Monarchs Glen powers home in Schuster Memorial
Trainer Mike Maker for several years has done great work claiming older middle-distance turf horses and turning them into long-distance turf-stakes horses. Things have turned a different direction with Monarchs Glen.
Maker claimed Monarchs Glen for $62,500 on March 19 at Gulfstream on behalf of owners Michael Hui and WSS Racing and stretched the gelding out to 1 1/2 miles for the Louisville Stakes on May 15 at Churchill Downs. Monarchs Glen finished 14th, but when Maker cut him back to one mile for a June 20 allowance race, Monarchs Glen finished with a flourish to win, and he closed strongly Wednesday at Indiana Grand and captured the $85,000 Jonathan Schuster Memorial Stakes by a half-length.
Seventh at the stretch call, Monarchs Glen, under Umberto Rispoli, showed another strong turn of foot to get up in this 1 1/16-mile grass race. Hemp Hemp Hurray, a 31-1 shot, finished second with perfect trip, and Split the Wickets was third. A claim of foul lodged by Sonny Leon, Hemp Hemp Hurray’s jockey, against the winner was disallowed.
Monarchs Glen ($9.80) is a 7-year-old gelding by Frankel out of Mirabilis, by Lear Fan, who found a measure of success racing in England during his early days. After being exported to America, Monarchs Glen had won just 1 of 16 starts before this two-race winning streak. Adroitly ridden by Rispoli, Monarchs Glen was timed in 1:40.52 over a firm, fast-playing grass course. Midnight Tea Time, the 4-5 favorite, raced wide and had no rally, checking in fourth.
Schaefer: Plainsmen rallies wide to win
Trainer Brad Cox’s 6-5 favorite Shared Sense was a no, but Cox’s 7-2 third choice Plainsmen was a go in the $85,000 Michael G. Schaefer Memorial Stakes.
Plainsmen stalked the pace and rallied wide under Francisco Arrieta to beat a game Exulting by 1 3/4 lengths. Shared Sense never threatened and finished fifth of six in his first start back from a long layoff.
Arrieta now is 3 for 3 riding Plainsmen, a 6-year-old horse who had lost eight in a row before his sudden 2021 winning streak.
“I think he likes me. I like him, too,” Arrieta said.
Exulting, a $7,500 claimer just five starts ago when claimed from Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen by Maker, dueled tough stakes horse Pirate’s Punch into submission and tried to fight off Plainsmen, but a demanding pace and a racing surface favorable to outside paths helped Plainsmen to victory. By Flatter out of S S Pinafore, by Street Sense, Plainsmen paid $9.60 to win and ran a mile 70 yards in a swift 1:39.63. Belle Luminaire finished third.
General Assembly Distaff: Summer in Saratoga closes fast
Summer in Saratoga powered home under Corey Lanerie to win the $85,000 Indiana General Assembly Distaff by one length over Alnaseem. Trained by Joe Sharp for the Highlander Training Center, Summer in Saratoga won the $150,000 Tom Benson Memorial at Fair Grounds in her 2021 debut, but had no luck in her next two starts, losing her rider in a Keeneland allowance race and getting rained off turf and onto dirt in a Lone Star stakes start.
Back on grass, Summer in Saratoga ran her final half-furlong in just more than 5.5 seconds, really whistling, while running 1 1/16 miles on a firm course in 1:40.44. La Renoleta finished third as favored pacesetter Raven’s Cry faded to fourth.
Five-year-old Summer in Saratoga is by Hard Spun out of Love Theway Youare, out of Arch. She won for the fifth time in 14 starts.
* Matera had raced on the lead winning her only start in 2021, an Oaklawn Park allowance race in March, but came from off the pace while overcoming trouble to land the $85,000 Marie Hulman George by three-quarters of a length. Florent Geroux rode the winner for Cox and the Don Alberto Stable. The favorite, Matera paid $4.20 to win while running 1 1/16 miles on dirt in 1:43.29. Microcap finished second, three-quarters of a length in front of late-running Fire Coral.