Just a Touch still searching for breakthrough victory in Monmouth Cup

After finishing last in the 2024 Kentucky Derby, Just a Touch firmly re-entered the graded stakes ranks as a 4-year-old colt last month to finish third in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. Trainer Brad Cox sees even more room for improvement, and bettors are likely to agree as the colt lines up for the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park.

“To know that he’s a true two-turn horse, I don’t think that Saratoga configuration . . . really suits him,” Cox said. “We’re going to get back around two turns, which I think will benefit him. At a mile and an eighth and beyond, I think he’s at his best.”

While the Met Mile, run out of the Wilson course around 1 1/2 turns, likely limited Just a Touch, the 1 1/8-mile race at Monmouth should suit him perfectly. He will likely be the early leader, and if his recent allowance starts are any indicator, he could be tough to catch as the 3-5 morning-line favorite.

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Despite qualifying for the Kentucky Derby last year, Just a Touch is still looking for his first graded stakes victory. He got closest as the runner up in the Grade 1 Blue Grass, but Cox is tired of settling for minor prizes.

“We’ve always felt that he’s a Grade 1 talent,” Cox said. “We gave him a couple opportunities with the Blue Grass and the Met Mile and he ran well, but we need to win one of these. I’m hoping this is a stepping-stone.”

With the exception of Surface to Air, distant third-place finisher in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile last time out, every other runner in the field of eight is coming out of allowance company.

Classic Catch, a 5-year-old horse trained by Todd Pletcher, is Just a Touch’s only natural challenger. Once a Kentucky Derby contender himself, the horse has had profound trouble finding the winner’s circle in his later years. Though he has not won in 12 starts going back to August 2023, he earned a 99 Beyer Speed Figure in a $120,000 allowance at Saratoga last month. His previous tries in stakes company have all been solid, closely mirroring his finishes in the money at lower levels.

Molly Pitcher

Randomized, a 5-year-old mare trained by Chad Brown, is entering the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher Stakes at Monmouth Park in search of a rebound on Saturday. The mare finished 28 1/2 lengths back after failing to get the early lead in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps last month.

“I don’t take much away from” her last race, Brown said. “She just couldn’t get out there to the front and never looked happy. She’s come back and trained well.”

Though she finished third in the Grade 1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs in May, Randomized has not looked like herself in some time. Her regression was certainly not severe enough to justify her performance last time out, however, which was arguably the worst of her 12-race career.

Her last victory was in June 2024 in the Ogden Phipps, where she powered home on the front end to upset Idiomatic and Raging Sea. She has taken two layoffs since, and the Molly Pitcher will be her first race outside of Grade 1 or Grade 2 company since July 2023. Brown is prepared to dismiss her last start, and the mare will have the opportunity to prove him right in a slightly softer spot against a familiar rival this weekend.

While Randomized faded in the slop at Saratoga last month, 5-year-old mare Dorth Vader powered home from third to finally take her first Grade 1 stakes victory for trainer George Weaver. After nursing her through several classy defeats since she entered his barn in 2023, the trainer sees the Molly Pitcher as a natural next step in her 2025 campaign. He said that he expects her to maintain this improved form.

“I don’t know what part the sloppy track played,” Weaver said. “I don’t anticipate her not performing because there’s not a sloppy track, but we’re all going to find out on Saturday.”

Pletcher entered a pair of promising 4-year-old fillies in the Molly Pitcher, but it is likely that only one will race. Leslie’s Rose may run on Friday in the Grade 2 Shuvee at Saratoga instead, leaving Candied as the only remaining challenger for the trainer.

In May, Candied took advantage of some class relief to earn a three-length victory in the $125,000 Allaire duPont Distaff at Pimlico. Pletcher is easing her back into graded stakes at Monmouth, but this field is just as classy as the ones she was facing before the Breeders’ Cup Distaff last year.

– additional reporting by Marcus Hersh

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