Informative Upsets Highly Motivated in Iselin
Image:
Description:
Photo: Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO
Informative wins the Philip H. Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park
Just call trainer Uriah St. Lewis the upset king of Monmouth Park.
A little more than a year after Informative shocked the field by winning the 2021 Salvator Mile Stakes (G3) at odds of 79-1, the 5-year-old son of Bodemeister did it again, surging past even-money favorite Highly Motivated to score a 1 1/2-length victory in the Aug. 20 Philip H. Iselin Stakes (G3) at Monmouth.
Informative had plenty of room to run being five-wide most of the early-going, just outside of Highly Motivated, as the field bunched up through early fractions of :24.07, :47.47 to the half and 1:11.12 for six furlongs.
The second-longest price in the field of six at odds of 14-1, Informative raced wide for most of the mile and a sixteenth before grinding away and passing Highly Motivated at the sixteenth pole. It marked Informative's first win since the stunning Salvator Mile upset, and was the first graded stakes win of jockey Dexter Haddock's career.
Trainer Uriah St. Lewis (right) walks to the winner's circle with jockey Dexter Haddock and Informative
The winning time was 1:44.22, with Informative returning $30.80 to win on a $2 win ticket. Promise Keeper , trained by Todd Pletcher, finished third, 1 3/4 lengths behind Highly Motivated.
In his last start in the July 23 Monmouth Cup Stakes (G3), Informative was third, beaten four lengths by the Chad Brown-trained Highly Motivated.
"He loves Monmouth Park," St. Lewis said. "He has been running against some real tough competition. He came out of the (grade 1) Met Mile two races ago. Those were some real tough horses. Look at the company he has been keeping and you see why he hadn't won in a while.
"The difference to me this time is that we carried 118 pounds and Highly Motivated was carrying 124. That's a big difference. Weight can stop a freight train."
In addition to the $150,000 winner's share, owner Trin-Brook Stables also received $15,000 toward the entry fees to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile as part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen Series.
The victory for Informative was his fifth in 35 career starts.
"His last race he was stuck inside with nowhere to go. Highly Motivated got away from us that time," St. Lewis said. "I told Dexter Haddock to keep him wide and keep him out of trouble and ride him like he was the best, which he did. The Salvator Mile was a bigger surprise to me. This race we knew what we were coming into and what kind of horse we had."
Informative was bred in Kentucky by Rose Hill Farm and John Trumbulovic and was sold to Trin-Brook Stables for $25,000 as a 2-year-old at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale from the Brick City Thoroughbreds consignment. He is out of the Hard Spun mare Lucky Black, the dam of two winners from two foals to race and hails from the family of grade 1 winners Roman Ruler and El Corredor .