Highestdistinction makes Oceanport first stakes triumph

Between October 2020 and May 2023, the 6-year-old gelding Highestdistinction lost 14 races in a row. The losing streak ended July 14 and on Sunday, improbably, Highestdistinction became a stakes winner when he captured the $100,000 Oceanport by 1 1/2 lengths.

New Jersey-breds finished second and third in this open turf-route stakes, but not in the expected order, as 11-1 There Are No Words was 1 1/2 lengths better than He’spuregold, the 9-5 second choice.

He’spuregold got a ground-saving trip stalking the speed but didn’t seem especially happy squeezing through a tight hole in upper stretch. Eventually he did, getting past pacesetting favorite Big Everest by a nose to finish third. New York-based Big Everest, seeking his second Monmouth turf stakes win of the meet, led through moderate fractions of 24.43 and 48.38 but didn’t relax as well as he has in recent starts and lacked late punch finishing fourth, well clear of the rest.

Highestdistinction, hitting a career high point, clearly was best on the day. Jockey Jairo Rendon traded ground loss for a clean trip, keeping his mount three to four paths off the rail while in the group behind Big Everest. Highestdistinction made the lead before the furlong grounds and stayed on stoutly to clock 1:43.04 for 1 1/16 miles over firm going, paying $23.20 to win.

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“Jairo rode that horse perfectly,” said Lindsay Schultz, who trains Highestdistinction for his breeder, Willow Lane Farm. “It probably wasn’t an ideal turf trip, but that’s what this horse needs. He needs to be in a position where he is clear and he can keep his engine going and not get stopped.”

The end of the gelding’s long losing streak and his sharp rise from claimer to stakes winner coincided with a move into Schultz’s barn this past spring. Schultz became a head trainer in 2022 after working as an assistant to trainer Tom Proctor, who handled Highestdistinction when he began his career with two wins from his first four starts in 2020.

The gelding changed barns after an August 2022 to March 2023 layoff and, following two starts in Kentucky earlier this year, wound up with Schultz at Monmouth. Second in a May 27 allowance race to Catnip, who was second in the Grade 1 United Nations in July, Highestdistinction won a second-level allowance race July 14 at Delaware.

“He worked phenomenal last week, and we nominated him because we were having trouble finding a spot for him,” Schultz said. “He beat a nice group of horses today. He seems like he is improving with age, though he showed a lot of promise as a 3-year-old.”

By Point of Entry out of Honor Your Gift, by Sightseeing, Highestdistinction has risen swiftly this summer. How high can he go?

***Eamonn up in Select

Eamonn bounded home with big strides to win the $100,000 Select Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth.

Just fifth at the stretch call, Eamonn and Paco Lopez came roaring down the outside to get up by a half-length in this 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for older horses.

The Select had been scheduled for Aug. 12, but didn’t attract sufficient entries when that card was drawn Wednesday.

Eamonn is bred like a route horse, a son of Pioneerof the Nile and Super Espresso, by Medaglia d’Oro, and the 5-year-old has the body of a route horse, scopey with a big reach when he extends himself.

Eamonn made 21 of his first 23 starts in two-turn races and became a solid grass miler, but his pedigree and shape might have been hiding a turf sprinter. Trainer Joe Orseno cut Eamonn back to five furlongs in late May and Eamonn won a $60,000 handicap race at Gulfstream. He rallied moderately for sixth on July 22 at Monmouth turf sprinting in the Wolf Hill Stakes but was considerably better Sunday.

“He didn’t run his race last time, and I know why,” Orseno said.

Eamonn, who had throat surgery in April to help a breathing problem, Orseno said, needs to be taken away from the pony after the post parade and warmed up vigorously. That didn’t happen before the Wolf Hill, but it did prior to the Select.

Eamonn had to overcome trouble to win, too. Stalking from about two paths off the rail a few lengths behind the pace, Eamonn was put in tight and had to steady before the quarter pole, losing momentum. Lopez got his horse out in the clear and Eamonn responded with a final half-furlong in something like a robust 5.50 to run down a pair of high-quality turf sprinters, Yes and Yes and Grooms All Bizness, the former a head better than the latter.

Eamonn was timed in 1:02.96 over firm going and paid $13. Orseno trains the horse for Robert Cotran, and connections are eyeing a next start at the Kentucky Downs meeting.

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