Expectations high for Haddie Be Good
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Rob Rader will feel some pressure Sunday at Monmouth Park when Haddie Be Good goes in the $60,000 Candy Eclair Stakes for fillies and mares at 5o1/2 furlongs on the turf.
This will be the first time Haddie B Good runs for trainer Mark Hennig. Until now, the 4-year-old had been trained by John Hennig, Mark's dad, who closed his stable this spring and now works for his son at Saratoga. In the dispersal, several horses, including Haddie Be Good, wound up back at Monmouth, this time with Mark Hennig.
That gave Rader, Hennig's assistant in New Jersey, a filly who ran well here last summer after switching to the turf. Her first two grass races, both at one mile, produced a second and a third. She shortened up to five furlongs on the grass to earn her lone stakes victory: the P.G. Johnson Stakes at the Meadowlands last October.
Most recently, Haddie Be Good was second in the Giant's Causeway Stakes at Keeneland, raising expectations heading into the Candy Eclair.
"I told John, 'Now you're putting the pressure on me,' after running second for $100,000 at Keeneland," Rader said. "She's supposed to win here, I guess. Anything less than a win, it will look like I screwed something up. Everyone will expect her to run very well."
Haddie Be Good rarely runs a poor race. She is 4-3-3 in 14 career starts.
"She tries every time," Rader said. "She's pretty consistent."
So is Mohegan Sky, who is 2-1-1 in 4 starts this year for trainer Linda Rice. The gray filly most recently ran third in the Lightning City Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
Cajun Mistress ran well last time in her grass debut for trainer Steve Klesaris, getting up for second in the Turf Amazon Handicap at Philadelphia Park.
Shoot the Bugler is the most experienced runner in the field. The 5-year-old is 2 for 35 and has been running at Belmont for a $35,000 tag.
Blissful Ignorance, 1 for 11 on the turf, makes her season debut for trainer Greg Sacco. She closed out last year with a third in the Witches' Brew Stakes on Halloween at the Meadowlands.
Sacco has a second runner in the race, Crafty Judy, who is making her first start in more than a year.
Cachinnated has not run since a claim at Churchill Downs in November. She makes her debut for Kelly Breen, the leading trainer here the last two years.