Adhamo returns to site of last win for Monmouth Stakes

Making his fourth start in America after being imported from France, Adhamo won the Grade 1 United Nations Stakes in July 2022 at Monmouth Park. In seven starts since, Adhamo has not won a race of any sort, but a return to Monmouth could awaken him Saturday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Monmouth Stakes.

Nine older horses were entered in this 1 1/8-mile grass race, and if Adhamo can’t bounce back, his Chad Brown-trained stablemate Running Bee has a chance, too.

At some point, it’s time to stop making excuses for a horse, but Adhamo has not found many suitable spots since his United Nations tally. He is not a 1 1/2-mile horse but has run that distance in three of his seven races since his last Monmouth appearance. Adhamo didn’t ever appear comfortable over a yielding course at Woodbine last fall in the Canadian International, and going 1 1/8 miles in the Pegasus World Cup Turf this past January, Adhamo didn’t get a clean run. That leaves two more post-United Nations starts. Adhamo’s third last August in the Arlington Million was a performance good enough to win the Monmouth. But he lacked any apparent excuse in his most recent race, the Muniz Memorial on March 23 at Fair Grounds. Flavien Prat, who won on the horse in the United Nations, has the mount.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

Running Bee lacks the overall credentials that Adhamo has but does have a real excuse for a subpar showing last month in the Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico. That race was run over a truly soft course, and Running Bee did not appreciate the slog. Running Bee, however, might prefer 1 1/16 miles to 1 1/8 miles, and he did get a perfect trip winning in April at Keeneland.

Beatbox liked the Pimlico course even less than Running Bee, his 18-length defeat a total throw-out. Go back to his fourth in the Muniz and win in the Grade 3 Fair Grounds Stakes, both at 1 1/8 miles, and you’ll unearth a contender.

Tawny Port has raced over distances longer than this since he was switched to turf last summer, but trainer Christophe Clement is trying the horse at this nine-furlong trip and scratching Tawny Port from a 1 3/8-mile race at Churchill Downs on Saturday night.

Churchill was the site of Siege of Boston’s most recent race, the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic on Derby Day, a class level too high for the horse who still finished a respectable sixth. This distance appears to be Siege of Boston’s trip, but he needs a fair pace to set up his run.

Grand Sonata has one win in his last 14 starts but on speed figures is just as fast as several others in the Monmouth – a real guessing game of a race.

Eatontown Stakes

Last summer, Spirit And Glory won the Miss Liberty Stakes on May 28 and finished fifth in the Grade 3, $150,000 Eatontown on June 17. This summer, Spirit And Glory’s run in the Beaugay on May 11, and perhaps an extra week’s rest into this Eatontown, will produce a more favorable result.

Time between races aside, this Eatontown came up far softer than last year’s. Among the four who beat Spirit And Glory, Consumer Spending, Surprisingly, and Gina Romantica would be favored in Saturday’s contest.

Chad Brown trains Consumer Spending and Gina Romantica, and of course has two entrants in the Eatontown, for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf. But neither Tax Implications or Maman Joon has hit anything close to the level of the two Brown ran in the 2023 renewal. Tax Implications sat just off a soft pace in the Miss Liberty but could do little with that good trip, finishing a fading third. She gets a jockey change to Flavien Prat and might do better being held farther off the pace to make one run.

Maman Joon holds more appeal. The English import finished fourth in the Epsom Oaks while racing as a maiden in May 2023 but has been campaigned more judiciously since joining Brown’s barn earlier this year. The filly won a maiden race at Tampa before producing a flashy last-to-first move to win a first-level Monmouth turf allowance by four lengths on May 11. Go by the visual and the filly can contend Saturday. Her 83 Beyer Speed Figure, however, invites skepticism.

The race drew 10 entrants but will lose a horse that would have been worth a bet, No Show Sammy Jo. Trainer Graham Motion said he’s not quite ready to throw the filly into stakes competition and will scratch her to run in an Aqueduct second-level grass allowance race.

As for Spirit And Glory, her third in the Beaugay last month has aged well. Runner-up Whitebeam returned to finish second, beaten a half-length with a 97 Beyer, in the Grade 1 Just a Game. And victorious Neecie Marie ran the same day as Whitebeam, finishing second of 13 in the Grade 1 New York, also with a 97 Beyer. Spirit And Glory has made 19 starts midway into her 5-year-old season and lacks upside. She doesn’t need any Saturday.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.