All Included, Synchrony prime players in Red Bank

It was raining at Monmouth Park on Thursday, but the chance of precipitation declines Friday and Saturday, which is good for two reasons – the turf should be in reasonable shape for the Grade 3 Red Bank on Saturday, and the many fans who are expected to attend the Jersey Shore Food Truck Festival at the track will not have to deal with soggy lobster rolls.

Food truck festival weekend is one of the best attended of the Monmouth season, and the track will open its gates a half-hour early at 11 a.m. Eastern. A group of 45 food trucks will participate.

The $100,000 Red Bank, a one-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up, has attracted a field of 10, plus three main-track-only entrants. All Included, trained by Todd Pletcher, will be favored. His top challenge could come from the Mike Stidham-trained Synchrony.

All Included and Synchrony do their best work late, and while the pace should be realistic, it may not be overly fast. Rose Brier, who is racing in the Red Bank for the fourth year in a row, figures to be forwardly placed, as do Schoolofhardrocks and Weekend Express.

All Included comes into the Red Bank off a last-to-first victory in the Grade 3 Appleton at Gulfstream Park on April 1. He did get a nice setup in the six-horse field since there was a two-horse contested pace, but he did finish up well after Javier Castellano swung him to the outside entering the stretch.

Eddie Castro rides Saturday.

Synchrony will be making his fourth start since being transferred to Stidham. He finished third last year in the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park and in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland before his 3-year-old season ended in April.

Synchrony has run two good races since Stidham placed him on turf. He beat Sir Dudley Digges in an optional-claiming race at Fair Grounds in his turf debut, and that runner came back to win an optional claimer at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby card.

He then closed well to be second of 12 in the Henry Clark Stakes at Laurel Park despite racing wide and lagging well back behind a slow pace over yielding ground.

Red Bank Stakes, Race 9

Key Contenders

Synchrony, by Tapit

Last 3 Beyers: 96-95-82

◗ He will be ridden by Mitchell Murrill, who finished third in the Fair Grounds standings behind Florent Geroux and Robby Albarado. Murrill came north with Stidham after the meet and also is riding for other Mid-Atlantic trainers who wintered at Fair Grounds, including Larry Jones.

All Included, by Include

Last 3 Beyers: 98-101-93

◗ He has made nine of his 10 starts over the past two seasons in graded-stakes company. He broke a nine-race losing streak in the Appleton.

Rose Brier, by Mizzen Mast

Last 3 Beyers: 91-101-100

◗ He stalked and pounced as the favorite in the Henry Clark at Laurel but flattened out in the final furlong and finished seventh. He had won six of his nine prior starts and deserves a mulligan if for no other reason than the yielding course.