Player Quick Pick: Monmouth for 6/21/2014
by D.S. Williamson
Monmouth has another full 12 race card on Saturday. The feature is the Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles over the turf.
Monmouth Park 10 | 5:12 pm ET
Allowance Optional Claiming (20) for 3&up going 6 f
5 – Reserved Quality – 5/2 – Speed almost always holds well over Monmouth’s dirt track, but this David Jacobsen trainee, who won’t be too far off of the pace, might find the perfect set-up for his late kick. Trainer David Jacobsen is winning at 28% at the meet and this one has 2 second place finishes out of 2 lifetime starts at Monmouth. Reserved Quality should be sitting in the catbird seat and ready to pounce once the speed falters.
3 – Scatter Joy – 2/1 – Horseplayers have to respect this one’s record, 3 win out of 8 starts and 2 victories at the distance from 3 tries. It also helps that Paco Lopez takes the call aboard Scatter Joy even though he had a few choices in this. The chalk will get the lead but Trevor McCarthy aboard Perdido Brew right to Paco’s inside and Victor Santiago aboard Seventy Niner right to Paco’s outside, could pressure this one mightily throughout the race, making Scatter Joy a tenuous underlay play for the win money.
7 – Saucy Don – 4/1 – The Teresa Pompay trainee has a 3-3-3 record out of 12 lifetime starts. Saucy Don has only raced at Monmouth. So, the horse for course angle could apply here and the Don Six four-year-old colt does drop out of a stakes race where he finished fourth behind Partyallnightlong, Zealevo and Gunfighter. He’s also tractable meaning that he could be closer to the pace than Reserved Quality if they go slower than expected. Saucy Don has a good shot to get his fourth lifetime victory on Saturday.
Monmouth Park 11 | 5:20 pm ET
G3 Eatontown 3&up F&M going 1-1/16 mi. (T)
2 – Rusty Slipper – 6/1 – This four-year-old filly sired by Lemon Drop Kid hasn’t raced since May 27, 2013 where she won a $60K stakes race going 1 mile over the turf as the chalk. Trainer Graham Motion could have run her in a number of races but he opts for this and that’s encouraging since she will go into it off of some very good works. The 3 wins out of 5 starts record is nice and she’s definitely a quality animal. It’s the layoff that is worrisome, but that’s why the odds should be more than fair, right?
4 – Orion Moon – 2/1 – Christophe Clement saddles this five-year-old mare that lost the Grade 3 Beaugay over at Belmont Park by only a neck in her last. Waterway Run, a terrific grass runner, won that race and Orion Moon went off at low odds of 2.5 to 1. She’ll get most of the play in here, but this will be her first try over the Monmouth grass and Belmont form doesn’t always translate. Because she’ll be going off at a low price, it’s worth trying to beat her, but don’t be surprised if she comes out on top in this.
9 – Dido – 15/1– The other Graham Motion trainee is taking a huge step up from the $25K optional claiming level to this Grade 3. Breaking from post-position 9 won’t help her chances but she’s won 3 races in a row. All of the victories occurred over the turf and she won them a couple of different ways, by closing from the clouds and then by getting within 2 lengths at the second call. She may not be good enough to beat these, but Motion feels that she deserves a shot and nobody will be able to complain about the odds. If anything, horseplayers should consider throwing her into the trifecta and superfecta.
Monmouth has another full 12 race card on Saturday. The feature is the Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles over the turf.
Monmouth Park 10 | 5:12 pm ET
Allowance Optional Claiming (20) for 3&up going 6 f
5 – Reserved Quality – 5/2 – Speed almost always holds well over Monmouth’s dirt track, but this David Jacobsen trainee, who won’t be too far off of the pace, might find the perfect set-up for his late kick. Trainer David Jacobsen is winning at 28% at the meet and this one has 2 second place finishes out of 2 lifetime starts at Monmouth. Reserved Quality should be sitting in the catbird seat and ready to pounce once the speed falters.
3 – Scatter Joy – 2/1 – Horseplayers have to respect this one’s record, 3 win out of 8 starts and 2 victories at the distance from 3 tries. It also helps that Paco Lopez takes the call aboard Scatter Joy even though he had a few choices in this. The chalk will get the lead but Trevor McCarthy aboard Perdido Brew right to Paco’s inside and Victor Santiago aboard Seventy Niner right to Paco’s outside, could pressure this one mightily throughout the race, making Scatter Joy a tenuous underlay play for the win money.
7 – Saucy Don – 4/1 – The Teresa Pompay trainee has a 3-3-3 record out of 12 lifetime starts. Saucy Don has only raced at Monmouth. So, the horse for course angle could apply here and the Don Six four-year-old colt does drop out of a stakes race where he finished fourth behind Partyallnightlong, Zealevo and Gunfighter. He’s also tractable meaning that he could be closer to the pace than Reserved Quality if they go slower than expected. Saucy Don has a good shot to get his fourth lifetime victory on Saturday.
Monmouth Park 11 | 5:20 pm ET
G3 Eatontown 3&up F&M going 1-1/16 mi. (T)
2 – Rusty Slipper – 6/1 – This four-year-old filly sired by Lemon Drop Kid hasn’t raced since May 27, 2013 where she won a $60K stakes race going 1 mile over the turf as the chalk. Trainer Graham Motion could have run her in a number of races but he opts for this and that’s encouraging since she will go into it off of some very good works. The 3 wins out of 5 starts record is nice and she’s definitely a quality animal. It’s the layoff that is worrisome, but that’s why the odds should be more than fair, right?
4 – Orion Moon – 2/1 – Christophe Clement saddles this five-year-old mare that lost the Grade 3 Beaugay over at Belmont Park by only a neck in her last. Waterway Run, a terrific grass runner, won that race and Orion Moon went off at low odds of 2.5 to 1. She’ll get most of the play in here, but this will be her first try over the Monmouth grass and Belmont form doesn’t always translate. Because she’ll be going off at a low price, it’s worth trying to beat her, but don’t be surprised if she comes out on top in this.
9 – Dido – 15/1– The other Graham Motion trainee is taking a huge step up from the $25K optional claiming level to this Grade 3. Breaking from post-position 9 won’t help her chances but she’s won 3 races in a row. All of the victories occurred over the turf and she won them a couple of different ways, by closing from the clouds and then by getting within 2 lengths at the second call. She may not be good enough to beat these, but Motion feels that she deserves a shot and nobody will be able to complain about the odds. If anything, horseplayers should consider throwing her into the trifecta and superfecta.
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