Monmouth: Happy Trails takes derby

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Happy Trails, who had never started in anything but a claiming race in his six-race career, split horses at the top of the stretch to win the off-the-turf Grade 3 Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park.

Happy Trails, the second choice at 9-5 with his entrymate Angelic Aura, ran the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:45.40 over the sloppy ground and won by 2 1/4 lengths over Stone Canyon, the 1-2 favorite. Angelic Aura finished third, another three-quarters of a length back, earning owner Sanford Goldfarb $70,000 of the $100,000 purse.

Stone Canyon led for an instant in the stretch, but he was unable to fend off Happy Trails down the lane.

Every horse in the race other than Angelic Aura was eligible for a one-other-than allowance. One of the entrants in the six-horse field, Wesman, was a maiden who had never finished better than fifth. Wesman finished last.

The Jersey Derby was moved to the main track because of heavy rains all week. Empire Maker, the Kentucky Derby runner-up, was entered in the race on Saturday morning, but trainer Bobby Frankel elected to work the horse on turf in New York rather than run.