Rain could be the only thing stopping Train to Artemus in Goldwood
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Train to Artemus easily is the most likely winner of the $100,000 Goldwood Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park – if she gets to run.
The Jersey Shore late this week was locked into a rainy cycle to extend through the weekend, and if the forecast holds, the Goldwood, carded for older fillies and mares at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, could wind up at 5 1/2 furlongs on dirt.
Horsemen with eligible runners are aware: Nine are in the main body of the Goldwood, with five more equine females entered main track only.
Kelly Breen, who trains Train to Artemus for M and W Stables, said this week it was “full steam ahead” for Train to Artemus, turf or dirt, before qualifying that statement.
“If it comes up too tough on dirt, we’ll have to take a longer look at things,” he said.
Trained at the time by Wesley Ward, Train to Artemus did score a second start, off-turf maiden victory, winning by almost eight lengths, over a sloppy surface in May 2020 at Churchill Downs. She’s winless in three other dirt races, and when Breen left her in an off-turf first-level allowance last fall at Aqueduct, Train to Artemus’s Beyer Speed Figure dropped 20 to 25 points below her standard.
No matter what happens Saturday, Train to Artemus has been a great $35,000 claim by Breen and M and W last August, Train to Artemus has gone 5-1-0 in seven turf starts, her lone poor performance a dud this past April at Keeneland. The mare has won two stakes, including the The Very One on May 19 at Pimlico, where she beat a group comparable to what she’d face on turf Saturday at Monmouth. Paco Lopez did engineer a perfect trip for Train to Artemus at Pimlico but can guide the mare to a similarly favorable journey from post 3.
On turf, Mrs. Green has the best chance to beat Train to Artemus. Mrs. Green makes her stakes debut in the Goldwood but was competitive last fall in New York turf-sprint allowances of quality comparable to the Goldwood. On a trainer change to Mark Casse this year, Mrs. Green has started once, fading to fifth of nine May 18 in a second-level turf-sprint allowance over seven furlongs, which is too far for this filly. She should perch just off the pace Saturday and was very effective in shorter grass sprints last summer.
On dirt, Olivia Darling probably is the correct choice. The 4-year-old filly improved many lengths on a trainer switch and with the addition of blinkers last December. Her three straight second-place finishes have been as good as the two wins that preceded them, and Olivia Darling showed a new dimension coming from a little farther off the pace while missing by a neck last out in the $100,000 Skipat at Pimlico.
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