A Place to Shine could surprise in Monmouth Oaks

Most of the attention in the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks on Saturday will be focused on Todd Pletcher’s two entrants, Mo d’Amour and Unbridled Mo, and the undefeated Shug McGaughey runner Tejana. But Monmouth Park-based trainer Kathy Mongeon also has a runner worth considering in the $100,000, 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies.

Mongeon claimed A Place to Shine for $12,500 at Gulfstream Park in March. In two starts since, A Place to Shine has earned $90,600 by winning a first-level optional-claiming race at Parx Racing and finishing second to Dark Nile in the Grade 3, $300,000 Delaware Oaks. Dark Nile is entered in Saturday’s Grade 1 Alabama at Saratoga.

A Place to Shine was claimed by owner Frank Calabrese and trainer Mike Petro for $25,000 at Gulfstream in January. She won a $25,000 maiden claimer by 13 lengths in her next start and then was dropped to $12,500 claiming and won by 12 lengths.

“I won a 17-way shake for her on Saint Patrick’s Day,” Mongeon said. “My Irish background finally paid off.”

According to Mongeon, A Place to Shine was a nervous filly when she came into her barn but has since settled down.

“She was kind of flighty when we first got her, but she has matured into such a classy filly,” Mongeon said. “Before the Delaware Oaks, the horses were held in the paddock for 30 minutes after a rainstorm, and she held her composure.”

Mongeon began training in 1982 at Suffolk Downs. A Place to Shine is her first graded-placed runner.

“All the years I’ve trained, this is a fairy tale,” Mongeon said.

Mongeon has trained two stakes winners in recent years. She claimed Hobbs for $50,000 at Saratoga in 2012, and he won the Montserrat at Aqueduct and the Turf Classic at Tampa Bay Downs and earned $223,000 for her.

Her other stakes winner was Don’s Peach, who in three starts for Mongeon following a $6,250 claim won a New Jersey-bred allowance and the statebred Open Mind Handicap and earned $72,000.

Monmouth Oaks, Race 9

Key contenders

Mo d’Amour, by Uncle Mo
Last 3 Beyers: 84-84-79

◗ She is one of three daughters of Uncle Mo in the seven-horse field.

◗ She has made three of her last four starts against Grade 1 company and will be taking a major class drop.

Tejana, by Curlin
Last 2 Beyers: 87-69

◗ In two career starts, she has scored front-running daylight wins in a Pimlico maiden race in May and a Belmont Park allowance in June. She’ll be stepping up here.

A Place to Shine, by Tale of Ekati
Last 3 Beyers: 78-72-73

◗ A Place to Shine is owned by Jeremiah Kane. Mongeon originally claimed A Place to Shine for herself and another of her owners.

“After the claim, we had an offer to sell her for a big number,” Mongeon said. “I was thinking, ‘Who do I sell her to so I can keep her in my barn?’ So, I called Jerry, and he bought her.”

Unbridled Mo, by Uncle Mo
Last 3 Beyers: 75-77-35

◗ She will be making her stakes debut after winning a maiden race and a first-level optional-claiming race at this meet.