In a wide-open running of the Grade 3 Matchmaker Stakes at Monmouth Park on Saturday, it may help to have strength in numbers. Trainer Chad Brown has entered a trio of 4-year-old fillies in the field of seven, taking a decided advantage by hedging his bets. All three Brown runners won a graded stakes in their 3-year-old season, but the trio remains winless in that company this year. The Matchmaker could be a breakthrough for all three, however, Segesta will likely get first crack at the lead when they turn for home. Last year, the filly used her competitive early speed to win the Grade 2 Wonder Again before finishing second in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational. In two starts this year, Segesta has not yet shown improvement as a 4-year-old, though she has clear excuses. She finished fourth in the Grade 3 Modesty off a layoff of nearly 10 months, and in the Grade 1 Just a Game last month, she lacked running room at several points and finished sixth. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports “She’s had a couple trips that haven’t worked out for her,” Brown said. “She should be up close if there’s not a lot of pace. Her schedule got messed up from the start when an allowance race at Keeneland got rained off. In hindsight, I made a mistake running her a mile and an eighth off the bench.” While 4-year-old filly No Mo Candy will likely take the early lead for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., Segesta has the speed to stalk in the 1 1/8-mile turf race. The other Brown runners, Grayosh and Spaliday, should be closing behind her. After finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Beaugay at Aqueduct in May, Brown tried to find a softer spot for Grayosh in a $90,000 allowance last month, but she struggled to catch a loose front-runner and finished fourth again. Despite this recent skid, last year’s Grade 2 Lake Placid winner still figures as one who can regain form in her third start this year. Like her stablemates, Spaliday also struggled in two graded stakes attempts this year, but the filly took a nice step forward in late May to win the $100,000 Miss Liberty at Monmouth. She is one of two horses in the Matchmaker with two wins over the course, along with Jorge Delgado longshot Madame Mischief. The likeliest challenger to Brown‘s trio could be 5-year-old Sacred Wish. Trainer George Weaver said he expects a better performance from her on firm turf after a tough trip in the Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile in May. Wolf Hill Nothing Better, an 8-year-old gelding trained by Jorge Duarte Jr., will try and turn back the clock in the $100,000 Wolf Hill Stakes at Monmouth on Saturday. The hard-knocking runner is looking for his first victory since winning this race last year. Despite finishing his 2024 campaign strong, Nothing Better came up just short in three straight races after the Wolf Hill, including the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint. He didn’t regress until his 2025 debut in the $150,000 Elusive Quality, when he ran his worst race in nearly three years and faded to ninth. Duarte shrugged off the gelding’s performance last time out, chalking it up to a cold effort off a layoff. Instead of trying to find another race, Duarte brought him back for a prolonged stay on the Colts Neck training track, where he completed four furlongs in 46.60 seconds on July 5. “Seems like he always takes a little bit to get summer ready,” Duarte said. “He looks amazing right now. He’s been training great, he likes Monmouth, he likes firm ground. He’s got all the positives that I see for him to run good.” While Nothing Better works his way back into form, 7-year-old gelding Isivunguvungu has used a similar layoff to recover for trainer Graham Motion. In April, the South African-bred runner traveled to the United Arab Emirates and finished 10th in the $1.5 million Al Quoz Sprint. “I gave him a break after that race,” Motion said. “He had about a month after they flew back and did quarantine at Churchill. This has been the race we had pinpointed for him.” Last year, Isivunguvungu had to gear up for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in his second North American start, a short turnaround that likely cost him. Between the winter break and time after his Middle Eastern trip, Motion considers these layoffs to be his most productive periods with the gelding, as they have given him the time to properly prepare him. Based on his hard-fought third-place finish in the $125,000 Turf Dash at Tampa Bay Downs in February, the gelding could be the one to beat in the Wolf Hill. Monmouth will be his fourth different track in as many North American starts. - additional reporting by Marcus Hersh :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.