Miss Alacrity may rate off Colleen Stakes speed
Half of trainer Wesley Ward’s battle is finding spots for all the talented 2-year-olds he trains. He entered two fillies for Sunday’s $100,000 Colleen Stakes at Monmouth but is likely to run just one and save the other for next week.
Miss Alacrity will start in the Colleen, a five-furlong turf dash for fillies, Ward said, and Paco Lopez rides her. Lopez also was initially named on the Ward-trained Chi Town Lady, but she’ll probably be scratched in favor of a start against males next weekend at Monmouth in the Tyro Stakes.
Ward, Mr. Two-Year-Old, has run 41 juveniles so far this year in North America and has managed to get 23 of them a win. In 2-year-old turf sprints where he has sent out the favorite, Ward has seven winners from 11 starts, and Miss Alacrity, 5-2 on the track’s morning line, is the likely Colleen chalk.
By the good turf sprint sire Munnings, Miss Alacrity is the fourth foal to race out of Just Jenda, a dirt-route horse who won three graded stakes, including the Monmouth Oaks and the Molly Pitcher at Monmouth Park. Miss Alacrity debuted on dirt, beating New York-bred maidens by 10 lengths May 20, but has turned in workouts over turf and is well meant on the surface switch.
“I always thought she’d be better on the grass, just the way she moves,” Ward said.
Miss Alacrity sat second in the early stages of her debut before taking command, and ability to rate could serve her well Sunday in a race that drew other fast horses.
“She’s a pretty smart filly. Paco is leading rider there, and I’m sure he’ll make the call when it comes to where she’ll be,” Ward said.
Tizplenty could prove difficult to catch if she’s able to make the lead from post position 2. The Steve Asmussen-trained filly wired a five-furlong Churchill maiden race two starts ago before fading to a distant fourth in the six-furlong Debutante Stakes last out. She’s by Speightstown, a strong turf sire, races on Lasix for the first time, and the cutback to a five-furlong trip should suit her.
If the pace proves too frenetic, Sail By already has shown she knows how to rate, rally, and win. Trained in New York by Leah Gyarmati, Sail By, by first-crop sire Astern, debuted June 18 in a Belmont turf sprint, was last of seven midway through the race, but closed determinedly to win going away, albeit with a modest 59 Beyer Speed Figure.
The Colleen goes as race 10 on an 11-race Sunday card. First post is 12:15 Eastern.
◗ Jockeys Heriberto Figueroa and Tomas Mejia have come out of a July 25 spill at Monmouth in good shape. Figueroa was to resume riding July 30 at Monmouth, while Mejia is expected to be back in the saddle early in August.