Unbeaten Turf Runner Monte Crista Stakes-Bound Off Latest Win
Unbeaten Turf Runner Monte Crista Stakes-Bound Off Latest Win
$100,000 Stormy Blues Saturday, July 7 Attracts 25 Nominations
10-Year-Old Veteran Barney Rebel Captures Sunday Feature
LAUREL, MD – Country Life Farm’s Monte Crista, undefeated since moving to the turf this spring, is likely headed to stakes company following her impressive four-length victory on the undercard of Saturday’s Commonwealth Day program at Laurel Park.
Under a hand ride from jockey Julian Pimentel for trainer Mike Trombetta, 3-year-old filly Monte Crista won the restricted Maryland-bred/sired allowance in 1:41.59 for 1 1/16 miles over an All Along turf course rated good.
It marked the third consecutive win, all over older horses, for the chestnut daughter of Cape Blanco out of the Alphabet Soup mare Aruban Sandwich who is a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Just Howard, the Maryland-bred champion turf horse, 3-year-old male and Horse of the Year in 2017.
“Generally a 3-year-old filly like that, once she’s gotten into the two-other-than allowance conditions and beyond, you might as well be looking at your 3-year-old stakes. Hopefully our state-bred stakes pop back up here … and we go from there,” Trombetta said. “We’re excited about her. It’s fun.”
Favored at 4-5 in a field of eight, Monte Crista bobbled slightly at the break but quickly regrouped and settled along the inside under Pimentel before being tipped to the outside approaching the stretch and cruising past the leaders before pulling clear late, all while in hand.
“I’ve been thrilled about her for a while now because she’s really showed in her workouts on the synthetic surfaces that she’s way above par and she just keeps doing the right thing,” Trombetta said. “She’s running like a horse that’s been doing it for a long time, and that’s kind of exciting.”
Unraced at 2 after being purchased in May 2017 for $30,000, Monte Crista debuted on the dirt March 24 at Laurel, breaking badly and finishing well back going six furlongs. Stretched out and switched to turf, she responded with a 4 ¼-length maiden triumph April 28 at Laurel and then won an open entry-level allowance June 10 at Monmouth Park by another 1 ¾ lengths.
“She just had some juvenile issues, nothing terrible, where it required some extra time. When we got her started we kind of suspected that she would lean toward turf with her pedigree and everything, never knowing that it would be this much,” Trombetta said. “There was no push real hard to get her started last season being a Maryland-bred. By the time we got going this year, we had enough time to get a race in her on the dirt and then start her turf season.”
Trombetta believes the best is yet to come for Monte Crista, whose half-brother needed six tries to break his maiden and then reeled off wins in the Caveat and Find Stakes for Maryland-breds last summer prior to his victory in the Commonwealth Derby (G3) in the fall.
“It just comes to her very naturally and she’s very comfortable out there,” he said. “From a numbers standpoint, I don’t know if she took a leap forward yesterday or not. I think she’s gradually gotten better. Her numbers have been good; they haven’t been off the charts, but she’s heading in the right direction and that’s all you can ask for – win a few races, get some seasoning and get better, because the competition inevitably just gets better and better, as well.”
$100,000 Stormy Blues Saturday, July 7 Attract 25 Nominations
Multiple stakes-winning fillies Almond Roca, Bronx Beauty, Limited View and Miz Mayhem are among 25 horses nominated to the $100,000 Stormy Blues Stakes, the richest stakes on Laurel’s summer calendar, Saturday, July 7.
The Stormy Blues for 3-year-old fillies, run at 5 ½ furlongs on the world-class turf course, will be joined on the card by the $75,000 Concern Stakes for 3-year-olds, contested at seven furlongs over the main track.
Prominent among Stormy Blues nominees is Almond Roca, a two-time stakes winner at Tampa Bay Downs over the winter coming off a fourth-place finish in Laurel’s seven-furlong Alma North June 16 for Fair Hill-based trainer Graham Motion. She has run twice on turf, including a win at first asking last summer at Laurel.
Bronx Beauty has won four of five career starts, all on dirt in stakes, the most recent coming in the six-furlong New Start June 2 at Penn National. Third in the Alma North, Limited View owns five career wins at Laurel, three in stakes, and has yet to run on grass. Eddie Plesa Jr.-trained Miz Mayhem has won her last four starts sprinting over the Gulfstream Park turf, capped by the Cedar Key and Nicole’s Dream Stakes April 27 and June 10, respectively.
Among other stakes winners nominated to the Stormy Blues is Leonard Green’s undefeated Sower, a daughter of Flatter who debuted with a 7 ¼-length maiden special weight triumph April 28 at Laurel. All three of her wins have come at six furlongs on dirt, most recently in the Jersey Girl Stakes June 10 at Belmont Park.
Sagamore Farms and Papason Stables’ Grade 3-placed stakes winner Barry Lee tops 29 nominees to the Concern. He debuted with a maiden win last summer at Laurel, going on to take the Arlington-Washington Futurity in September over Arlington Park’s synthetic surface, his lone non-dirt race. The Violence colt ended his juvenile campaign running second in the Futurity (G3) at Belmont Park and third in the James F. Lewis III at Laurel, and has made his only two starts this year at Churchill Downs, finishing third in a second-level optional claiming allowance last out June 23.
Others nominated to the Concern include stakes winners Kowboy Karma, who beat Barry Lee in the James Lewis; Midnight Poker, whose first career loss in five starts came in the six-furlong Danzig Stakes June 2 at Penn National; Sea Foam and Danzig winner Smooth B.
10-Year-Old Veteran Barney Rebel Captures Sunday Feature
Trailing all but one horse at the head of the lane, Flying Pheasant Farm’s Barney Rebel got clear run down the center of the course to surge to the lead in the final sixteenth and go on to a three-quarter-length victory in Sunday’s featured ninth race.
The $45,000 second-level optional claiming allowance was the 10th career win from 58 starts for 10-year-old Barney Rebel ($8.20), the narrow 3-1 favorite who completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.46 over a firm Dahlia turf course under jockey Horacio Karamanos for trainer Mary Eppler. Conquest See Ya was second, followed by Amigo and 21-1 pacesetter Corvus.
Super C Racing Inc.’s Town Drunk ($6), favored at 2-1, kicked off Sunday’s card with an easy 5 ½-length triumph in the opener, a $27,000 maiden claimer for 2-year-olds, running five furlongs in 59.13 seconds. In the fourth, a $33,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies, Emcee Stable, Matt Strzepka and Brian McKenzie’s Margie is Livid ($7.60) was a hard-fought front-running neck winner in 1:02.80 for 5 ½ furlongs on the All Along turf course.
Live racing returns to Laurel with a 10-race card Friday, June 29 that features a carryover of $2,049.42 in the $1 Super Hi-5 in Race 2. First race post time is 1:10 p.m.
Notes: Kevin Gomez posted a riding triple Sunday aboard Here Comes Michael ($7) in the sixth race, Unlucky Hillary ($3.20) in the eighth and What a Run ($8.20) in the 10th. Laurel’s winter-spring meet-leading rider picked up a pair of victories with Margie is Livid ($7.60) in the third and Warrior Rose ($7.60) in the fifth.
