Mei Ling wins stakes debut in Lighthouse

Mei Ling made her stakes debut a winning one and helped jockey Nik Juarez remain red-hot Monday at Monmouth Park, sticking her head in front of the pacesetting Checkupfromzneckup with a furlong to go and battling to a three-quarter-length victory in the $74,500 Lighthouse Stakes.

Juarez, a 22-year-old native of Westminster, Md., lost his apprentice allowance Aug. 26 before winning the Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin Stakes aboard Valid on Aug. 30 and the Sapling Stakes with Sunny Ridge on Sunday at Monmouth.

On Monday, Juarez steered Mei Ling ($7.80) to her second straight victory for trainer Todd Pletcher.

“I couldn’t imagine my first few weeks as a journeyman going any better,” Juarez said.

Mei Ling, a 4-year-old Empire Maker filly owned by Barry K. Schwartz, had scored a 2 1/2-length victory in a first-level, $85,000 allowance going 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga on Aug. 13. She has two wins from four starts this year and has been a part of the trifecta each time. For her career, she has three wins in 13 starts for $225,883 in earnings.

Juarez and Mei Ling tracked Checkupfromzneckup four wide through a quarter-mile in 25.31 seconds and three wide through a half-mile in 49.57. Juarez gave Mei Ling her cue entering the far turn of the 1 1/16-mile race, and Mei Ling forged to the front near the top of the stretch before stopping the clock in 1:45.56.

“Todd’s instructions were to let someone else go to the lead and sit close,” Juarez said. “He said when it was time to go, to just grind the leader down.”

Checkupfromzneckup, the 3-2 favorite, fought hard to finish second, a neck in front of Blue Violet. Joint Return, a three-time stakes winner who finished second in the Grade 3 Obeah Stakes at Delaware Park in June, tried to rally from last into the slow pace but could not make up significant ground and finished fourth. Imposing Grace was last in the field of five fillies and mares ages 3 and up. Stiffed and Amulay were scratched.