Santa Monica Rolls To Victory in Sheepshead Bay

When a mare is trained by Chad Brown, it's easy to get overlooked in a shed row filled with so many stars and grade 1 stakes winners.

Yet the 6-year-old mare Santa Monica has been able to more than hold her own among so much equine talent.

R Unicorn Stable's daughter of Mastercraftsman turned in yet another solid effort when she recorded a 1 1/4-length victory in the Sheepshead Bay Stakes (G2T) for fillies and mares, the first of three graded stakes on the Kentucky Derby Day card at Belmont Park.

For Santa Monica, the triumph was her second graded stakes win a row and fourth victory in nine starts since arriving in the United States last year. Winner of the Dance Smartly Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine last year, she was coming off a victory in the Orchid Stakes (G3T) at Gulfstream Park March 29 and in those nine U.S. starts her only effort worse than a third was a 10th-place finish behind stablemate Sistercharlie in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T).

"I was impressed. She's been versatile and consistent," said Brown's assistant trainer Whit Beckman. "She's run on ground like this before and done fine, so we were fairly confident she'd run a good race and she did."

A 6-5 favorite, Santa Monica was fifth and last in the early stages following a half-mile in a dawdling :52.80 but then mounted a strong, wide rally on the final turn to reach the lead at the top of the stretch and cruised to victory over the soft turf under jockey Joe Bravo.

John M. B. O'Connor's Semper Sententiae made up some ground in the final furlong to grab second, five lengths ahead of Team Penney Racing's pacesetting Giant Zipper.

Stronach Stables' Holy Helena, the 5-2 second choice in the morning line, was scratched.

Final time for the 1 3/8 miles was 2:12.25.

"Class prevailed," Bravo said. "Chad Brown. What else do I have to say? I had so much horse, leaving the half-mile pole, it was my horse's race to win or lose. She had fun passing those horses."

The win was sixth in 31 career starts for Santa Monica, who has earned $543,024.

Bred by D. J. Erwin Bloodstock out of the Zamindar mare Zacchera, Santa Monica originally sold for $51,087 at the 2013 Tattersalls December Foals Sale. She then went for $202,558 at the 2014 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and $530,697 at the 2017 Tattersalls December Mares Sale. More recently she had an RNA of $675,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

The depth of Brown's stable was also on display in Saturday's other turf stakes as Olympico captured the $150,000 Fort Marcy (G3T) in his first U.S. start for the three-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer and owners Michael Dubb, Sol Kumin's Madaket Stables, Wonder Stable and Bethlehem Stables.

Eight and last after a slow start, Olympico closed with an impressive rush in the stretch under Kendrick Carmouche to draw clear and win by three lengths in 1:53.92 for the 1 1/8 miles.

The victory involved some déjà vu as a year ago Brown sent out Robert Bruce for a winning U.S. debut in the Fort Marcy en route to a campaign that included a victory in the Arlington Million (G1T).

Also, last year, Brown was looking for an allowance race to serve as the first U.S. start for A Raving Beautybut she wound up taking the Beaugay Stakes (G3T) for Dubb, Madaket and Bethlehem to kick off an American career that included a pair of grade 1 wins.

Olympico, an allowance winner in France, was scheduled to make his U.S. debut at Keeneland April 14 in an allowance race, but that plan was scrapped when it was washed off the turf course. Instead, a familiar path brought Dubb and Co. to a graded stakes win.

"It's déjà vu," Dubb said. "This time with a boy."

Actually, with a 4-year-old gelding, as Olympico surely looked like another promising European purchase for Brown.

"He was picked out in Europe by Hubert Guy," Dubb said about the private purchase. "We have the right people in Europe picking them out for us. The right trainer in America in Chad. As owners, we just put up the money and go along for the ride."

Peter and Eloise Canzone Sr.'s Dr. Edgar was second and Three Diamond Farm's Callum Road third.

Robert Bruce, in his 2019 debut, led in mid-stretch but faded to fifth as the 3-5 favorite.

Olympico was an overlooked 18-1 in the wagering and paid $39.20 to win in running his record to five wins in 20 starts with earnings of $222,374.

A son of Rajsaman, Olympico is out of the Highest Honor mare Carmel. He was sold for $21,950 at the 2016 Arqana Deauville October Yearling Sale.

In the $200,000 Westchester Stakes (G3), Nicodemus collared the front-running Stan the Man in the final jumps to win by a neck.

Stan the Man cruised along on a clear lead on the backstretch with Nicodemus third, but Nicodemus moved up alongside the frontrunner in the stretch and outdueled him to the wire. 

Owned by Everything's Cricket Racing and Lawrence Goichman and trained by Linda Rice, Nicodemus posted his first graded stakes win after finishing fourth in the Excelsior Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack April 6 in his last start. He was ridden by Mike Luzzi.

Bred by WinStar Farm in Kentucky, the 4-year-old son of Candy Ride  out of the Tiger Ridge mare Leah's Secret now has three wins in seven starts with earnings of $218,400. He was RNA'd for $270,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Summer Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale.

Long Lake Stable's Stan the Man finished 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Dennis Drazin's Sunny Ridge in third.

Final time for the one-turn mile on a sloppy track was 1:35.07.

Racing resumed a day after New York Racing Association officials cancelled the card after four races May 3 due to an unexpectedly heavy rain storm dropped a half-inch of rain on the track during an 18-minute period. The main track had been harrowed prior to that instead of sealed because of forecasts that called for a passing shower with no more than .02 inches of rain.

"Once we decided to cancel racing out of a concern for the safety of the horses and jockeys our track maintenance team began working on the track throughout the night and had it in good shape for training in the morning and racing in the afternoon," said NYRA spokesperson Pat McKenna.