Irish Strait wearing his age well for Monmouth Stakes

Monmouth Park on Saturday will begin its three-day holiday weekend with the first of five bundled stakes programs at the meet. The Grade 2, $200,000 Monmouth will be supported by three other stakes, including the Grade 3 Salvator Mile.

One of the most popular promotions of the season, the Jersey Shore Food Truck Festival, will be held this weekend. There will be more than 40 food trucks at the track Saturday, Sunday, and for the Monday holiday card.

The Monmouth, a 1 1/8-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds and up, is race 11. The Salvator Mile is race 9; the $75,000 Boiling Springs, a grass race for 3-year-old fillies, is race 7; and the John J. Reilly Handicap for New Jersey-breds is race 5.

:: MEMORIAL DAY SALE: Save 50% on Formulator PPs, DRF Plus access, and handicapping reports

The Monmouth has drawn a wide-open field of eight that includes the Graham Motion-trained Irish Strait, who is coming off a nose victory in a productive edition of the Henry S. Clark Stakes at Laurel Park. The second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers from the Clark came back to run third, fourth, and fifth last Saturday to Catholic Boy in the Grade 2 Dixie at Pimlico.

Just Howard, who was third in the 10-horse Dixie, and Real Story, who was fourth, were each beaten only three-quarters of a length.

Irish Strait is 2 for 3 this year as a 7-year-old. He is a four-time winner over the Monmouth turf.

“The race came up a little tougher than I hoped, but he’s doing really well,” Motion said. “He’s a year older but still very competitive. I thought his last race was really good.”

Nine furlongs might be pushing Irish Strait’s distance capability, but Monmouth’s course can carry speed when it is firm, which is likely Saturday.

“At Monmouth I think we can get away with it, where maybe at some other tracks we might not,” Motion said.

Synchrony won a pair of Grade 3s at Monmouth a year ago, the Oceanport and Red Bank. He may not have kicked home as hard as expected in his last two starts but, trainer Mike Stidham said, “He’s training great, had a nice work at Fair Hill, and he’s ready to go.”

Synchrony finished seventh, beaten 5 1/4 lengths, in the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day.

“We were a little disappointed at Churchill,” Stidham said. “The turf was a little wet, soft, and he likes something he can bounce over. He loves the Monmouth course.”

Chad Brown has entered both Projected and Almanaar. Projected was beaten a head by Hawkish in the Cliff Hanger on May 4 at Monmouth. He ran well that day but is now winless in nine straight races and has 6 wins and 12 seconds during his 27-race career.

Almanaar will be making his first start since December. Although he tailed off in his last three races of 2018, he did finish second, beaten only a half-length, in last August’s Arlington Million. He runs well fresh and won his 2018 debut following a 16-month layoff.

Monarch Glen is a sleeper for Bill Mott. Bred and owned by Juddmonte Farms, the 5-year-old gelded son of Frankel closed ground belatedly in his U.S. debut, the one-mile Opening Verse on May 2 at Churchill. He will appreciate the added distance of the Monmouth and should benefit from having had a race.