Monmouth Park Barn Notes - August 22

A solid field of eight fillies and mares will contest this Saturday’s Omnibus Stakes at Monmouth Park, among them the Kentucky shipper Rare Event, who goes for trainer Vicki Oliver in the $60,000 event.

“She’ll arrive later today,” said Oliver from her Kentucky headquarters.  “She’s a very nice filly and we’re looking to get some black-type this Saturday.”

Rare Event, a 4-year-old daughter of A.P. Indy from the Stravinsky mare Our Rite of Spring, comes into the Omnibus off an allowance score at Indiana Downs on July 16, where she drew away late to win by a length and a half at a flat mile on turf.

“She runs well fresh, so I’m not concerned about the layoff at all,” Oliver said.  “She’s breezed well since that race and is coming into this nicely.”

Rare Event and her seven rivals will travel a mile and three-eighths over the Monmouth turf, a distance the trainer believes should prove no problem.

“She should handle it well,” Oliver said.  “She went a mile and three-eighths in a turf stakes at Churchill (May 18) and ran okay.  It was real hot that day and she overheated a little.”

With four victories from 10 starts, Rare Event is one of the more accomplished runners in Saturday’s Omnibus Stakes.  Three of her wins have come on turf with lifetime earnings of $111,531 to her owners St. George Racing and G. Watts Humphrey Jr.

The Omnibus will go as race 11 on Saturday’s 12-race card.

PICK 5 ($23,208), JERSEY SHORE SIX ($4,498) CARRYOVERS AT MONMOUTH FRIDAY

With a string of longshots peppering the Sunday card at Monmouth Park, Friday’s racing program will feature a pair of carryovers - $23,208 be added to the Pick 5 and $4,498 for a lone winning ticket in the Jersey Shore Six.

Friday’s Pick 5, which is set for races six through 10, is a 50-cent base wager with a takeout rate of just 15 percent.

The Jersey Shore Six, which is based on the popular Rainbow Six at Gulfstream, has a 10-cent base wager.  To win the jackpot, a ticket must have the winner of the last six races on the card and be the only one to have done so.  If more than one person has a winning ticket, they split 60% of the net pool with 40% going to the carryover.

PARX TOPS MONMOUTH RIDERS IN CHARITY SOFTBALL GAME

Jockeys from Parx Racetrack, just outside of Philadelphia, topped the team representing Monmouth Park in a charity softball game held on Tuesday, Aug. 20 at Wolf Hill in Oceanport, N.J.  With head coaches Victor Molina and Josiah Hampshire Jr. guiding the Parx riding colony, the Monmouth Park team and coach Joe Bravo were bested by a final score of 19 to 16.

“It was a hard-fought game,” said Bravo, a 13-time leading jockey at Monmouth.  “The important thing was that everyone had a good time.  We had a good crowd for a good cause.”

All donations from the softball game went to the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund (PDJF).

Despite the loss, Monmouth jockey Armando Ayuso was named MVP.

MONMOUTH MALL SIDEWALK SALE ON-TRACK THIS SATURDAY

Monmouth Mall, located just two miles from Monmouth Park Racetrack, will host a sidewalk sale on the first floor of the Grandstand this Saturday.

Accompanied by a Gymboree fashion show, the sidewalk sale will run from 12 to 5 p.m. on Saturday with vendors set up across the first floor of the main building.  The fashion show is slated to begin just after the conclusion of race 4 on the card – approximately 2:15 p.m.

Gates open Saturday at 11:00 a.m., with first post set for 12:50 p.m.