Breath Away outruns Ribaltagaia in Violet Stakes
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The $100,000 Violet Stakes was billed as a two-horse race at Monmouth Park on Saturday and conformed precisely to those expectations. With a perfect trip from off the pace, Breath Away had just enough room in the stretch to run down front-runner and 4-5 co-favorite Ribaltagaia to win by a half-length.
“The filly has been training very well,” trainer Miguel Clement said. “She’s been a bit unlucky her last couple of starts. She had been close without actually breaking through. She has earned plenty of black type, but it’s always great to win. The connections were nice enough to reward us with another year, so it’s delightful to get another stakes victory for them.”
Breath Away’s victory punctuated an excellent day for jockey Samy Camacho. The veteran rider won four races on the nine-race card, including two stakes victories in the Violet and the $100,000 Sapling. Clement expected little pace in the Violet and told Camacho to go to the lead aboard Breath Away, but he quickly had to adjust to an unexpected break.
“The instructions [Clement] gave me is that there was no speed in the race, so I should try to take the lead,” Camacho said. “But when I broke, there were two horses who had the same idea, so they shared the lead.“
In a race that didn’t feature a clear pacesetter, trainer Graham Motion seemed to share Clement’s reasoning, as jockey Samuel Marin urged Ribaltagaia to the front end. The 4-year-old filly kicked clear of longshots Dreaming of Abba and Tuck Check early to lead by a length through an opening quarter-mile in 23.47.
While Breath Away settled into fourth and then dropped back to fifth on the backstretch, Clement said that he wasn’t sure if Breath Away had the kick necessary to make up the necessary ground.
“Graham Motion is a very good trainer and he has his horses ready,” Clement said. “When they have first run and they’re able to dictate terms, you have to be awfully worried.”
Ribaltagaia continued to secure easy fractions out in front and completed a half-mile in 48.83, but the slightest pressure on the backstretch might have made the difference in the end. Tuck Check, a 43-1 longshot, had very little to say in the stretch, but hustled forward to ask ever so slightly more of the early leader entering the far turn.
Ribaltagaia shook away with condescending ease and led by 1 1/2 lengths in the stretch, but the unavoidable duel was only beginning. Breath Away and Camacho launched their bid around the turn and easily picked off Tuck Check down the center to set their sights on the only remaining rival. Both favorites skipped potential starts at Saratoga to run at Monmouth on Saturday, and their class edge was on full display in the late stages.
Ribaltagaia kept on determinedly in the final strides and finished 1 1/4 lengths clear for second, but Breath Away was simply undeniable near the wire. Clement’s 4-5 shot prevailed over Motion’s 4-5 shot, completing a deflating but predictable $2.70 exacta. Breath Away paid $3.80 to win and completed the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:44.
Dreaming of Abba, who settled back into a stalking position under Sonny Leon, ran on for third at 14-1 odds for trainer Kathleen O’Connell.
Before he took over as Breath Away’s trainer this summer, Clement worked extensively with the mare in Florida, where she extended her “unlucky” streak to six straight stakes defeats. After her long-awaited breakthrough in the Violet, Clement said that he may point her to the $150,000 Noble Damsel at Aqueduct on Oct. 19 with plans to bring her to a Keeneland Sales auction later in the year.
Sapling Stakes
It might have been a little easier against maiden claimers last time out, but juvenile colt One More Freud dug deep to get the best in a blanket finish and remain unbeaten in the $100,000 Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park on Saturday.
“I didn’t think he would be so close early, but he got the job done,” trainer Michael Maker said. “I was impressed with the way he finished with those other two horses right there with him.”
Maker might not have expected the colt to win his debut at Saratoga by 14 1/2 lengths when he claimed him for $35,000 on Aug. 1, but he was quick to come up with his next move. Bettors at Monmouth ignored questions about class and the two-turn mile, making One More Freud the 2-5 favorite in his stakes debut. He paid $2.80 to win.
Two colts, Aye Eye and Avigliano, scratched from the Sapling and another two, Knick the Quick and Spherification, were never factors. Last-out maiden winners Just Asap and Channel the Music were the only challengers to One More Freud throughout the race and ran together on the front end entering the first turn.
Breaking from the 2 post, Mark Casse colt Just Asap traveled outside of Channel The Music around the turn and kicked clear to lead by a length on the backstretch. Camacho, who went on to sweep both stakes on the Monmouth card, kept One More Freud behind the top flight through an opening quarter-mile in 24 seconds, but the colt quickly advanced into second and drew alongside the early leader after a half-mile in 48.28.
By the time the trio entered the far turn, well ahead of the two stragglers, Camacho had urged One More Freud to take a short lead on Just Asap. The early leader didn’t go quietly, however, and ran on along the rail while Channel the Music prepared to re-rally on the outside.
“At first I thought the race was over, but then I was a little worried at the quarter pole,” Camacho said. “I was able to push [Channel the Music] outside and he hung a little but then [Just Asap] came back.“
For a moment at the top of the stretch, all three runners were separated by a half-length, and though Channel the Music ceded some late ground, One More Freud and Just Asap continued their duel all the way to the wire.
Camacho was surprised when his wide move into the stretch cost One More Freud the lead, but he kept him moving forward between horses and managed to muster one more rally against Just Asap. He took over for good in the final strides, prevailing by a neck and completing the mile in 1:38.36.
Just Asap, a colt trained by Mark Casse, finished 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Channel the Music, who was 16 lengths clear in third for Jorge Duarte Jr.
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