Green Gratto will be hard to catch in New Jersey Breeders
New Jersey-breds take center stage as a trio of $60,000 stakes races highlight the annual New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival at Monmouth Park on Saturday. The 10-race card, consisting solely of races restricted to runners bred in New Jersey, kicks off at 12:50 p.m. Eastern.
Green Gratto is going to be a handful in the New Jersey Breeders Handicap, a six-furlong sprint on the main track. Trained by Gaston Grant, Green Gratto will have to carry 128 pounds, but he has a big edge over his six rivals, not only in terms of Beyer Speed Figures but also because of his early speed in a field otherwise devoid of pace.
Green Gratto comes off a pair of losses at Saratoga, but he ran well in defeat each time, getting caught up in a duel in his latest and just missing after setting the pace on a loose lead two back. He earned a 90 Beyer for his most recent effort and a 91 in the neck loss in his prior start, figures that clearly make him the one to beat Saturday. Also, those races were both longer than the six-furlong distance of the Breeders, and if he’s able to shake loose from his rail post, he’s going to be tough to reel in.
Samuel Camacho Jr. will ride Green Gratto.
Loverbil is the co-highweight in the New Jersey Breeders and looms as the main threat to Green Gratto. He was off the board in his most recent try in the Teddy Drone Stakes, but he returns to statebred company and has run well against New Jersey-breds this season. That includes a game try in the John J. Reilly Stakes in May, when he was just a head short of Saucy Don. Saucy Don is another emerging from an open stakes race, finishing fifth in the My Frenchman on turf in his latest.
Loverbil, trained by Jorge Navarro, will break from post 5 under jockey Abel Castellano Jr. Orlando Bocachica rides Saucy Don for trainer Terri Pompay.
◗ Stiffed is the one to beat in the Jersey Girl Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on the main track, but her lack of speed could mean that she has a lot to do in the stretch. The Jersey Girl drew only six entrants, and early speed is lacking, which could mean that the John Mazza-trained filly has to close into controlled fractions. She was third in this race last year behind Maybe Tonight, who is back again, and she also faces Amblin Easy, who could be the one they will have to catch.
Stiffed comes out of races against much better, winning the Monmouth Beach Stakes three back and running second in the Molly Pitcher in her next start, and though she was off the board in the Lady’s Secret in her latest, a slow start and a premature move cost her. She will break from post 3 under Gabriel Saez.
◗ The ninth race is the Charles Hesse III Handicap and features Javerre, one of the more accomplished New Jersey-breds in recent years – he has earned $470,309 and won seven races in his career, including the Grade 3 General George at Laurel in 2013. But while he has run well in a couple of defeats in his route tries, he is at his best sprinting and could be a vulnerable favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Hesse.
Chublicious was no threat in an optional claimer at Parx in his latest, but that was no easy spot, as Social Inclusion gave nothing a chance. Chublicious was a game winner against New Jersey-bred allowance runners in his prior start over this track, and his early speed could help him get a jump on his main rivals in the Hesse, which drew a field of nine.
Javerre is trained by Cathal Lynch, who named Bocachica to ride. Chublicious will once again be ridden by Angel Serpa, who has been aboard for all 10 of the 4-year-old gelding’s previous starts.