Monmouth: Redistricting wins U.N.; Brown has big undercard

Redistricting continued a dominant day for trainer Chad Brown and jockey Flavien Prat, making a bold move in the homestretch en route to victory Saturday in the Grade 2, $600,000 United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park.

The 6-5 post-time favorite in the three-turn, 1 3/8-mile turf race for nine 3-year-olds and up, Redistricting traveled in third place most of the way before accelerating turning into the lane. It was Brown’s fourth win of the day and Prat’s third.

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A 5-year-old Kingman gelding bred in Great Britain and owned by Klaravich Stables, Redistricting won by 1 1/2 lengths. Grand Sonata finished second and pacesetter Major Dude third. The winning time was 2:13.75 on the firm turf after early fractions of 24.55, 49.42, 1:14.10 and 1:37.80.

“He showed that he really liked this turf course in his last start,” Brown’s assistant Luis Cabrera said, referring to a five-length win in the Monmouth Stakes on June 14. “He won very easily. Actually today he was pretty good, too. The trip was perfect. He likes to run in front, but if someone else goes, he can sit there off the pace. I think the key was the turf course. He really liked it. ... He’s bred for this distance.”

The victory was the sixth for Brown in the United Nations. Redistricting paid $4.60 to win.

Starting Over, an 8-year-old gelding, was pulled up by Umberto Rispoli in the final turn. The Monmouth Park veterinary team diagnosed him with a right-hind fetlock injury. He was stabilized, loaded onto an equine ambulance and taken to the stable area for further examination.

Randomized makes all in Molly Pitcher

Trained by Brown, Randomized carried Prat to a gate-to-wire victory Saturday in the $500,000 Molly Pitcher (G3).

The favorite by $5,498 in the $498,606 win pool, Randomized held a narrow lead over Dorth Vader and Candied through early fractions of 23.97, 47.25 and 1:10.98. All three carried 2-1 odds in the race for six fillies and mares, 3 and up, going 1 1/16 miles on the fast main track.

Candied dug in, Majestic Oops rallied, and Dorth Vader retreated while Randomized extended her lead through a mile in 1:36.15 en route to a three-length victory with a final time of 1:42.75. Majestic Oops finished second, Candied third and Dorth Vader fourth.

Randomized, a $420,000 Nyquist colt owned by Klaravich Stables, is a millionaire who had not won since the June 2024 running of the Ogden Phipps (G1). She finished fifth and lost by 28 lengths last month in the latest renewal of the Phipps, which was run in the Saratoga slop.

19-1 Surface to Air upsets Monmouth Cup

Surface to Air, an allowance winner who finished seventh in the 2024 running of this race, pulled off a 19-1 surprise by outdueling odds-on favorite Just a Touch by a half-length in the $400,000 Monmouth Cup (G3), a 1 1/8-mile test for 3-year-olds and up.

Just a Touch, who went off at 1-9, set the pace with fractions of 24.90, 49.55 and 1:13.25. Samuel Marín rode Surface to Air three wide through the second turn and took the lead into the homestretch. The 5-year-old Midshipman horse had a half-length lead over Just a Touch through a mile in 1:36.88 and dug in to hold that margin with a final time of 1:49.29 on the fast main track.

Owned by Premier Stable, Just a Touch is in the care of Peter Synnefias, 26, a third-generation trainer who is spending his second summer season at Monmouth Park. It was Synnefias’s first graded-stakes victory.

Brown wins again in Matchmaker

Brown won the $300,000 Matchmaker (G3) for the sixth year in a row and the seventh time in eight years when Segesta successfully stalked the pace before taking the lead in the stretch on the way to a neck victory over even-money favorite Sacred Wish.

Grayosh, also trained by Brown, came in third in the 1 1/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares, 3 and up.

Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Segesta won on firm footing with a time 1:49.17. She rated pedestrian early splits of 24.70, 50.09 and 1:13.91 before leading through a mile in 1:37.28.

It was the second graded-stakes triumph for Juddmonte homebred Segesta, a 4-year-old Ghostzapper filly. Since her first such win in the 2024 Wonder Again (G2) at Aqueduct, she finished second in last year’s Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1), fourth in the Modesty (G3) this spring off a 10-month break and sixth last month in the Just a Game (G1).