Winning Cause scores in Cliff Hanger Stakes

OCEANPORT, N.J. – The fourth time at the meet was the charm for Winning Cause in the Grade 3, $103,000 Cliff Hanger Stakes on the turf Sunday at Monmouth Park.

It was the first victory here in four graded stakes tries for Winning Cause, a 4-year-old trained by Todd Pletcher for Alto Racing.

And the elusive win came at the expense of multiple Grade 1 winner Big Blue Kitten, the 4-5 favorite.

The Cliff Hanger drew a field of seven with only one obvious speed: Plainview.

As expected, Plainview set an unpressured pace followed by Calvados, a 6-year-old making his U.S. debut after a 21-race career in his native Argentina.

Winning Cause and jockey Eddie Castro raced outside of Calvados, always keeping Plainview in range.

“I was happy when Calvados showed a little speed to be up with the other speed horse to quicken the pace,” Castro said. “I just sat back and got my horse relaxed.”

Castro turned Winning Cause loose midway on the final turn to duel with the leader until the top of the lane, where Winning Cause edged clear.

Then Big Blue Kitten kicked into gear. The winner of the United Nations Stakes here last summer advanced steadily after trailing for most of the race.

“Around the turn, I started to make my move,” Castro said. “I looked back and saw I had the jump on Big Blue Kitten, and I just rode hard to the wire.”

Winning Cause responded to the urging, holding off Big Blue Kitten by a half-length.

The time was a swift 1:46.16 for the 1 1/8 miles over the firm course on a sunny afternoon on the Jersey Shore.

Winning Cause posted his fifth win in 22 starts, and notched a second graded victory. He captured the 2013 Grade 3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.

He ran well in the three prior stakes at the meet, beaten by no more than two lengths in any of the defeats. Winning Cause was second in the Grade 3 Red Bank, third in the Grade 2 Monmouth Stakes and fourth in the Grade 1 United Nations.

After the U.N., Pletcher pulled Winning Cause up to Saratoga, where he was fourth as the odd-on favorite in the restricted John’s Call Stakes at 1 5/8 miles.

The cutback in distance and a return to Monmouth was the winning combination.

It was the first Cliff Hanger win for Pletcher and Castro in the stakes that originated in 1977 at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

Plainview stayed on gamely to hold third followed by Guys Reward, Michael With Us, Calvados, and Vitium.