Saintly Joan wins Little Silver after move off turf

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Saintly Joan zoomed past the pacesetting Legal Laura to win the off-the-turf $57,600 Little Silver Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Saturday at Monmouth Park.

The surface change trimmed the field of 11 down to six.

The race belonged to Legal Laura for most of the mile. Breaking from the rail, Legal Laura and jockey Luis Garcia crawled along on an uncontested lead in trotting horse time of 25.08 seconds, 50.27, and 1:14.62.

Swiss Army Wife took up the challenge on the second turn, applying the initial pressure.

Legal Laura easily shook off that rival, opening up a commanding lead at the top of the lane, and appeared headed for victory.

But then Saintly Joan kicked in. After stalking the leader between rivals, Saintly Joan and rider Angel Serpa angled three wide on the final bend and started gobbling up ground.

“The time was very slow,” winning trainer Pat McBurney said. “I didn’t think she would run that filly down, but Angel got her in gear, and she got there in time.”

Saintly Joan nailed Legal Laura by a half-length for her first stakes victory, while running for the first time outside California.

She paid $5.60 to win as the 9-5 favorite. The time was 1:39.60.

Saintly Joan recently joined McBurney’s barn, sent east by trainer John O’Hara.

“We had trained horses for John O’Hara’s father years and years ago,” McBurney said. “She didn’t love the [Santa Anita] downhill turf course, so he sent her out to us for grass or dirt.”

It was the third win in nine starts for Saintly Joan, a homebred for Steven Bajer, Dustin O’Hara, and Gem Inc.

She was the only filly in the field with prior graded stakes experience, having run sixth in the Grade 1 Las Virgenes and fourth in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel.

Swiss Army Wife held on for third, followed by Brown Rice, Money for Maria, and Charlie Renee.