Mr. Jordan should give big effort in Pegasus
Monmouth Park will be buzzing Sunday, and not just because of the day’s two stakes. Father’s Day has become the second-most heavily attended card of the season behind Haskell Day.
Last year, more than 29,000 fans turned out on Father’s Day. There will be free admission for all gentlemen, giveaways of sports tickets throughout the day, and a new Father’s Day beer garden. The day’s card is topped by the Grade 3, $150,000 Pegasus Stakes for 3-year-olds and the $60,000 Dan Horn Handicap, a one-mile turf race for New Jersey-breds.
Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. Thunderstorms are predicted for Sunday morning and forecast to become more scattered as the day progresses. The storm system played a major role in trainer Jose Corrales opting to run Bodhisattva in the Pegasus rather than the Ohio Derby on Saturday.
“The weather is bad in Cleveland,” Corrales said Friday. “He did not run good in the bad weather in the Preakness, and I want to give him the best chance I can to do well.”
Mr. Jordan is likely to be favored in the 1 1/16-mile Pegasus. He is coming off an unusual race in which he was disqualified to second following a head victory, but trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. is confident he is sitting on a top performance.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Mr. Jordan. Trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. is 16-1-5-3 with a $0.43 ROI over the past five years in dirt routes at Monmouth following a layoff of 45 days or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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“He’s doing excellent,” Plesa said. “If he doesn’t run big, I will be very disappointed. He’s 110 percent right now.”
Mr. Jordan was 3 for 3 last year at 2, then missed some time over the winter with a minor injury. He finished a distant second to Competitive Edge in his season debut at Gulfstream Park, then was taken down by the stewards in his most recent start April 2 after coming outward sharply late and bumping with the runner-up.
Plesa added blinkers to Mr. Jordan’s equipment for that race but is removing them for the Pegasus.
“I think they may have just covered him up a little too much, and when he had to start running again late, he had a negative reaction,” Plesa said.
The Pegasus will be the longest race of Mr. Jordan’s career, though he won the one-mile Smooth Air Stakes around two turns at Gulfstream Park West last November.
“I don’t think the distance will make any difference to him,” Plesa said. “I don’t think he is limited by distance at all.”
Mr. Jordan has won from on and off the pace but should be on or near the early lead under Monmouth Park’s leading rider, Paco Lopez.
Todd Pletcher has entered Dontbetwithbruno and Chipit, who have complementary running styles. Chipit will be making his first start beyond seven furlongs and is likely to show speed, while Dontbetwithbruno can be expected to settle early.
Bodhisattva, the winner of the Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico two starts back before being eased in the Preakness, has tactical speed but might not be as quick early as Mr. Jordan or Chipit.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Bodhisattva. Trainer Jose Corrales is 12-1-3-2 with a $0.23 ROI over the past five years at Monmouth Park. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Kiaran McLaughlin entered Good Pick Nick, who was clearly second-best in a first-level allowance at Belmont in his last start. The winner, The Truth Or Else, had made seven straight stakes starts before dropping into that allowance.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 Good Pick Nick. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is 8-2-2-0 with a $3.52 ROI over the past five years in dirt route graded stakes at Monmouth Park. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Dan Horn attracts full field
Two of the top players in the Dan Horn are Oak Bluff and Gadget Man.
The Dan Horn has drawn 14 entrants, two of whom are also-eligibles. The co-highweights at 125 pounds are Saucy Don and Javerre, who finished first and third last time out in the John Reilly Handicap, a six-furlong sprint.
Oak Bluff, carrying 124 pounds, has won 3 of 5 starts since being claimed by Jamie Ness for $20,000 at Gulfstream Park in February. He is coming off an optional-claiming turf-sprint victory.
Gadget Man, trained by Joseph Pierce Jr., tuned up for this with a third-place finish in a difficult second-level optional-claiming race. The winner, Barrister Jim, now has won six races in a row for Rudy Rodriguez. Gadget Man will carry 121 pounds.