Sam Eye Am done with dirt for good

OCEANPORT, N.J. - The days of racing Sam Eye Am on the dirt have ended, according to trainer Keith Sirota.

The 4-year-old filly will run exclusively on grass, starting with Wednesday's featured $41,000 allowance at Monmouth Park.

"You can just see that she would be better on turf," said Sirota, who added the filly to his barn this year. "Her action is totally different on the grass than it is on the dirt."

Sam Eye Am has run well in limited grass opportunities. She has a record of 2-0-1 in six turf starts, including an upset score at 19-1 in a five-furlong grass sprint July 9 at Monmouth.

Sirota selected another turf sprint for her next start, but the race wound up on the main track. Sam Eye Am suffered a 10 1/2-length loss.

"We just decided to see how she'd do on the dirt, but you could see she wasn't the same," Sirota said. "She wouldn't switch leads. I talked to the owners, and we've decided to keep her on the turf. If her races come off in the future, we'll scratch."

Sam Eye Am faces eight rivals in the five-furlong turf race. Carlos Cruz has the mount.

Wild Snitch undergoes surgery

Wild Snitch, the 2002 Sorority winner, has suffered a condylar fracture of the right front cannon bone that will end her career.

The injury occurred on the turn of the $60,000 Miss Woodford Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Saturday afternoon at Monmouth. She left the track in an equine ambulance, and the surgery took place Sunday afternoon at Dr. Scott Palmer's clinic in Clarksburg, N.J.

"It's repairable," said trainer Ben Perkins Jr. "The aftereffects are what you have to overcome. There's the chance of infection or founder."

Assuming no complications, Wild Snitch will join owner Eb Novak's New Farm broodmare band. She finished with a record of 3-1-1 and earnings of $151,600 in seven starts.

The Grade 3, $100,000 Sorority, the final graded stakes of the Monmouth season, headlines the Saturday card.

Perkins has won the last three renewals with Stormy Pick (2000), Forest Heiress (2001), and Wild Snitch, but he will not have a runner in the 50th Sorority.

"We don't have a lot of babies that we brought this year, and from our homebreds, we didn't have anything that looked like it fit," Perkins said. "It was a nice run while it lasted."