Brown, rarely a bridesmaid in the Matchmaker, has two top chances
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In 2015, the last-out allowance winner Casual Smile improved to win the Grade 3 Matchmaker Stakes for trainer Chad Brown, kick-starting a dynastic run at Monmouth Park that is still going more than a decade later.
Since notching that first Matchmaker victory, Brown has won nine of the last 11 editions of the Matchmaker, using the 1 1/8-mile turf stakes as a revolving showcase for his older fillies and mares rising through the ranks. He has won six straight editions going back to 2020, showing a clear appreciation for New Jersey racing and the annual Haskell Day card, which will include seven stakes this year.
“I’ve always felt like I got fair runs in my races,” Brown said of Monmouth. “They really go above and beyond to make the whole experience special for the horsemen and the owners and patrons. This is their big day. I always put it on my calendar to participate with as many horses as I can.”
More than any other race at Monmouth, the Matchmaker is almost always his to lose, and so it will be again on Saturday, when he goes for his 10th score. The prolific turf trainer entered two 5-year-olds in this year’s field of seven fillies and mares, including the likely favorite City Girl.
Coming off a game win in the Grade 3 Beaugay at Aqueduct in May, the French-bred suffered a tough trip early in the Grade 1 New York at Saratoga but still closed for a game fourth.
“She had a challenging trip there, very challenging trip,” Brown said. “Not a bad fourth, and a little bit of class relief here. It looks like she’s posted well” – in post 3 – “to perhaps get a better trip.”
Earlier this year, Brown said he had always thought of the mare as a graded stakes contender, but he had to wait nearly two years to get her on the track in the United States. She is making up for lost time and could possibly return to New York for the Grade 2 Ballston Spa in August.
Grayosh, Brown’s other hopeful, shipped to Monmouth last month and finished third in the Grade 3 Eatontown. She entered last year’s Matchmaker in similar form and came up a neck short.
Sweet Treasure, a 4-year-old filly trained by Brad Cox, is the only other runner with a graded stakes win on turf, having won the Grade 3 Mint Julep in gate-to-wire fashion at Churchill Downs on May 30.
Typically a deep closer, she may not have a chance at the early lead at Monmouth, but she is nevertheless trending in the right direction.
“Her last two draws have been from the outside, so a little bit different” – from the rail – “this time,” Cox said. “I would like to tell you it’s for the better. We’ll see.”
Five G and Long Ago are both cross-entered in stakes at Saratoga this weekend. Trainer Billy Morey said Long Ago will likely skip the $150,000 De La Rose on Friday, while trainer George Weaver has not decided if he will keep Five G in New York for the Grade 1 Diana on Saturday.
◗ The top three finishers in the Matchmaker receive a one-time breeding right to WinStar stallions Cogburn, Straight No Chaser, or Timberlake. The winner will have first choice of stallion, followed by the runner-up, and then the third-place finisher.
Wolf Hill Stakes
There are two types of equine millionaires in horse racing: those who scorch the track in an instant and those who simmer on for years. The 9-year-old gelding Nothing Better knows plenty about the persistent path, and with $963,182 earned in 37 career starts, he will enter the $100,000 Wolf Hill Stakes on the verge of a time-honored milestone.
“He looks great at 9,” trainer Jorge Duarte Jr. said. “I was a little hard-pressed to pick a spot because there were not many spots for him in the spring. So we got him started and he wasn’t terrible. He still wants to do it and he came out of the race great. Monmouth is kind of home for him.”
After multiple failed attempts to give Nothing Better his 9-year-old debut, Duarte finally ran him in a small but competitive allowance at Penn National last month. He went straight to the lead and won by 1 1/4 lengths over next-out stakes winner Spirited Sol and Fierce and Strong, the Wolf Hill winner last year. All three will meet again in the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint that features 10 older males.
Souper Quest, the runner-up in the $100,000 Get Serious last month, was described by trainer Mark Casse as an underachiever. Though he has not quite realized the bright potential he displayed early in his career, he could be a potent contender breaking from the rail on Saturday.
“He’s had points in time when I thought he was a real star,” Casse said. “If you go back to when he was a 3-year-old, he only got beat a length and three-quarters by Nobals, who ended up winning the [2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint].”
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Trainer Ned Allard entered graded stakes winner Alogon and the outside contender Card Trick. Alogon will make his second start this year after finishing fourth in the Get Serious last month.