Monrovia Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
SA- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Dirt
May 26, 2019

Last year, Drabfantasy pulled off a 1-2 finish in the Monrovia Stakes, as Balais Bruit and Smokin Nebulae crossed the wire in the top two positions. Here we are a year later, and the trainer is hoping that history repeats itself. Both of them are back, and they highlight an eight horse field in the 15th running of the Monrovia Stakes, a Grade 2 event for female turf sprinters. Six others in the field feel they have a better way for this race to end, and it looks like it will be an entertaining race. Here is our field!

#1- Lancashire Hotpot (Blazin D, ridden by K J Desormeaux)- This is a little bit of a move forward for a horse that has mainly run in ungraded stakes or Grade 3’s. She has nicely won seven of 16, but when you take away the attempts to run longer, it becomes an impressive seven of twelve. Defeated both of the Drabfantasy returnees back in January when she won the Grade 3 Las Cienegas Stakes right here. A consistent filly that will be a major player here.

#2- Needle (Gdp Inc, ridden by F Prat)- The six year old mare has been rather lightly raced, with just 13 races in that span, and that included taking all of 2017 off. When she returned from that layoff, she won five in a row, and had been winless prior. Now, she has been advanced in class, so the wins aren’t as frequent, and she is looking for her first stake win. Her closest result was also her only graded attempt, the Maddy Stakes here last November.

#3- Smokin Nebulae (Drabfantasy, ridden by R Bejarano)– When she ran second in the Monrovia last year, it was a rare sprint. She has mostly run long, having done so in 25 of 27 career starts. The other sprint was the Las Cienegas in January, where she was fourth and lost to the winning Lancashire Hotpot. After running in the BC last year, she has not hit the board in any of her three starts this year. She has had a couple brief slumps in her career, but has always worked out of it. That will have to be the case here, and perhaps a sprint is the key.

#4- The Squaw (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by G Franco)- The Cherokee Sunset filly comes into the race off a win in the $125.000 License Fee against three others and looks to establish momentum. She has been good with picking up some sort of check for the trainer, especially once she matured as a three year old. Does not always face the largest fields, so I am not sure how confident I want to be with that. Other then trying the Grade 1 Natalma as a two year old, this is her only graded attempt.

#5- Twinny (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by D Van Dyke)- Since being acquired in the September 2018 auction, Twinny has gone long on the turf in all but one of her starts. The one that was a sprint is the only race she has won in that stretch, going back to how the prior trainer mostly handled her. That was the SSM F/M Sprint right her, and I am looking for her to be powerful in the stretch, especially in looking at how she finished that race off.

#6- Balais Bruit (Drabfantasy, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- Last year’s Monrovia winner will be hoping that career start #37 will end the same way. Her form since last year has been better then her stablemate, and that includes winning the $85.000 Commission Handicap against three other NM breds. The more telling result was her second place finish to Lancashire Hotpot in the Las Cienegas in January, a race she closed well in and did nothing wrong. She’d be the first two time winner of the race, if she won.

#7- What It Was (Mb Stables, ridden by J Talamo)- From a horse that is making their 37th start to one just making their 4th. What It Was is the baby of the field, as the lone three year old advances to stake competition. So far, so good for the Laffin Brit filly, with two wins in three starts, including a good looking win in a WO allowance at the beginning of the month. Her weight allowance is three, less then what we’ll be seeing in other stakes this weekend, so I am not sure that’s going to be that big of a deal. Plenty of like with her, but may need a race at this level first. Has the jockey Balais Bruit won with last year.

#8- Bet Anything (Jokerjoes, ridden by V Espinoza)- Has some good, though inconsistent looking work times to her credit as she looks to make her 20th start. None of her five wins have come in any of the stakes that she has attempted, but I am more concerned with the fact that recent results in two optional claimers have seen her defeat only one horse, combined. Jumping to this off that is tough, but as she looks very inconsistent with her works, you never know if she will fire off the big race, too. At times in her career she has looked pretty good.

Prediction: 1-5-6-7

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES