Some graded-quality 3-year-old dirt fillies in the Northeast have already competed at Saratoga Race Course or are preparing to race there later this summer in the Test Stakes (G1) or Alabama Stakes (G1).
But others are alternatively pursuing relatively softer stakes opportunities in New Jersey, with 10 fillies entered July 29 in the $250,000 Monmouth Oaks (G3) at 1 1/16 miles on dirt at Monmouth Park.
The race is a reunion for three starters from the April 8 Gazelle Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack: first-place Promiseher America , third-place Shidabhuti , and fifth-place Occult . The trio has since raced once apiece—with Promiseher America 14th in the May 5 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs, Shidabhuti finishing second in the ungraded July 2 Boiling Springs Stakes at Monmouth, and Occult outrunning her 27-1 odds to finish third in the June 9 Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park.
Ray Handall trains Promiseher America for Hoffman Thoroughbreds, Tom McCrocklin, and Medallion Racing, while Chad Brown conditions Peter Brant’s Shidabhuti and Alpha Delta Stables’ Occult. Shidabhuti is a daughter of Practical Joke . Promiseher America and Occult are both by leading sire Into Mischief .
Besides Promiseher America, other graded stakes winners in Saturday’s race include Pink Brook Farm’s Delaware Oaks (G3) winner Foggy Night and Vegas Magic , who captured the Sorrento Stakes (G2) last year for owners Omar Aldabbagh, Todd Cady, and Ty Leatherman.
Vegas Magic, trained by California-based Doug O’Neill for her first initial six starts, was shipped from the West Coast to Monmouth Park 10 days ago, settling into the barn of trainer Kelly Breen, who is her trainer of record Saturday.
“She kind of has dual citizenship now,” Breen said. “She’s doing great. I talked to Doug about her when she first got here and found out as much as I could about her. She has been training very well.
“What happens to her after this race I don’t know. That’s up to Doug.”
A Kentucky-bred daughter of Good Magic , Vegas Magic exits a sixth-place finish in the Lady M Stakes (G2) at Los Alamitos Race Course July 4 in her season debut. After winning her first three races, she has been unplaced in her last three starts, though always when in grade 2 or grade 1 company.
Amid a time when most of California’s graded stakes races for 3-year-old fillies are on turf, she heads east for opportunities.
“We’re just trying to run her against 3-year-olds now for as long as we can,” O’Neill said.
Entries: Monmouth Oaks (G3)
Monmouth Park, Saturday, July 29, 2023, Race 9
- Grade III
- 1 1/16m
- Dirt
- $250,000
- 3 yo Fillies
- 4:20 PM (local)
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