Valedictorian Looks to Defend Eatontown Title

In a turf race that features two horses sired in Ireland, one in Great Britain, three from Chad Brown's powerhouse stable, and one trained by Todd Pletcher, Kelly Breen will take his best shot with his classy Jersey-bred Valedictorian.

Monmouth Park's leading trainer says it's what she does and has always done—take on top-notch grass distaffers almost every time she races.

With Breen's hope that she may be the lone speed, Valedictorian will look to get back on track in the Aug. 29 $150,000 Eatontown Stakes (G3T), the feature on Monmouth's 14-race card. She won the race a year ago, one of 12 career victories that have helped her to $737,115 in earnings.

"I think it's pretty neat having a Jersey-bred to run against all these good mares," Breen said. "But if she happened to be running as good as she has in the past and she was from Oshkosh, I'd still be proud of her."

Breen will look to get the 6-year-old daughter of Temple City  jump-started after an 0-for-5 start to her 2020 campaign. Three of those starts have come in graded stakes, including the Just A Game Stakes (G1T) June 27 at Belmont Park. 

In her most recent start, the July 18 WinStar Matchmaker Stakes (G3T) at Monmouth, she faded to sixth after setting the pace for a good portion of the nine-furlong grass feature. The Eatontown is 1 1/16 miles. 

"There were no easy spots to bring her back this year," said Breen, who is looking for his third Monmouth Park training title after topping the track's standings in 2005 and 2006. "There were just no spots out there to maybe get her an easy win. So she keeps going up against the best of the best.

"Yes, it's been frustrating, but she is still running and her numbers are still good and she's doing well. She looks great. It's just been a lot of tough spots.

"We'll see what happens with the weather, but I think we could be the speed of the race. Everything about this race will be helpful to her—the mile and a sixteenth, being back on her home track, which she loves, the chance she could be the speed. All of it. And she is doing well."

Owned by Epic Racing, Valedictorian is 12-6-6 from 35 starts. She has won four of her six starts on Monmouth's turf course. If the weather has an impact on the race, Breen said it won't affect his mare.

"She ran well on a soft, yielding turf course, and if she comes off, she has run well in the mud," Breen said. "She can do it all."

The Eatontown looks to be another tough spot, with the Brown-trained Nay Lady Nay back after winning the Matchmaker. Owned by First Row Partners and Hidden Brook, the daughter of No Nay Never will leave post 7 under Paco Lopez. William Lawrence and Bradley Thoroughbreds' Tapit Today, also trained by Brown, was fourth in that same race, beaten just 1 3/4 lengths. The Tapit mare will leave post 4 under Antonio Gallardo.

Brown's third starter will be Madaket Stables, Sienna Farm, Michale Dubb, and Bethlehem Stables' Noor Sahara, who will be making her third start in the United States after racing in France.

Trainer Todd Pletcher will be represented by Valiance, who is 2-for-2 on Monmouth Park's turf course and 4-for-4 at 1 1/16 miles  during her six-race career.

A field of eight is entered, as well as two main-track-only alternates.

Entries: Eatontown S. (G3T)

Monmouth Park, Saturday, August 29, 2020, Race 5

• Grade IIIT
• 1 1/16m
• Turf
• $150,000
• 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 2:29 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1La Australiana (KY)	Romero Ramsay Maragh	122	Juan Carlos Avila	12/1
2	2Repatriated Gem (GB)	UNKNOWN	118	Michael Stidham	15/1
3	3Noor Sahara (IRE)	Joe Bravo	118	Chad C. Brown	3/1
4	4Tapit Today (KY)	Antonio A. Gallardo	118	Chad C. Brown	4/1
5	5Madita (GER)	Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr.	118	Arnaud Delacour	8/1
6	6Valiance (KY)	Nik Juarez	118	Todd A. Pletcher	6/1
7	7Nay Lady Nay (IRE)	Paco Lopez	124	Chad C. Brown	2/1
8	8Valedictorian (NJ)	UNKNOWN	118	Kelly J. Breen	5/1
9	9Gotham Gala (KY)	UNKNOWN	118	Arnaud Delacour	9/2
10	10Super Tigress (KY)	Christopher P. DeCarlo	118	Chuck Spina	10/1