Trainer Chad Brown pocketed a second graded stakes on Saturday when race favorite Sacred Life rallied strongly from off the pace and scored in the $162,000 Monmouth Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park.
With Manny Franco in the irons, Sacred Life settled in sixth position early in the 10-horse field, came four-wide into the stretch, grabbed a slim lead at the sixteenths pole from pacesetter Epic Bromance and Safe Conduct, then widened command and won going away by 1 ¼ lengths.
Campaigned by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael J. Caruso, Sacred Life was bred by Viktor Timoshenko and Andriy Milovanov. His dam is the Montjeu mare Knyazhna. He a graduate of the famed Hidden Brook Florida training center and is the second graded stakes winning Florida alum in the past week following Grade 1 Manhattan S. conqueror Tribhuvan. Sacred Life now has an 8-9-1 record from 26 lifetime starts and $823,768 in career earnings.
Sacred Life covered the 1 1/8 miles for 3-year-olds and older in 1:47.70 on firm turf for his first win from four starts this year and returned $4.20.
The 7-year-old French-bred son Siyouni came into to Saturday’s race off a runner-up finish in the Fort Marcy Stakes (G2) May 7 at Belmont and halted a four-race winless stretch since taking the Knickerbocker Stakes (G3) last October at Belmont.
“This horse can race almost anywhere and he has proven that,” said Brown’s assistant, Luis Cabrera. “We knew he liked this track (winning the Oceanport Stakes at Monmouth Park in 2020). He was in a perfect spot. There was pressure in front of him. Manny rode a nice race. I like the way he responded when he was asked. I think he will go even longer (the Grade 1 United Nations is 1 3/8 miles). But that’s Chad’s decision if he goes in the United Nations. He has a lot of options. So he will make the decision.”
“I was in the position I wanted to be in,” he said. “My horse was traveling so nice and comfortable. I didn’t want to give him too much to do. But when I asked him, the horse responded. He can go even longer if they want him to do that. He just floats. He broke good. I was able to get the position I wanted and he did the rest.”
-edited from www.paulickreport.com
