Monmouth Park: Silver Max takes Oceanport Stakes on front end

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Silver Max was the dominant, front-running winner of the Grade 3, $170,000 Oceanport Stakes on turf at Monmouth Park on Sunday.

Breaking from the rail, Silver Max and jockey Robby Albarado jumped out to an early lead and dictated fractions of 23.84 seconds, 47.08, and 1:09.81, with Tune Me In prompting the honest pace.

Turning for home, Silver Max shook loose for a solo waltz to the wire. Howe Great, the winner of Monmouth’s 2012 Jersey Derby, came on to get second, 5 3/4 lengths behind the winner.

“With Silver Max, it’s pretty textbook,” Albarado said. “He’s pretty comfortable and content on the lead. He has exceptional gate speed, so I used it to his advantage today. He’s got high cruising speed, and he extended to the wire very nicely.”

This was the first race back on grass for Silver Max after an easy win in a rained-off overnight stakes at Churchill Downs and a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Cornhusker Handicap at Prairie Meadows.

A 4-year-old trained by Dale Romans, Silver Max improved to 8 for 15 on grass.

Silver Max won 7 of 10 races last year, including Grade 2 victories in the American Turf Stakes and the Virginia Derby. The Oceanport was only his second win in five starts this season.

“It took a little while to get him untracked this year, but I think he’s back,” Romans said.

Silver Max paid $10.80 to win. The time was 1:40.02 for 1 1/16 miles on the firm course.

Hudson Steele was third, followed by Change of Command, Decisive Moment, 5-2 favorite Swift Warrior, Tune Me In, Two Notch Road, General Logan, and Hobbs.