Monmouth Park will kick off its 2026 live racing season with an eight-race card Saturday, and Kelly Breen could not be more prepared to return to his home track. The New Jersey-based trainer, who turns 57 later this month, has been limited since undergoing neck fusion surgery in 2023, but he said he’s “energetically optimistic” about the upcoming season. “I’m just getting older and I’m taking everything in and I’m really trying to have fun this year,” Breen said. “This year at Monmouth Park, I keep on saying it – I’m excited. I’m also feeling a little bit better. The tone in my voice, everything about me is better.” Breen got his start in the racing industry as an exercise rider in the 1980s, but in the months following his procedure, the trainer said he was surprised to find that he had plenty more to learn. Limited by a cane and neck brace and unable to travel for a time, he had no choice but to trust the team around him to an extent he had never previously considered. He believes that process has made him a better horseman. “I was still calling the shots and doing everything, but it was tough to not be as hands-on as I’ve ever been in my life,” Breen said. “So it was a learning process for me. I’m still learning and I’m still getting over trusting everybody else’s instincts instead of just my own. Maybe I’m asking more questions about my own horses. It’s been a process, but we have had some success.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Following a healthy winter down in Florida, in which he won a combined 11 races at Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs, Breen successfully transferred his operation back to New Jersey for the summer. He has three horses entered on the opening-day card, all of whom will be ridden by Paco Lopez. The 40-year-old jockey, who will return to Monmouth after serving a six-month suspension for crop violations over the winter, will be going for his 13th riding title at his home track and has a mount in every race Saturday. “He was my mainstay,” Breen said. “He was my main rider. It was a little bit of a blow to the barn [when he was suspended]. He’s also hands-on. He works horses and was part of the team. To lose a piece of your puzzle, it wasn’t easy.” In the seventh race, a statebred allowance, Breen entered Royal Performance, who will be the last horse to run for owner/breeder John Bowers Jr. A well-known figure in New Jersey racing, Bowers established Roseland Farm Stable with his wife, Joan, in 1974 and has since produced countless successful New Jersey-breds in nearby Colts Neck. His decades-long career is highlighted by graded stakes victories from the likes of Pickin’ Time and Smart N Classy. He’spuregold, who won five straight editions of the Irish War Cry Handicap for Breen and Bowers, retired at the end of the 2025 season, leaving Royal Performance as the owner’s last runner. “I hope to have a great meet with him,” Breen said. “I hope to win a couple of races. I don’t know how long he’s going to race, if this is his last year for racing. We’ll see how well he does this year, but John Bowers has represented some of the best, well-bred Jersey-breds for decades. I have a wall in my house dedicated to Jersey-breds that John bred.” With a smaller barn of approximately 50 horses, Breen is quietly optimistic that he could contend for another training title, having earned the honor in 2005, 2006, and 2020. Last year, Jorge Delgado won 21 races to pick up his first title, nipping Chad Brown by one race. Monmouth’s 50-day season will feature 36 stakes races, most notably the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell on July 18. That weekend of racing from July 17-19 will include eight stakes races offering a combined $2.95 million in purse money. Races will be run on Saturdays and Sundays until June 26, at which point a Friday card will be added each week. Special Monday cards will be added on Memorial Day and Labor Day. The season concludes Sept. 13. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.