Green Gratto facing statebreds in Reilly Handicap

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Green Gratto is the fresh and intriguing addition to the $60,000 John J. Reilly Handicap, the Saturday feature at Monmouth Park.

The Reilly, a traditional early-meet contest for New Jersey-breds, attracted most of the usual statebred stalwarts. The six-furlong stakes pulled a field of 10, including defending Reilly champion Hop Skip and Away, back for a title defense to kick off his 9-year-old season.

Hop Skip and Away, trained and co-owned by Joe Pierce Jr., is a Reilly fixture. He has hit the board in the last four renewals, finally breaking through with a victory last year.

Rainbow Heir, the front-running winner of the Grade 3 Jersey Shore Stakes here last year with a gaudy 101 Beyer Speed Figure, will be tough if he runs. The 4-year-old chestnut son of Wildcat Heir drew the rail for his first start of the campaign, a matter of concern for trainer Ben Perkins Jr.

“The 1 hole is not ideal for him,” Perkins said. “We’re not 100 percent we’re going to run. He broke slowly in some races last year, and the 1 hole is no good if you don’t break good. It’s a long year for him, and we don’t want to start him off on the wrong foot.”

If Rainbow Heir scratches, Perkins might point him to the 5 1/2-furlong John McSorley Stakes, an open event on the turf here June 8.

In a Reilly absent Rainbow Heir, the focus would shift squarely to Green Gratto.

The 4-year-old turned the corner when he joined the Eduardo Jones barn last winter. Green Gratto is 3-2-1 in seven starts at Aqueduct and Belmont Park since the barn change. He posted Beyers of 90 or better in four of his last five starts.

This will be Green Gratto’s first race in his home state.

“He started getting good late last year, and by that time, Monmouth was closed,” Jones said. “From now on, most of his races will be at Monmouth Park.”

Green Gratto has good early speed, always a tactical advantage at Monmouth.

He made his stakes debut last time out in the $98,000 Diablo Stakes at Belmont, finishing second, but was disqualified to third for stretch interference.

Jones, not surprisingly, disagreed with the placing.

“That was a bad call,” he said. “It was 50-50, and I don’t think there was enough there to change the order.”

Jockey Samuel Camacho Jr. has the return call.