Sky Gold fitter now for Miss Woodford

The $70,000 Miss Woodford at Monmouth Park on Sunday proved popular with horsemen and drew a field of 11. The six-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies has enticed entries from four trainers who as of Friday had not started a horse at the meet.

The Miss Woodford is wide open and loaded with quick fillies who have been racing on a number of circuits. It will be interesting to see how they match up and who is fastest.

The trainers making their first starts of the meet are New York-based Jimmy Jerkens; Jose Garoffalo, who is in from Florida; Delaware Park’s leading trainer, Mac Robertson; and Crystal Pickett from Pimlico.

Spark will be the first Monmouth starter for Jerkens since 2011. If she wins, it will be the first victory at Monmouth for Jerkens since Afleet Express won the Grade 3 Pegasus in 2010.

Garofallo has shipped in three horses for stakes engagements. He was to run Black Martino on Saturday in the Lamplighter Stakes and Sky Gold in the Miss Woodford on Sunday, and he also is pointing Wildcat Red for the six-furlong Teddy Drone on the Haskell Invitational undercard Aug. 2. Wildcat Red finished third to Bayern in last year’s Haskell.

Sky Gold is 2 for 3. She won her debut at Gulfstream Park last December and was second, beaten a length by Perchance, in a first-level optional-claiming race at Gulfstream in January.

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Perchance, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, subsequently finished second to Irish Jasper in the Belle Harbor Stakes at Aqueduct in April. Irish Jasper has since won the Miss Preakness at Pimlico and the Grade 3 Victory Ride at Belmont.

Sky Gold was off five months before winning a Gulfstream optional claimer by three lengths June 28.

“She ran a good race second time out, but she had a small injury to her shin, and I gave her the time she needed,” Garoffalo said. “She won easily when I ran her back, and she really wasn’t ready for that race. She was still fat.”

Key contenders

Sky Gold (Last 3 Beyers: 78-91-66)

Daughter of Successful Appeal is quick and has every right to move forward off her comeback victory.

Spark (Last 3 Beyers: 90-66-76)

Trained by Jerkens, she set the pace before finishing third to Cavorting in the Jersey Girl Stakes at Belmont on June 5.

New York-based apprentice Eric Cancel is named to ride two horses Sunday at Monmouth, including Spark. It will be Cancel’s Monmouth debut.

Get the Sensation (Last 3 Beyers: 81-82-74)

Has won four straight 4 1/2-furlong races by daylight at Charles Town for Pickett. This will be the longest race of her career.

Coco’s Wildcat (Last 3 Beyers: 73-79-81)

Like Spark, she comes out of the Jersey Girl and Miss Preakness. She has been keeping very good company.

Trainer Kathleen O’Connell won last Sunday’s Klassy Briefcase Stakes with Lady Shipman.

Paris Bikini (Last 3 Beyers: 74-58-79)

A debut winner at Belmont last September for Todd Pletcher, this will be her second start following an eight-month layoff.

Calypso Run (Last 3 Beyers: 77-51-71)

Comes off an on-the-pace allowance win in which the first half went in 44.46 seconds at Delaware for Robertson.