The trio of Zero Rate
Policy, Flashpoint and Chipshot battled through quick fractions of :21 3/5 for
the quarter and :44 2/5 for the half mile before Peachtree Stable’s Flashpoint
assumed command and drew off in the lane to capture the $150,000 Jersey Shore
Stakes at Monmouth Park on Sunday by seven lengths.
A striking gray colt by
Pomeroy, Flashpoint stopped the timer in 1:08 3/5 for six furlongs over the
muddy main track. The winner returned
$3.60 and $3.20 and topped a $9.80 exacta.
C J Russell, who sat off the early pacesetters, rallied to pay $3.20 to
place. Chipshot finished third with Zero
Rate Policy checking in fourth and last in the field of 3-year-olds that
scratched down to a quartet.
“He broke sharp and was
moving comfortably,” said winning jockey Cornelio Velasquez, who has been
aboard in all five of the colt’s starts.
“He had a ton of horse the whole way and was loaded with run when I
called on him. He loves these distances,
six and seven furlongs. He’s great at
them.”
Trained by Wesley Ward, the
Grade 3 Jersey Shore was Flashpoint’s first start since running in the
Preakness Stakes on May 21. The $90,000
winner’s share of the purse boosted his lifetime bankroll to $255,200.
In the $75,000 Miss Liberty
Stakes, Romacaca gained the lead nearing the top of the strait and held off the
late charge of Champagnelifestyle to post a half-length win.
Romacaca stepped the mile
and a sixteenth over a turf course rated “soft” in 1:42 1/5 and paid $8.60,
$4.20 and $3.20. Champagnelifestyle
rounded out the $70.40 exacta and returned $6.40 and $3.80. It was nearly another length back to
post-time favorite Gypsy’s Warning, who paid $2.80 to show.
“The speed was going pretty
quick up front so I just tried to keep her relaxed,” said winning jockey Paco
Lopez. “As soon as we got a hole, she
was ready to run through and she did it so easily. After that, she just kept rolling.”
Trained by Nick Canani,
Romacaca has won her last four and now sports a lifetime mark of 11-4-2- from
22 starts. The 5-year-old mare by
Running Stag has earned $478,092.