Monmouth Park: Chipshot rolls to Select Stakes victory
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Chipshot rolled to a 2 3/4-length win over Cal Nation on Saturday in the $75,000 Select Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters at Monmouth Park.
Corey Nakatani hand-rode the chestnut colt to his third win in 13 starts for trainer Steve Asmussen.
Chipshot dueled Zero Rate Policy for the early lead before decisively pulling clear on the turn. The time was 1:08.72 for the six furlongs on the fast track. Chipshot, who got his maiden win here last summer, improved to 2-0-2 in 4 Monmouth starts and paid $8.40 to win.
He was third to Flashpoint in his previous start, the Grade 3 Jersey Shore Stakes.
“It makes my job easy when the horse breaks like he did,” Nakatani said. “I just let him do what he needed to do and kept him focused. I didn’t have to do much. He was the best today.”
Royal Currier was third, followed by Zero Rate Policy, the 11-10 favorite, and Watch Me Go.
The field was reduced to five with the scratch of Trippi’s Charm.
Ju Jitsu Jax wires My Frenchman
Ju Jitsu Jax led all the way to pull a 22-1 upset in the $66,650 My Frenchman Stakes for grass sprinters on Saturday at Monmouth Park.
A 5-year-old trained by Howard Wolfendale, Ju Jitsu Jax beat Wicked Tune, 15-1, by a neck with Regally Ready, the 3-10 favorite, third in the blanket finish.
jockey Forest Boyce figured her best chance was to get the jump on the pack, and the heavy favorite.
“That was the game plan,” Boyce said. “Up here, you can’t seem to run them down. I figured I’d better get started before he does.”
Ju Jitsu Jax won for the 11th time in 31 starts. The time was 1:02.13 for 5 1/2 furlongs on the firm course