McSorley Repeat for General Perfect?

This year’s edition of the $65,000 John McSorley Stakes drew a field of 10 older horses to go five and a half furlongs on turf, including General Perfect, winner of the 2010 McSorley.

The General, owned by Pasquale Vizzoni and trained by Glenn Thompson, is an 8-year-old now, and a repeat in the stakes will be a challenging task. Last year, the New Jersey-bred son of General Tree sprang a mild upset as he went wire-to-wire at 11-1.

“Well, he’s lost some speed,” Thompson said. “You can’t rush him off his feet to make the lead now. So instead of trying to make the lead, the rider will have to conserve him for the finish.”

General Perfect has made two starts this year, running seventh in a stakes at Atlantic City, and then a rallying fourth in an allowance race here May 28.

“I thought he ran well that day,” Thompson said.  “He dropped back too far, and then had too much to do in the stretch, but he only got beat three lengths.”

Rajiv Maragh, on hand from New York to ride Voodoo Swinge in the Monmouth Stakes, will be aboard General Perfect for the first time.

Trainer Tim Hills also sends out a New Jersey-bred in Iracane & Calvo’s Triple E, a 6-yerar-old son of Storm Boot who ran two good races in tough claiming races at Gulfstream this winter.

Triple E, who won a sprint on the Monmouth turf last summer, took a Florida start in January, and then was second in a similar sprint in March.

“He had a good winter, but we decided to give him a break after that race in March,” Hills said. “We wanted him to be fresh for Monmouth.

“He excels on the turf, and this looked like a good spot for him,” the trainer said.

Paco Lopez, who was aboard in Triple E’s turf wins here and in Florida, is back aboard on Sunday.