Fourstar Crook Continues Turf Win Streak

With New York-breds featured Memorial Day at Belmont Park, Fourstar Crook, sent off at odds of 6-5, added a seventh victory to her win streak in the $125,000 Mount Vernon Stakes, one of two stakes run over the yielding turf May 29.

Trained by Chad Brown, the daughter of Freud   has not lost since breaking her maiden in October 2015 at Belmont in her fourth start. The Mount Vernon was Fourstar Crook's 5-year-old debut and her first race in eight months.

A field of eight fillies and mares contested one mile in Monday's Mount Vernon. Freudie Anne held the lead through the stretch, with steady fractions of :24.14, :48.81, and 1:13.08 for the first three-quarters of a mile.

Stablemate Ack Naughty took the lead in the last furlong, while Fourstar Crook, ridden by Javier Castellano, unleashed a rally from seventh to pass the leaders with a sixteeth-mile to the wire and went on to win by 3/4 lengths in a final time of 1:37.33.

"She handled the ground so well," Castellano said. "I was patient because you never know with soft ground. I could have been more involved (early), but I backed up and let the pressure off. She's a special filly, I love the way she always (moves). If the turf is firm or soft, you can put her wherever you want, she'll always kick."

The mare, owned by Michael Dubb, Bethleham Stables, and Gary Aisquith, ended 2016 with wins against state-bred company in the Yaddo Stakes at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 26 and the John Hettinger Stakes at Belmont Sept. 25.

"She's an impressive horse," Brown said. "Now she has seven wins in a row on turf and that's hard to do. She's obviously very consistent and we're proud of her. She's wintered well. We gave her some time off and she put a lot of weight on and she had a great year last year, flawless. Even this year I saw another step forward physically. She's a stronger horse."

Bred by Kathleen M. Feron, Fourstar Crook is out of the D'Accord mare Avril a Portugal and now has a record of 7-1-0 from 10 starts for earnings of $349,050.

Later in the day, males 3 and up ran over yielding turf in the $125,000 Kingston Stakes for New York-breds, where favored Offering Plan showed quick turn of foot to give Brown his third win of the day. The trainer also took the Critical Eye Stakes over the main track with Kathryn the Wise.

Offering Plan was also making his season debut in the Kingston. The 5-year-old son of Spring At Last, placed second in the Ashley T. Cole Stakes for state-breds at Belmont in September.

King Kreesa set a moderate pace throughout the one-mile Kingston and only lost the lead when the winner ran past him in the final sixteenth of a mile to score by a length in a final time of 1:37.4. King Kreesa held for second, while Lubash got up for third over Kharafa.