Project Whiskey can offer additional proof in Monmouth Oaks

Project Whiskey belatedly arrived as a candidate for the belated Kentucky Oaks with her 38-1 upset victory in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks on July 4. She will get another chance to prove she belongs in the filly classic when she faces a well-matched group in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Monmouth Oaks.

The 96th edition of the New Jersey track’s eponymous race has drawn a field of nine, including stakes winners Lucrezia, Piece of My Heart, and Princess Cadey, Grade 3-winning juvenile Comical, and multiple graded stakes-placed Dream Marie.

The Monmouth Oaks, one of the final three prep races toward the Sept. 4 Kentucky Oaks, awards points toward a spot in the 14-horse field on a 50-20-10-5 scale. Project Whiskey earned 50 points in the Delaware Oaks, however, she is not an original nominee to the Kentucky Oaks. Late nominations, for a $500 fee, close Aug. 15. After that, fillies must be supplemented for $25,000 at entry time. Lucrezia currently sits 10th on the Oaks points list. Dream Marie is 15th.

Maryland-bred Project Whiskey won 2 of 5 starts as a juvenile for trainer Robert “Butch” Reid Jr., highlighted by the Parx Juvenile Fillies. She made her 3-year-old debut in an optional-claiming race on May 25 at Churchill Downs and finished sixth while making her first start in more than five months. The victorious Frank’s Rockette subsequently became a graded stakes winner.

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Project Whiskey stretched out to two turns for the first time in the Delaware Oaks, stalking the pace and then fending off a sustained challenge from Dream Marie for a half-length victory as the longest shot on the board. The daughter of Tapizar – sire of 2018 Kentucky Oaks winner Monomoy Girl – pairs up with jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. for the first time Saturday.

The Delaware Oaks was the second graded placing of the year for Dream Marie, who previously had finished third in the Grade 2 Davona Dale behind Tonalist’s Shape. Joe Bravo, who rode Dream Marie for the first time in Delaware, retains the mount on the filly, who has drawn the rail for trainer Matthew Williams.

Princess Cadey finished third in the Delaware Oaks, another 1 1/4 lengths back, in her first start off a layoff. In her prior outing, she was a seven-length winner of the Beyond the Wire Stakes at Laurel Park.

Piece of My Heart, Hopeful Growth, and Comical were fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, in the Delaware Oaks. Piece of My Heart previously won the Gardenia Stakes at Oaklawn, defeating a solid field that included Comical, Antoinette, and Gingham. Comical is looking for her first victory since taking the Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes in 2019 at Saratoga.

Lucrezia, winner of the Sandpiper and Suncoast Stakes over the winter at Tampa, has faced the two current Oaks favorites this spring, finishing second to Swiss Skydiver in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks and fourth behind Gamine in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes.

Monmouth’s leading rider, Paco Lopez, picks up the mount for Arnaud Delacour.