Vigilantes Way wins Miss Liberty as part of seven-win day for Paco Lopez
Paco Lopez tied his own Monmouth Park record with seven winners on the Saturday card, including Vigilantes Way in the $100,000 Miss Liberty Stakes for fillies and mares on the turf.
“I think I was very lucky today,” said Lopez, who set the Monmouth mark by twice riding seven winners in a day during the 2014 meet. “You look at these last couple of horses I won with and they handled the track. It’s a little wet both on the dirt and turf. I’m lucky [Vigilantes Way] likes this grass course. When I looked at the horses I was riding today I felt good. I felt quite a few had a shot.”
Vigilantes Way ($3.20), a Phipps Stable homebred daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, stalked the pace, rallied three wide, and drove to the wire a half-length clear of Miss Teheran. The final time was 1:43.14 for the 1 1/16 miles on turf rated good.
“I think she likes the quick turns,” trainer Shug McGaughey said. “She does like Monmouth, but the quick turns seem to suit her, because she has run good at Pimlico. She’ll handle about any type of turf course. So when it rained a little it didn’t bother her.”
McGaughey said the Violet Stakes on Sept. 25 at Monmouth will probably be the next race for Vigilantes Way.
As for Lopez, he is also eyeing his next goal.
“The next thing I have to get to is eight wins here,” he said.
* Earlier in the day, Belgrano rallied up the inside under Isaac Castillo to win the $100,000 Rainbow Heir Stakes for turf sprinters. It was the second stakes win at Monmouth for the gelding, who is trained by Frank Russo. He took the Virgil “Buddy” Raines Stakes in October 2020. Belgrano pad $8.40 to win the Rainbow Heir.