Bradester seeks third straight graded stakes win in Iselin

Bradester won the first two graded stakes races for older horses on dirt this season at Monmouth Park, and his five rivals will be hard pressed to stop him Sunday in the final such race of the season, the Grade 3, $150,000 Philip H. Iselin Stakes.

The Iselin, the 10th of 11 races on the Sunday card, will be run at 1 1/8 miles on the main track, and that distance really is the only big question surrounding Bradester. He captured the Grade 3 Salvator Mile two back and the Grade 2 Monmouth Cup at 1 1/16 miles in his latest, posting Beyer Speed Figures of 109 and 105 and winning each race comfortably via forward trips.

His only try at nine furlongs prior to this race was in the New Orleans Handicap at Fair Grounds last year, and that was his worst career effort. He stopped badly after setting the pace and finished 28 3/4 lengths behind the winner, Palace Malice, earning a 62 Beyer. But the son of Lion Heart is in much better form now. He also loves this strip and doesn’t meet nearly as strong a field as he did in the New Orleans, making him the main danger under jockey Corey Lanerie. Bradester, trained by Eddie Kenneally, will break from post 5.

The main competition for Bradester is likely once again to be the Marcus Vitali-trained Valid, who chased him home in each of those last two stakes. The son of Medaglia d’Oro was second in the Monmouth Cup and third in the Salvator Mile, and he ran well in defeat each time. In the Iselin, Valid breaks from post 2, finally drawing toward the inside of Bradester after starting outside of him in both of those losses, and he figures to be aggressively ridden in the early stages by new jockey Nik Juarez, who will be riding in a graded stakes for the first time.

New York shippers Matrooh and Matterhorn are stepping up in class and come into the Iselin with two-race win streaks. Matrooh, trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Abel Castellano Jr., drew the rail for his U.S. stakes debut, while Matterhorn posted the best Beyers of his career in his last two starts, a pair of optional-claiming scores. Joe Bravo rides and Todd Pletcher trains Matterhorn, who will start from post 6.

Pletcher also is represented by Anchor Down, an optional-claiming winner two back in his most recent route try. Albano, who last year finished second in the Haskell Invitational and won the Pegasus in his only two appearances over this strip, completes the field.

Key contenders

Bradester (Last 3 Beyers: 105-109-80)

* He is attempting to sweep the three graded stakes for older horses on dirt at Monmouth Park this season. He was second last year in the Monmouth Cup and the Salvator Mile but did not contest the Iselin.

Valid (Last 3 Beyers: 100-103-102)

* He is trained by Vitali, who has won with 13 of 42 dirt routers at Monmouth Park over the past two years (31 percent, $3.30 ROI).