Munirah gets up in Boiling Springs

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Munirah edged a game Sumba Sunset by a head on Monday in the Grade 3, $105,000 Boiling Springs Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the turf at Monmouth Park.

The Boiling Springs, originally slated for Saturday, was held over to Monday when it initially failed to attract enough runners. It went postward with a field of eight for the final graded event of the meet.

Munirah, making only her third start, all for trainer Graham Motion and owner Zanim R. Meahjohn, handled the step up to stakes company in style.

She broke sharply but jockey Trevor McCarthy wisely opted to take her off the pace. Munirah was the trailer until she commenced a strong rally up the rail on the final turn. She kept coming, wresting the lead from the pacesetting Sumba Sunset in the final strides.

“I just let her break and decided to take her back to relax,” McCarthy said. “It was an honest pace and she was able to save ground and pick it up at the end. The more she runs, the more she’s learning. She showed her class today.”

Munirah paid $9.80 to win as the 7-2 second choice.

Little Journey, the 7-5 favorite on the class drop following a seventh-place finish in the Grade 2 Lake George at Saratoga, was fifth.

With the conclusion of the Labor Day weekend, Monmouth now cuts back to a Saturday and Sunday schedule for the remainder of the meet through Sept. 28.