Capeside Lady rolls in the mud
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Perhaps it was the shower that pelted Monmouth Park two races earlier that gave the mud-craving Capeside Lady her kind of track.
Or it could be that Capeside Lady, now 4, has matured into a solid stakes filly.
Whatever the reasons, Capeside Lady ($5) scored a dominant front-running victory in the Grade 2, $300,000 for fillies and mares on Saturday.
With Chris DeCarlo aboard for trainer Todd Pletcher, Capeside Lady shot to the front in the 1 1/16-mile race and dictated the pace.
They never looked back.
"I drifted her out in the first turn," DeCarlo said. "If they wanted to get in front of us, they were going to have to go wide to do it."
Nobody got close enough to try.
"Every time she heard a horse coming, she spurted away from them," DeCarlo said.
Capeside Lady pulled away in the lane to win by five lengths, stopping the clock in 1:41.49 over a muddy track. Bending Strings, third in the Grade 1 Odgen Phipps Handicap at Belmont Park last time out, outdueled Emerald Earrings for the place spot by a head.
Capeside Lady improved her Monmouth record to four wins in five starts. She is also 5-for-6 on wet tracks.
She is the first filly since Honky Star (1974-75) to win the Monmouth Oaks at 3 and come back the following year to win the Molly Pitcher.
It was a disappointing effort for One for Rose, the two-time Canadian champion who was making only her second U.S. start. The highweight at 118 pounds, One for Rose raced close to the pace in the early stages before fading to fifth.
La Reason, last year's Molly Pitcher winner, bobbled at the start and was never a factor.
* Network ($7.20) rallied from last to win the off-the-turf $60,000 Spend a Buck Stakes for 3-year-olds. Claimed by trainer Eddie Broome for $62,500 in January at Gulfstream Park, Network posted his third straight win.
He ran the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.49 with Joe Bravo aboard. Alexandersrun was second, with Miracle Man third.