Trombetta-Trained Pair Tackles Fellow Stakes Winner Ghoul’s Night Out

LAUREL, MD – Sharing status as stakes winners as well as a love for Laurel Park, Mike Trombetta-trained stablemates My Sistersledge and Monte Crista will share the starting gate for the first time in Saturday’s $75,000 All Brandy Stakes.

The 1 1/16-mile All Brandy for fillies and mares 3 and older is one of two stakes scheduled for Laurel’s world-class turf course on a 12-race Maryland Pride Day program that features four stakes for Maryland-bred/sired horses worth $300,000 in purses.

Also on the card are the $75,000 Find for 3-year-olds and up on the grass and a pair of six-furlong dirt sprints for 3-year-olds – the $75,000 Star de Naskra and $75,000 Miss Disco, the latter for fillies. First race post time is 1:10 p.m.

My Sistersledge and Monte Crista are among seven horses Trombetta entered in five races Saturday, including all four stakes. He is also running Never Enough Time in the Miss Disco and Sky Magician in the Star de Naskra.

“It’s exciting,” Trombetta said. “We like the action and that’s what we work hard at, to try to get them in these things. We’ll see how we do.”

My Sistersledge, a homebred of John and Cheryl Banner, was beaten a head when second last our in a 1 1/8-mile optional claiming allowance on the Laurel turf Aug. 2, but was promoted to the win when first-place finisher Goiaba was disqualified and placed fifth for interference in upper stretch.

It was the sixth win from 11 Laurel starts for the 5-year-old Etched mare, to go along with one second and four thirds. Prior to that she was off the board in successive stakes at Monmouth, the Miss Liberty and Eatontown (G3), beaten a total of six lengths.

“She ran good last time. Fortunately, we were in the right spot at the right time. The winner did beat us but he impeded another horse so we benefitted from that,” Trombetta said. “But, she’s been a pretty honest, money-earning type and she does really good at Laurel so she certainly should be in here.”

Trombetta is pointing My Sistersledge to a return in the mid-October Maryland Million at Laurel, where she has won the past two editions of the 1 1/8-mile Ladies on turf and will try to follow Countus In (1989-91) and Mz. Zill Bear (1993-95) as a three-peat winner.

“I don’t know what it is, but she seems to run on it regardless of whether it’s firm or soft or whatever. Before you know it, it’ll be Maryland Million time so she’s picking her spots between now and then,” Trombetta said. “She’ll run any way she needs to. She likes to just kind of hang around mid-pack and then try to go at it from there, but we’ll see how the race shapes up.”

Country Life Farm’s Monte Crista raced seven times last year after missing her juvenile season and produced four wins, including maiden and allowance scores at Laurel as well as the Riskaverse Stakes last August at Saratoga, her most recent triumph.

After finishing ninth in the Pebbles Stakes in her final 2018 start and two poor finishes in Grade 3 stakes to start 2019, the Cape Blanco filly was fourth, beaten 1 ½ lengths, in the 1 1/16-mile Just A Kiss Stakes July 13 at Monmouth Park.

“That was a pretty good race she ran last time. There were some pretty good fillies in that race. That was off a bit of a layoff for her, as well, so second race off the layoff I’m looking forward to running her,” Trombetta said. “She didn’t do so well at the end of last season. She had some issues that we were trying to figure out, but we gave her a bit of time and I think she’s come back ready to go.”

Julian Pimentel rides My Sistersledge from Post 7 in the field of eight, and Trevor McCarthy has the call on Monte Crista from Post 6. All horses will carry 121 pounds.

Mens Grille Racing’s Ghoul’s Night Out enters the All Brandy off back-to-back wins at Laurel, a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance June 8 on the dirt and the 5 ½-furlong Jameela Stakes July 14 in her third career try on the turf, both by a neck.

A 5-year-old daughter of Hall of Famer Ghostzapper, Ghoul’s Night Out lead nearly all the way in her dirt triumph but came from off the pace in the Jameela. She owns three seconds in four tries at the All Brandy distance.

“She handles both surfaces pretty well,” trainer Hamilton Smith said. “We tried her on the grass before but that was a pretty gutsy race she ran the last time. I’ve run her long before and she acts like she can handle the distance so we’re going to try her against the Maryland-breds and hope for the best.”

Ghoul’s Night Out has breezed three times since the Jameela and will have the services of Jorge Vargas Jr. from Post 4.

“She’s going into the race fine. She’s as good as she’s ever been, so I look forward to her to make a good showing, and just hope that she can get the job done,” Smith said. “She came out of the other race good and been perfect and training well since, so we don’t have any excuses.

“She’s been consistent all along,” he added. “We used her a little more last year than we should have as far as the number of starts, but she seemed to recoup from that and is doing well. She only ran two bad races in her life.”

Victory Rally, winner of the 2018 Geisha Stakes on a sloppy Laurel main track last fall, Annie Boo Boo, Good Roll, Irony of Reality and Sunrisebernsteini complete the field.