A NOSE

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Trainer Michael Moore already had enough concerns heading into Sunday’s Serena’s Song Stakes at Monmouth Park with his speedy filly Takethemoneyhoney.

She was trying stakes company for the first time, going two turns for the first time and facing a Grade 1 winner in the four-horse field.

Then came some added angst: A blanket finish that separated three horses at the wire by a nose and a neck.

In the end, Takethemoneyhoney passed all of those tests, digging in grimly to hold off Catherine Wheel in the $100,000 feature race, earning a free entry and start fees to the Grade 3, $5000,0000 Molly Pitcher Stakes on the July 19 NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes day card in the process.

Power Squeeze, the 1-2 favorite, lacked the requisite stretch punch and finished third, her fifth straight loss since winning the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga last Aug. 17. With jockey Javier Castellano urging her three-wide heading into the final turn she appeared to have momentum before coming up short.

“Obviously going two turns for the first time and facing stakes company for the first time were concerns,” said Moore. “But this was kind of the next step for her. She won the `two other than’ in Maryland really easy. We could have gone back in that again and she would have been 1-9. We chose here to take a shot to see how she handled it.

“She’s so game. All three horses took a shot at her. Carrying her speed was also a bit of a concern but in a one-turn mile she did it. The one time she did get beat she was in a contested pace and Catherine Wheel sat a beautiful trip and nailed her by a nose. So this was definitely worth trying.

“The Molly Pitcher has to be a possibility now. Graded stakes is the next step you would think.”

The 4-year-old Maryland-bred daughter of Golden Lad, owned by Kasey K Final Turn and Michael R Day, improved to 4-for-5 lifetime. Her lone defeat came by a nose to the Chad Brown-trained Catherine Wheel at Aqueduct on March 15.

As is her custom, she broke alertly for jockey Eliseo Ruiz and led the compact field for the entirety of the mile and 70-yard stakes race, going fractions of :24.09, :48.76 and 1:13.12 for six furlongs.

The winning time was 1:42.19.

“I was a little worried about her going two turns and carrying her speed,” said Ruiz, who recorded his first stakes win at Monmouth Park. “But I was able to get her relax and slow it down a little and then I was waiting to see what she had left. She had just enough left. She’s a really good filly. You can tell she is learning every race. I think he wants to run even more. I want to see where she takes me next.”

Takethemoneyhoney paid $6.00 to win.

“We always thought this filly could run,” said Moore. “When she won her first race by 13½ lengths I remember thinking `I didn’t know she could run like that.’ Some horses have the ability but not the gameness. She has it all.”