Dubai Majesty gets back on turf in Incredible Revenge

OCEANPORT, N.J. – The inside and the outside posts hold the keys to the $100,000 Incredible Revenge Stakes for fillies and mares, the Sunday feature at Monmouth Park.

Dubai Majesty is down on the rail for the 5 1/2-furlong turf race, a surface switch from dirt after her rallying third in the Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap at Calder.

West Ocean has post 9, the final slot, in her quest for a fourth straight stakes victory.

The Incredible Revenge will be the fifth grass start in the 5-year-old Dubai Majesty’s 31-race career. She contested a pair of turf sprints last fall, missing by a neck in the Turf Amazon at Philadelphia Park before winning the Buffalo Trace Franklin County Stakes at Keeneland.

Dubai Majesty has run on dirt or synthetic surfaces since then, including a second straight win in the Grade 3 Winning Colors at Churchill Downs.

After four straight graded stakes, including a trio of Grade 1’s, trainer Bret Calhoun opted to run Dubai Majesty in this lower-profile race.

“We’ve been chasing the Grade 1’s a little bit,” Calhoun said. “She’s been running real good there but was not quite getting it done. We were looking for an opportunity to get her back on the turf. This race was there, and it filled a gap.”

Her last race was a solid try against Grade 1 runners with Miguel Mena aboard.

“The track at Calder is very hard for shippers to come in to,” Calhoun said. “The jock didn’t think she handled the surface very well, but she still ran a game race. She always tries.”

West Ocean is another who always tries her best as evidenced by a 6-2-0 mark in 9 races.

“She is as honest a horse as you will see,” said Anthony Sciametta, the New Jersey division assistant for trainer Todd Pletcher.

West Ocean started her stakes winning streak at Fair Grounds and continued it at Keeneland before arriving at Monmouth to capture the Klassy Briefcase on July 17.

Following that win, West Ocean returned to Pletcher’s main division at Saratoga.

“She was training here last year before she ran,” Sciametta said. “I told Todd she won’t be around here very long. Sure enough, she has been with his division since she debuted at Saratoga last summer.”

Trainer Linda Rice sends out a pair of runners, Ahvee’s Destiny and Lady Rizzi.