The 5-year-old horse Otago hasn’t raced since June 14. In the meantime, his stock has risen. When last seen racing, Otago checked in second, thumped by five lengths, in the Monmouth Stakes. The horse who beat him, Redistricting, earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance, a Grade 1-level number. Five weeks later, Redistricting ran right back to that form, winning the Grade 2 United Nations over 1 3/8 miles by 1 1/2 lengths with a 101 Beyer. Otago this weekend makes his third trip of the summer to New Jersey from trainer Kelsey Danner’s base at Turfway Park, and with nothing like a Redistricting in Sunday’s $100,000 Oceanport, Otago can win his second turf stakes of the Monmouth meet. His first came May 14 in the Cliff Hanger, where Otago, unlike in the Monmouth, got a fair pace to run into, getting up by a half-length. The break between starts has come by design, Danner said. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “Just give him a little time. He’d traveled twice already, and he doesn’t really want to go a mile and three-eighths,” she said. The Oceanport drew seven horses for turf and one main-track-only entrant, Adero, who will win in the highly unlikely event the race rains onto dirt. The 1 1/16-mile trip matches that in the Cliff Hanger, and Otago fits snugly here. A Florida-bred stakes winner as a 3-year-old of 2023, Otago improved marginally at age 4 but has hit a true peak as a 5-year-old this season. Danner said Otago, by Speightstown, always has been a big horse, but only this season has he truly grown into his frame. Otago and jockey Adam Beschizza should sit a decent trip, with There Are No Words, a rail-drawn front-runner, likely to race forwardly from the start and keep Air Recruit from establishing a clear lead. But even with company on the front end, Air Recruit could prove capable. Paco Lopez, winning at a 31 percent clip on volume this Monmouth meet, picks up the mount for trainer Arnaud Delacour, who brought Air Recruit back from a 20-month layoff to win a second-level turf-route allowance race on July 13 at Colonial. Air Recruit set the pace and faded to seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, his start before the extended break, earned a good 92 Beyer in his comeback run, and clearly stands to improve with some fitness now behind him. Siege of Boston, a 6-year-old far more exposed than Air Recruit, makes his second start after a six-month layoff. Otago kept to a steady work pattern while freshening up through July. He comes back to Monmouth, no Redistricting to beat, ready to win again. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.