Jockey Lynch has big day with Occult in Monmouth Oaks, Amidst Waves in Colleen
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The Maryland-based jockey Feargal Lynch hadn’t ridden a horse this season at Monmouth coming into Saturday’s card, but he came out of it with stakes victories aboard Amidst Waves in the Colleen Stakes and Occult, an impressive winner of the Grade 3, $250,000 Monmouth Oaks.
Settling near the back of a 10-horse field through a tepid opening half-mile, Occult was put into the game by Lynch going into the far turn, responding with a strong, sustained outside run that had carried her to the lead at the quarter pole. The Monmouth Oaks was over in upper stretch, Occult drawing steadily clear to post a 10 1/4-length victory, paying $4.80 as the favorite and giving trainer Chad Brown his second win in the race following Delightful Joy in 2015.
“Chad Brown never really ties you down with any instructions. He’s great to ride for that way,” Lynch told Monmouth publicity. “He just said, ‘Get a good trip and win.’ ”
The trip was good enough considering Occult’s vast superiority. Coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Acorn, which earned an 89 Beyer Speed Figure that was a standout in this group, Occult was among a thicket of horses in a tightly bunched field going down the backstretch – until she wasn’t. Moving best of all around the far turn, Occult overwhelmed her rivals.
“She’s a very big filly who needs time to find her stride and get into a nice rhythm,” Lynch said. “At the half-mile pole I was just trying to find a way clear. Because she’s such a big striding filly you think you’re going nowhere. But when I watch the replay, I’m sure I will be impressed with the way she was moving. It’s all about rhythm and momentum with a big horse like that.”
Second choice Foggy Night, winner of the Delaware Oaks last out, finished a distant second, 1 1/4 lengths in front of third-place Riding Pretty. Off a half in 48.64 and six furlongs in 1:13.24, Occult stopped the timer in 1:45.74 for 1 1/16 miles on a fast track. Occult, winning her first graded race, is owned by Alpha Delta Thoroughbreds and was bred in Kentucky by Peter Blum Thoroughbreds. She’s by Into Mischief out of Magical Feeling, by Empire Maker.
In the $106,000 Colleen, for 2-year-old fillies over five furlongs on grass, Lynch worked Amidst Waves into a favorable pace-pressing trip, Amidst Waves taking the lead past the quarter pole and turning away Lady D’Oro and Crown Imperial to win by 1 1/4 lengths. She gave trainer George Weaver his seventh win in 2023 with a 2-year-old turf sprinter, a remarkable number in late July, and returned $6.80 as the tepid favorite. Fourth making her career debut on dirt, Amidst Waves won a Belmont turf-sprint maiden race by almost four lengths last month to earn a start in the Colleen.
“When I asked her in the lane she quickened,” Lynch said. “When another horse came at her for a stride or two, she really accelerated.”
Lady D’Oro was a half-length better than Crown Imperial to finish second, the winner clocking 57.68 over a firm course. Owned by R. A. Hill Stable, BlackRidge Stables, Swinbank Stables, and Blacktype Thoroughbreds, Amidst Waves was bred in Kentucky by Woods Edge Farm and Ballyfair Bloodstock. She’s by Midshipman out of Troublesome, by Into Mischief.
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