Sacco hoping Bravo can time Bal Harbour's move in Iselin

The Grade 3, $200,000 Philip H. Iselin Stakes, named for one of the founders of Monmouth Park, will be run for the 85th time on Saturday. Locally based trainer Greg Sacco will be participating in the race for the first time. His barn newcomer Bal Harbour, seeking his first graded win, is confirmed as a starter, and stable star Mind Control was entered but likely to scratch.

The history of the race is not lost on Sacco.

“Jimmy Iselin, Phil Iselin’s son, worked for my father in the late 1950s in high school walking horses,” Sacco recalled to Monmouth publicity this week. “His father was a pioneer and was one of the reasons Monmouth Park was built. So it’s very meaningful to us.”

Bal Harbour has never finished off the board in five starts at Monmouth, including a third in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup in July, his first start off a seven-month layoff and first for Sacco after being transferred from Todd Pletcher. Sacco is reuniting Bal Harbour with local rider Joe Bravo, who rode the gelding to a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile and a second in the Iselin last year. Mike Smith then got aboard Bal Harbour to finish second in the 2019 Monmouth Cup, as well as for this year’s third.

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“He’s a little bit of a tough horse to ride,” Sacco said. “Last year when Mike Smith rode him for Todd Pletcher in the Monmouth Cup he thought he had War Story measured. He came up to him and hung with him. He got beat a head. This time, Mike said he thought he had the Monmouth Cup won again. He went right up to Global Campaign, put a half-length in front of him, and kind of dug his toes into the ground. So it was a little disheartening.

“Joe rode him last year so he knows the horse. It’s just a matter of timing the move right, timing it late.”

Mind Control, a five-time graded stakes winner at seven furlongs, would be stretching out to 1 1/16 miles in the Iselin but is likely to scratch and await the Grade 1 Forego Stakes going seven furlongs on Aug. 29 at Saratoga, where he has won two Grade 1 events.

Bal Harbour has drawn the rail in the field of six. Immediately to his outside is the main speed in the race, Warrior’s Charge in post 2 under Monmouth leading rider Paco Lopez and Pirate’s Punch in post 3. Warrior’s Charge won his first start of 2020 in front-running fashion in the Grade 3 Razorback at Oaklawn, then was caught late and finished second in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap. He returns to two turns after finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont.

Pirate’s Punch most recently set the fractions in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster at Churchill before fading to seventh.

– additional reporting by David Grening