Surface to Air pulls a shocker over Just a Touch in Monmouth Cup

When 19-1 longshot Surface to Air came charging home to win the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup on Saturday, Monmouth Park track announcer Matt Dinerman exclaimed that the 5-year-old horse was running the race of his life. Walking away from the winner’s circle with the first stakes victory of his career, 26-year-old trainer Peter Synnefias didn’t offer an alternative explanation.

“Yes, he definitely ran the race of his life,” Synnefias said. “He’s a gritty horse. He always tries. And he’s never afraid of the competition. It’s a great feeling. Super happy for the horse and to the owners for giving me an opportunity. We’ve come a long way.”

It would have been astounding enough for Synnefias to earn his first stakes victory in graded company, but the young trainer earned the achievement on Haskell Day in direct competition with trainer Brad Cox.

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Just a Touch, Cox’s 1-9 favorite coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, was not expected to encounter much resistance around two turns in the Monmouth Cup. When he took a one-length early lead through an opening quarter in 24.90, he looked the part of an unimpeachable winner. Then the challengers came calling.

After completing a similarly comfortable half-mile in 49.55, Just a Touch was suddenly hounded by stalking longshots Surface to Air and Cadet Corps entering the far turn. Both runners briefly overtook Just a Touch, forcing jockey Florent Geroux to shake the reins early in order to keep the heavy favorite in contention.

Cadet Corps couldn’t sustain momentum when Just a Touch dug in on the rail, but Surface to Air and Samuel Marin didn’t give an inch and clung to a half-length lead entering the stretch. Marin was also going for his first graded stakes victory aboard the longshot and wasn’t intent on giving any ground.

“When we hit the three-eighths pole, I knew the only horse I had to beat was [Just a Touch], so I said I’d better go,” Marin said. “I just asked him for more and he kept on going.”

Marin angled his gelding toward the rail in order to keep Just a Touch in sight, and the pair ended up within a path of one another by the time they hit the wire. The top pair rallied and re-rallied against one another for the entire stretch run, opening up seven lengths on third-place finisher Cadet Corps.

In the end, Just a Touch’s redemptive bid fell short, as Surface to Air held on to his half-length margin at the wire. He paid $41.40 to win, finishing the 1 1/8-mile race in 1:49.29 (97 Beyer Speed Figure).

Surface to Air finished seventh in this race last year, so a victory on Saturday was always more of a dream, even though Synnefias knew that his horse was sitting on a big race. Coming off a six-month layoff last month, he finished 8 3/4 lengths behind Bishops Bay, another Brad Cox runner, on a sloppy Monmouth track in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile.

“We used the Salvator Mile to get ready and he came back in good order,” Synnefias said. “We were able to put a couple of more works in him and he has done everything right. This was an obvious spot for us. We had this planned all along.”

The Monmouth Cup was supposed to be Just a Touch’s steppingstone to a Grade 1 triumph, but it had a profoundly different meaning for Synnefias, Marin, and Surface to Air. It was a massive moment for horse, jockey, and trainer alike, and all three through with all-time efforts.

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