In the early hours of Friday
morning, a van carrying the horses of trainer John Mazza rolled through the
Monmouth Park stable gate, officially kicking off the training season for the
2012 season.
“It’s always great to be back
at Monmouth,” said Mazza, who’s been coming to the Oceanport racetrack since
1948. “I’ll have about a dozen horses
this season, a good mix of babies and proven runners.”
The first to set foot in the
stable area was Roron Stables’ Brightest Rainbow, who arrived with her stable
mates at 7:05 a.m. A 4-year-old grey
filly who’s been working steadily at Gulfstream
Park, Brightest Rainbow was bred in
the Garden State by her owner.
In addition to Brightest
Rainbow, the Mazza trainees include a highly regarded 2-year-old by City Zip out
of Veggie, who has produced four winners including multiple stakes victor
Carrots Only.
Other early arrivals on
Monday included horses from the barns of Skip Einhorn and Paul Kopaj.
As always, Monmouth’s stable
area will be at capacity as 1,600 horses will call the Oceanport backstretch
their home.
The Monmouth Park racing
season gets underway on Saturday, May 12.
The meet will once again be highlighted by the $1 million Haskell Invitational,
set for Sunday, July 29. Other graded
stakes highlights include the United Nations Stakes on July 7, the Iselin on Aug. 18, and the Molly Pitcher, being run for
the first time on Haskell Day.