Upsets ruled at Monmouth Park on Saturday as Robert LaPenta’s Truth Rules scored a shocker in the $150,000 Long Branch Stakes and Salvatore Racing Stable’s Fagedaboudit Sal, the longest shot on the board, captured the $70,000 Bob Harding Stakes on turf.
Truth Rules, sent off the absolute outsider in the field of five 3-year-olds at 16- 1, rallied from dead last on the turn to run down favored Atoned by a head at the wire, stopping the timer in 1:45 1/5 for the mile and a sixteenth.
The victory likely earned the colt a berth in Monmouth’s $1 million Haskell Invitational on August 3.
The son of Vindication, trained by Nick Zito and ridden by Stewart Elliott, paid $35.80, $9.40 and $3.20 across the board and topped the $94.80 exacta.
Atoned, sent off the 9-5 favorite, paid $3.40 and $2.10, and Z Humor, who was three and a quarter lengths farther behind, paid $2.10 to show.
Elliott took Truth Rules back to last early as Indy Joe carved out early fractions of :24 for the quarter and :47 4/5 for the half. Coming into the stretch, Atoned made a move between horses to reach the lead while Truth Rules was circling the field on the outside.
In the final sixteenth, Truth Rules made a determined run at the leader and caught Atoned at the wire.
“They told me before the race that I’d be in the back,” Elliott said. “There was a lot of speed in the race. About the half-mile pole, I eased him out because he didn’t seem to like the dirt coming back at him.
“He was picking it up a little and then I just tapped him a couple of times and he started moving a little quicker. At the quarter-pole, the other horses were all together and I thought I had a shot at it. Atoned kicked away from me a little bit in the stretch, but my horse just kept digging and got up when it mattered.”
This was the third straight victory at Monmouth for Truth Rules, who broke his maiden here in May and won an allowance last month.
In the Bob Harding Stakes, Fagedaboudit Sal had a memorable debut on the grass as he led from start to finish as a rank outsider and beat Kiss the Kid, the 3- 2 favorite, by a length and a half.
The winner, trained by Luis Carvajal Jr. and ridden by Pablo Fragoso, stepped the one mile over firm turf in 1:34 3/5 and paid $80.40, $23.80 and $10.60 across the board as the longest shot in the field of 10.
Kiss the Kid made a belated rally to get second, paying $3.80 to place and $3 to show and completed the $433.20 exacta. Classic Campaign, second choice at 2-1, was a length and a quarter farther back and paid $2.80 to show.
This was the first-ever turf try for Fagedaboudit Sal, a 5-year-old son of Yarrow Brae who was the only New Jersey bred in the field. The gray gelding improved his record at Monmouth to 6-4-2 in 23 starts here. The winner’s share of $42,000 raised his lifetime total to $369,838 for the Salvatore Racing Stable.
Fagedaboudit Sal came out of the gate running and clipped off fractions of :24 1/5 for the quarter, :48 for the half and 1:11 for the six furlongs. He stayed strong through the stretch, racing the last quarter in :23 3/5.
“Our goal was to get to the Hesse Handicap (state-bred race on Aug. 3),” Carvajal said. “There wasn’t a race between now and then and I didn’t want to wait that long, so we took a shot in here. I’ve always had confidence in this horse, so we gave him a try on the grass. Obviously, it worked out well. We’ll go back to the main track in the Hesse after this.”
“Luis told me that if this horse takes to the grass, he’ll give everything he has,” Fragoso said. “That’s exactly what happened today. We got soft early fractions and this horse gave it his all.”
In the second race of the day, Sir Winston established a new turf course record for five and a half furlongs on the hedge as he won the claiming event by a half-length.
The 4-year-old son of Dance Master, with Stewart Elliott aboard, carried 119 pounds over the distance in 1:01.91 to easily eclipse the old mark of 1:02.49 set in August of 2006 by Terrific Challenge.
Sir Winston’s record is for the exact distance of five and a half furlongs with no temporary rail in place. Terrific Challenge still holds the record for the “about” five and a half furlongs on the hedge with his 1:01 flat clocking in September of 2006.
Dance Hall Days takes Serena’s Song Stakes
Edward P. Evans’s Dance Hall Days split horses in late stretch to post a neck victory in Sunday’s $70,000 Serena’s Song Stakes.
Trained by Anthony Dutrow, Dance Hall Days covered the mile and 70 yards in 1:44 1/5 and returned $23.60, $13.40 and $7.40. Hartigan completed the $143.20 exacta and paid $7.40 and $3.20. It was another neck back to Awesome I Am, who paid $5.20 to show. Charming, the 6-5 choice, pulled up around the far turn after leading throughout.
“She didn’t break too sharp,” said winning jockey Jose Lezcano, “so I took her back off the pace and settled in behind horses. Turning for home, I started to ask her and she kicked in pretty well for me. She split horses gamely and dug in.”
The Serena’s Song win was the third in seven starts for Dance Hall Days, a 3- year-old filly by Seeking Daylight from the Capote mare Dance Move. She has now earned $120,300 for her owner.
In the $60,000 John McSorley Stakes, Rouse the Cat came home a three quarter length winner and stopped the timer in 1:01.75, besting the old track record of 1:01.91 set just one day prior by Sir Winston.
Trained by Ollie L. Figgins III, Rouse the Cat engaged the early pacesetter Southwestern Heat before putting away that rival inside the 1/8th pole to score the upset win. Rouse the Cat returned $40.20, $12.60 and $6.20 and topped a $147.20 exacta. Our Friend Harvey, the 2-1 favorite, returned $3 to place and $2.20 to show. Lord Robyn finished another length back in third and paid $4 to show.
“It was a really fast trip,” said winning rider Christopher Vanhassel. “I couldn’t believe how fast we were going. I had to lean on him real hard around the turn because we took it so sharply. I got the lead and before I knew we were at the wire already.”
Sunday’s score was the seventh in 13 starts for Rouse the Cat, a 4-year-old by Sir Cat from the Strike Gold mare Crouse Mill. He increased his lifetime earnings to $133,800.
Aug. 3 Charles Hesse Third Handicap to carry $100,000 purse
The top New Jersey-bred contest on the Haskell Day undercard on Sunday, August 3, will be the Charles Hesse Third Handicap, which has received a purse boost to $100,000.
Monmouth director of racing Mike Dempsey said that Marianne Hesse had contributed $40,000 to the purse of the race named for her late husband.
The mile and 70-yard race was slated to have a $60,000 purse.
“Charlie and Marianne Hesse have been great contributors to New Jersey’s racing program for more than 30 years,” Dempsey said, “and this is just the latest example of their generosity.”
The Hesses, who lived in Leonardo, raced as the Char-Mari Stable for 30 years, and Mrs. Hesse still races in the Char-Mari colors. She is also a partner in the Double H Stable with Mrs. Leon Hesse.
Mr. Hesse, whose father built the original Monmouth racing strip in 1946, passed away in 2006.