Joint Return looks to end skid in Lighthouse Stakes
Which deep closer do you like in the $75,000 Lighthouse Stakes at Monmouth Park on Monday, Joint Return or Stiffed?
Neither Joint Return nor Stiffed has much speed, but at their best, they both have a good turn of foot. There also should be enough pace in the Lighthouse, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares, to give the two late-fused runners a realistic chance.
This is the most modest level Joint Return has raced at on dirt in a long time. A three-time stakes winner and earner of more than $463,000 trained by John Servis, Joint Return’s finest moment came last August, when she finished second to Stopchargingmaria in the Grade 1 Alabama.
She concluded her 3-year-old season in her next start by finishing sixth to Untapable in the Grade 1 Cotillion. She has not been as effective this year, going 0 for 5. She has had a few excuses, however. Her last start came in her turf debut, which did not go well, and two starts back she was hampered by a slow and steady pace in the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap, where the early leaders finished first and second.
Three starts back, she finished with a good burst to be second in the Obeah at Delaware Park. Trevor McCarthy takes over for Joint Return’s longtime regular rider, Kendrick Carmouche.
Stiffed is a New Jersey-bred 4-year-old trained by John Mazza. She has been trading decisions with the improving Got Lucky, who was up to finish second in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on Aug. 29 on the Travers undercard.
Before that, Stiffed had finished fourth to Got Lucky in the Lady’s Secret Stakes, second to her in the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher, and beat her in the May 24 Monmouth Beach. Stiffed is 4 for 12 with career earnings of $193,000. Her regular rider, Gabriel Saez, has the mount.
Lighthouse Stakes, race 10
Key contenders
Joint Return (Last 3 Beyers: 63-79-81)
◗ She holds a class edge over this group but hasn’t won in eight starts dating to June 2014.
Stiffed (Last 3 Beyers: 82-75-96)
◗ She came to life over the winter in Florida for Mazza and has a nice kick. She’s been facing tougher.
Checkupfromzneckup (Last 3 Beyers: 102-79-69)
◗ She has won her last two starts for Chad Brown and Rudy Rodriquez and will now debut for trainer Kelly Rubley. She is owned by Michael Dubb and partners.
◗ Rubley is a former assistant to Jimmy Toner and Barclay Tagg who is 10 for 69 (14 percent) since going out on her own in 2014. She is based at Fair Hill.
◗ The 102 Beyer she ran in winning a second-level race at Monmouth in June is the highest number in this field. The horse she beat in that race, Savings Account, came back to win an optional-claimer at Del Mar.
Blue Violet (Last 3 Beyers: 76-87-88)
◗ She has good tactical speed but hasn’t won since taking the Lady’s Secret a year ago.