Miss Alacrity moves to turf, impresses with Colleen win

Miss Alacrity scored a sharp win Sunday at Monmouth Park in the $100,000 Colleen Stakes, running her career mark to two wins from two starts and transferring her dirt promise to turf.

A 10-length New York-bred maiden winner on dirt in her May 23 debut at Belmont Park, Miss Alacrity got home by a comfortable 2 3/4 lengths in the Colleen, a five-furlong grass sprint for 2-year-old fillies.

The successful surface switch wouldn’t have surprised trainer Wesley Ward, who said last week that Miss Alacrity appeared to his well-trained eye to go a little better on turf than dirt. Miss Alacrity sat behind one horse winning first time out, and on Sunday raced behind two in the early stages of the Colleen.

Her jockey, Paco Lopez, sacrificed ground loss for a clean outside trip on the far turn, coming around Kodama and Tizplenty and hitting the front at the quarter pole. Lopez snuck a look back as he turned for home, saw no rival moving sharply, and took his time dispatching Kodama after Tizplenty slipped out of contention. Miss Alacrity had a narrow advantage at the stretch call, but was going much the best and pulled clear late under mild encouragement.

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“This filly was too good,” Lopez said. “She can hook horses and still have plenty left. You can tell she’s a good one.”

Miss Alacrity ran five furlongs on firm going in 57.23 and paid $4.20 as the strong favorite. Sail By ran on decently to finish second, 2 1/4 lengths in front of Tizplenty, who found her stride again briefly in upper stretch after fading off the pace.

Miss Alacrity is by Munnings out of Just Jenda, by Menifee, and Ward trains her for CJ Thoroughbreds.