Stakes Spot Plays for Monmouth on Saturday, May 30

Monmouth Park will host a trio of black-type tilts on Saturday. 

Race 3 – Miss Liberty S. 

Fillies and mares will run 1 1/16 miles on the sod in the first stakes event of the day. Multiple graded winners are signed on for the contest, but the lightly raced #6 Brisbane (5-2) is the top choice for Chad Brown. The six-year-old Zelzal mare made a fine move when beating allowance foes at Aqueduct in 2024 in her stateside debut and looks to be training well in advance of her comeback. The French-bred mare is three-for-five with two placings in her lifetime and gets the nod in a tricky spot with Dylan Davis in the silks. 

Race 7 – Cliff Hanger S. 

Nine males will run 1 1/16 miles on the green in the second stakes tilt of the afternoon. There are surely some talented and accomplished horses in the field, but all things will go through Juddmonte homebred #7 Cosmic Year (9-5) beneath Manny Franco. The exciting Kingman colt was a well-backed second in the Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) behind Field of Gold as a sophomore, and this seems like a very reasonable spot for his first run in the states. Now in the hands of Chad Brown, the four-year-old will be popular at the windows but is difficult to go against in his local debut. 

Race 8 – Jersey Derby 

A solid group of eight three-year-olds will vie in the $100,000 finale. Tom Proctor’s #8 Third Coast (5-1) tired in the lane second time out at Keeneland but has room to improve in the third start of his career. The Uncle Mo homebred was an easy debut winner at Tampa Bay Downs at first asking, and he was too close to a swift early pace last time in Lexington. The gelding, who is out of a fine mare, drew the outside post slot for the tilt and will have clear sailing throughout the race at a nice price with Jose Lezcano inheriting the ride. I expect the three-year-old to be forwardly placed from the break.