Liz's Cable Girl heavy favorite in Spruce Fir

Multiple stakes winner Liz’s Cable Girl looms large in a short field for Sunday’s $75,000 Spruce Fir Handicap for New Jersey-bred fillies and mares going six furlongs at Monmouth Park.

The Spruce Fir anchors an 11-race Sunday card at Monmouth, on the day following its biggest day of the meet, the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational card.

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An excessive heat warning is in effect in the Oceanport, N.J., area from Friday afternoon until 10 p.m. Sunday. Tracks around the region have already announced the cancellation of cards on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In advance of the weekend, Monmouth has said it will have protocols in place for the heat, including having extra emergency medical technicians on hand, having additional hoses and ice containers positioned to be available to horses both before and after races, running a misting system in the paddock, and adjusting post parades and post times if necessary.

The consistent Liz’s Cable Girl, who will have Jose Ferrer in the irons for trainer Patrick McBurney, has won 11 of 18 career starts, including five of her seven most recent outings while competing regularly against open company. In fact, her only start against New Jersey-breds in her last seven starts was a win in the Eleven North Handicap at Monmouth over Cee Bee Gee Bee, whom she meets again Sunday. Liz’s Cable Girl then won the Roamin Rachael Stakes at Parx Racing, where she also won an optional claimer against open company. She most recently finished third in an optional-claiming race at Laurel Park.

Cee Bee Gee Bee will be making her first start since October. She is trained by Jason Servis, with Nik Juarez named to ride.

Crazy Daisy and Billy’s Jump Start were second and third in the Smart N Classy Stakes in June at Monmouth, and cut back from the one-mile distance of that race. Jersey Rich, fifth in both outings this year, and Sassy Chub, an optional-claiming winner at Monmouth last time out, round out the field of six. Sassy Chub did not have a rider named at entry time.