Ria Antonia Draws Rail in Monmouth Oaks

With a rich history equaled only by the classiness of its competitors, Saturday’s $100,000 Monmouth Oaks has once again come up a very tough event.  There are graded stakes winners, graded stakes placed runners and then there’s the “big horse,” last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Ria Antonia, who has drawn the fence for the mile and a sixteenth test.

“She arrived there this morning,” said trainer Tom Amoss.  “She shipped well and is doing great.

She’s had two tough races in a row and now she’s back on course.”

Those two races included a start against the boys in the Preakness Stakes on May 17, when she was up on the early pace, and the Iowa Oaks (G3) on June 28 over the Prairie Meadows slop where she closed while wide to finish second, just a length and a quarter behind fellow Monmouth Oaks starter Size.

From a career that has spanned 10 races, Ria Antonia has a record of 2-2-0 with nearly $1.3 million in earnings.  In her juvenile season, she broke her maiden against the boys at Woodbine before closing out 2013 with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, where she crossed the wire second, but was placed first following interference from She’s a Tiger in the stretch. 

Thus far in 2014 the daughter of Rockport Harbor sports a pair of runner-up finishes – the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) in April and the Iowa Oaks last out.

As for strategy in Saturday’s Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks, “She’ll be coming from off the pace,” Amoss said.  “That’s her style, she likes to lay back and come with her run.”

Jockey Jacob Radosevich has been named to ride Ria Antonia, who races in the colors of C. Dunn & Loooch Racing Stable, Inc.

Dating back to 1871, the Monmouth Oaks is the oldest Oaks run in North America.  Peppered through its running lines are 17 champions, five Hall of Fame members and prior to Saturday’s start by Ria Antonia, three Breeders’ Cup winners.

The Monmouth Oaks will go as race 11 on Saturday’s 12-race program, which gets underway at 12:50 p.m.