Ozara surges in stretch to easily win Monroe Stakes
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Ozara, a 4-year-old filly trained by Cristophe Clement, pulled away easily in the stretch to win the $75,000 Monroe Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.
Her stablemate, 5-year-old mare Breath Away, lacked running room on the far turn but still finished as the clear runner-up, rewarding the Clement barn with a 1-2 finish.
“Both fillies have a good turn of foot, so it was just a question of biding for time and seeing who was going to make the first move,” assistant trainer Miguel Clement said. “Unfortunately for Breath Away, it came at her expense when she had to check on the final turn, but both fillies finished very strong. It was an encouraging result.”
The assistant trainer was concerned about the pace setup and a rough post-position draw, but by the time the field of nine entered the first turn, Breath Away and Ozara ($6.00) could not have been more comfortable. Jockey Paco Lopez guided 8-5 favorite Breath Away just behind the early leaders on the rail, while Emisael Jaramillo and 2-1 second choice Ozara sat just outside of her.
Swoonatra, a 52-1 long shot, broke sharply from the inside and opened up to lead by six lengths through a half-mile in 47.28 seconds, but Clement’s two were content to chase her down later. When the runaway mare began to come back to the field, Ozara was the first to pass her and took a short lead entering the stretch.
Breath Away had to navigate off the rail on the far turn, but rallied to closely track her stablemate with a furlong to go. By the time she began to move forward, however, Ozara was already firmly in command and cruised home to win by 1 1/2 lengths. She completed the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:39.84. Sensitivity, a 6-year-old mare trained by Antonio Sano, picked up the pieces to finish third at 28-1 odds, but no one seriously challenged the Clement duo in the closing stages.
“I thought both fillies ran tremendous,” Clement said. “They were training quite well together at Payson [Park Training Center]. It might have been a bit of help that Emisael [Jaramillo] got to know Ozara by working her several times at Payson. The two jockeys gave us a good ride, and [Breath Away] had to check a little bit and that might have impacted the outcome. Nevertheless, they ran very well.”
Clement said that he and his father have not made any firm decisions regarding next steps, but turf racing at Saratoga this summer seems likely. Both have recently run in graded stakes company and will soon move to New York.
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