American Girl could benefit from lack of pace in Violet
Early speed could prove the difference in the 38th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Violet Stakes, the 11th of 12 races on the Saturday card at Monmouth Park.
The Violet, to be contested at 1 1/8 miles on the turf course, drew a field of only six, but it is a very closely matched group in terms of Beyer Speed Figures. It’s also a race that’s a little light on pace, which should give the edge to those runners close up from the start. That surely includes American Girl, who drew the rail for trainer Alan Goldberg. The daughter of High Chaparral comes off a game optional-claiming score in her latest, though she was all out to score at odds of 2-5, and it was not nearly as tough a field as the one she meets Saturday. Also, she’s never been farther than 1 1/16 miles, though she could get brave if allowed to set her own pace from the start.
Photo Call, however, will not be far off the expected pacesetter, and she looks to be the one they’ll have to beat, as she has the best turf Beyers in the field. The Graham Motion-trained filly hasn’t won since she captured a first-level turf-route allowance at Keeneland in her U.S. debut back in October. All five of her losses in the interim have come in stakes races, however, and she’s run some solid races in defeat. That includes her latest, when she was a close third in the Perfect Sting last month at Belmont.
Trevor McCarthy will ride Photo Call, a daughter of Galileo who will break from post 3.
Means Well – like American Girl, from the barn of Goldberg and also with jockey Julian Pimentel named to ride – was off the board in the Grade 3 Matchmaker over this course in her latest, but she did endure a tough trip, dueling for the lead from the start and weakening only late. The expected pace scenario works to her advantage, as she should be involved from the start, and if the fractions are controlled, her early position would give her an advantage.
Granny Mc’s Kitten has won two of her last three starts, and while those victories came against lesser, she hails from the barn of Chad Brown, who is lethal at Monmouth Park, sporting a 47 percent win rate this year in Oceanport, N.J. Gabriel Saez rides.
Also entered in the Violet are a pair from trainer Christophe Clement: Cushion and Maximova. The former, with Abel Castellano Jr. name to ride, seeks her first U.S. stakes win, while the latter, to be piloted by Daniel Centeno, cuts back in distance and makes her local debut.
KEY CONTENDERS
American Girl (Last 3 Beyers: 84-85-88)
◗ She steps up into a stakes race for Goldberg, who has won with two of his last seven runners in graded turf stakes at Monmouth Park, according to DRF Formulator. Goldberg was 5 for 11 when teamed up with jockey Pimentel on the turf at Monmouth in 2014, including a win in the Miss Liberty Stakes.
Photo Call (Last 3 Beyers: 92-77-91)
◗ She ships in from New York for trainer Motion, who won this race last year with Rusty Slipper (13-1).