Better spot for Mystic Miracle

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - After consecutive stakes appearances, Mystic Miracle drops back into a second-level allowance race for fillies and mares going one mile on the turf Monday at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

A 3-year-old gray filly trained by Mark Hennig, Mystic Miracle faces eight rivals in the $42,000 race, the feature as the Big M launches the first full week of racing. With concert conflicts across the parking lot at Giants Stadium, the Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday cards will start at 1:10 p.m. The first evening program of the meet comes Saturday night.

Mystic Miracle turned in two excellent races at Monmouth Park before stepping up to the pair of overnight stakes. She missed by a nose in a first-level allowance on June 11, and returned just over a month later to knock off that condition by a decisive 3 1/4 lengths.

Then came the two 3-year-old filly grass stakes, which in hindsight were better efforts than they appear on paper. Mystic Miracle was in deep at Saratoga, finishing seventh behind Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Maram. Then it was back to Monmouth's speed-favoring course for the Twin Lights Stakes, where Mystic Miracle was compromised by the bias in trying to rally from last.

Assistant trainer Rob Rader expects to see Mystic Miracle more forwardly placed on Monday, with Joe Bravo picking up the mount.

The shift from Monmouth to the Meadowlands could benefit Mystic Miracle, as closers were prominent on the turf course in the first few days of the meet.

"Hopefully she'll respond and run the way she did the earlier allowance races," Rader said. "I think she'll like this course better than the way Monmouth was playing. She didn't have any chance at all in the last race."

Mystic Miracle should have solid pace targets to run at in Ravenous, a front-running maiden winner at Monmouth in early July, and It's Not for Love, who narrowly held off Mystic Miracle at Monmouth in June.

On Demand and Yippety Yip were last-out winners. On Demand got up in the final strides to take a first-level allowance at Philadelphia Park, while Yippety Yip won a $35,000 claimer at Monmouth.

Trainer Christophe Clement, always a factor when shipping a grass runner to New Jersey, sends out Cable, a 4-year-old with a record of 2-1-1 in 4 starts.