Cobra Farm’s BRUNILDA (Arg) (Mutakddim) made the best of a sealed sloppy
track at Monmouth Park on Saturday to emerge victorious in the $150,000
Eatontown H.
Originally slated for the turf, the Eatontown was transferred to the main track,
losing its Grade 3 status pending review by the North American Graded Stakes
Committee.
The six-year-old winner rated off the pace as Wrapped Up in You (Tale of the
Cat) rattled off early fractions of :23 4/5 and :47 2/5. The leader eventually
relinquished that advantage to Rahys’ Appeal (Rahy), who had been waiting in the wings in
second and completed six furlongs in a deliberate 1:12. Brunilda and jockey
Eddie Castro slipped out from Rahys’ Appeal’s shadow in midstretch and
finished determinedly to win by three parts of a length, completing 1 1/16 miles
in 1:44.
“I was disappointed it came off the turf,” trainer Stanley Hough said. “But
she won a couple of races on the dirt before — one in Argentina, one at
Churchill Downs. She was already at Monmouth, and there was nowhere else to run
her.
“She’s been training great and really needed to run,” he added. “She
certainly has gotten better with age. She’s better now than ever.”
Sent off at 3-1, the chestnut mare returned $8.20, $4.20 and $2.80 while
keying the $48.20 exacta. Rahys’ Appeal managed to keep her head up at the
wire to take second over 3-1 favorite Prop Me Up (Reparations), paying $4.80 and
$3.20 at nearly 7-2. Show was worth $2.80 and the $1 trifecta gave back $76.70.
Defending champion Smart N Classy (Smart Strike) finished out the $154.90 superfecta ($1)
(8-6-5-3), and was followed by Wrapped Up in You and Career Oriented (Cat’s
Career).
Thetactics Ofdance (Tactical Advantage), Humoristic (Sefapiano), Dream Lady
(Old Trieste) and Pommes Frites (Dynaformer) were all withdrawn.
Brunilda adds this to three other stakes wins, including the Politely S.
prior to this one, and has also placed in the Honey Fox H. (G3) and Beaugay H. (G3) this season. The chestnut mare’s line now reads 29-9-4-5 and she’s earned
$377,883. Bred in Argentina by La Quebrada, Brunilda is out of the multiple
Group 2-winning La Valkiria (Logical), who also produced Group 1 victress
Venusberg (Arg) (Southern Halo), herself the dam of current stakes-placed
three-year-old Noble Deeds (Old
Trieste), and Group 3-placed Parsifal (Southern Halo).