Ex-$10,000 claimers contenders in $100,000 Mr. Prospector
Nine sprinters are entered in the $100,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park and two of them have been in for 10. That’s $10,000, the claiming price once affixed to both Greeley and Ben and Hollywood Jet, either of whom could step up and win this deeply competitive six-furlong dirt dash.
Not only are these former lower-level claimers, but both have put together high-level winning streaks. Hollywood Jet brings a seven-race skein into the Mr. Prospector, while Greeley and Ben won nine straight during an 11-win 2021 campaign.
Trainer Karl Broberg claimed Greeley and Ben for himself, paying $10,000 in March 2021, and the gelding was like minting money. Greeley and Ben ran out the better part of a half-million dollars during 2021 and 2022 before Broberg lost him at the Oaklawn Park claim box for $62,500 on April 24. Claimed by BellaBlue Racing Stable, Greeley and Ben now is trained by Bonnie Lucas, the former Wayne Potts assistant who became a head trainer when Potts began serving a 45-day suspension last month. Greeley and Ben was scratched from a Canterbury Park stakes in late May, and since his April 24 start shows just one workout, a slow half-mile breeze April 24 at Westhampton Farm in Mount Holly, N.J.
As for Hollywood Jet, he, too, was claimed in March 2021, with trainer Carlos Milian haltering the gelding for himself out of a $12,500 claiming race. A one-time winner at the time, Hollywood Jet has become the terror of Parx Racing, winning his last seven races. Mainly a starter-allowance horse, Hollywood Jet did win the $100,000 Fishtown in March. In a race with other major pace players, Hollywood Jet is favorably drawn on the far outside, but he never has raced away from Parx.
“I’m definitely worried about him going to another track for the first time,” Milian said. “That could be an issue.”
Rail-drawn Quick Tempo is sure to go forward, with River Dog, stepping up from a first-level Belmont Park allowance win, another pace player.
“He isn’t a need-the-lead type horse, but he’s fast out of the gate,” said Kelly Breen, who has saddled River Dog to two wins this year.
The 4-year-old’s last start came over seven furlongs.
“He might’ve gotten a little fatigued,” Breen said. “He might be a little better at six than seven.”
Milton the Monster, a Parx shipper trained by John Servis, has improved by several lengths during a four-start 2022 campaign. His top performance fits the spot, but Milton the Monster has proven more capable over longer one-turn trips.
Drafted, too, likely prefers seven furlongs to six, and while he won the Grade 3 Runhappy on May 14 at Belmont, he did so with a mere 87 Beyer Speed Figure.
Golden Brown, Doc Amster, and Wendell Fong complete the field. The Mr. Prospector goes as race 11 on a 12-race card. Post time for the feature is 4:55 p.m. Eastern and the programs kicks off at 12:15.