Salty grass veterans await Brown in Jersey

Though his last two races fail to qualify as things of beauty Big Brown has just about locked up the 3-year-old title with his four Grade 1 victories this year. He will be thoroughly tested Saturday when he meets older horses for the first time in the inaugural running of the $500,000 Monmouth Stakes.

A field of 11 was entered for the mile and an eighth turf test, which goes as the ninth event on a 10-race program with a probable post time of 4:48 p.m. The Monmouth Stakes will be televised on TVG, with the special program starting at 4:30 p.m.

Big Brown, who will be racing on grass for the first time since he broke his maiden at Saratoga last year, goes from Post 4 with regular rider Kent Desormeaux in the irons. He was installed the 2-1 morning line favorite by Monmouth handicapper Brad Thomas.

The colt by Boundary has been favored in every start except his first, winning the Florida Derby, Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Haskell Invitational as the choice. He was 3-10 in the Belmont Stakes when he was pulled up, suffering his only career loss.

Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. says he is using the Monmouth Stakes as Big Brown’s primary prep for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, to be run over the synthetic track at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.

IEAH Stables acquired a 75 percent interest in Big Brown after the colt broke his maiden last September, with original owner Paul Pompa Jr. retaining a share. Other partners in the ownership of Big Brown are Gary Tolchin, Andrew Cohen and the Pegasus Holdings Group.

But the fact that Big Brown has won six of seven starts and has already proven he likes the grass, did not shorten the size of the field. In a demonstration of “who’s afraid of Big Brown?” thinking, a solid field was gathered to take on the youngster.

The older horses entered are a salty bunch, with back class to spare. Many are graded stakes winners, and most have been successful at a mile and an eighth on the turf.

Shadwell Stable’s Shakis is seen as the main threat to Big Brown. The 8-year-old Irish-bred, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, won the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga last out, and will be the 7-2 second choice on the morning line.

A multiple graded stakes winner, Shakis has a lifetime record of 7-4-4 in 31 starts on the grass, and has won three of 13 at a mile and an eighth. Joe Bravo, who has won 13 riding titles at Monmouth, has the mount for the first time.

Third favorite on the morning line at 4-1 is Gary Tanaka’s Proudinsky, a German-bred son of Silvano trained by Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel. The 5-year-old won a Grade 2 stakes on turf at Fair Grounds in March, but had some foot problems and finished 11th in the Grade 1 Manhattan in June. Last out, he finished sixth behind Shakis in the Baruch, but was beaten less than two lengths after encountering traffic trouble. Ramon Dominguez has the mount.

Peter Vegso’s Silver Tree, who owns a sterling 14-10-4 record in 39 starts on the grass, has already shown he can handle Monmouth’s turf course. The 8-year-old, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, won the Grade 3 Oceanport Stakes here last out. Eddie Castro will ride Silver Tree, who is fourth choice on the line at 6-1 despite his outside (11) post.

The others entered, from the rail out, are Kirk Sheehan’s Nightscape, Emilio Flores, 30-1; Main Street Stable’s Hotstufanthensome, Jose Lezcano, 12-1; Amy Tarrant’s Kiss the Kid, Elvis Trujillo, 10-1; Dogwood Stable’s Drum Major, Kendrick Carmouche, 8-1; James Dinan & Jacques Moore’s Get Serious, Pablo Fragoso, 15-1; Salvatore Racing Stable’s Fagedaboudit Sal, Pedro Cotto Jr., 30-1, and Mac Fehsenfeld’s Ballonenostrikes, Daniel Centeno, 20-1.

There are five Monmouth-based horses entered, with Kiss the Kid and Hotstufanthensome the most prominent.

Kiss the Kid, trained by Tarrant, has won on both turf and dirt at Monmouth, and last out was third behind Honest Man and Grasshopper in the Grade 3 Iselin Stakes.

Hotstufanthensome, an 8-year-old trained by Terri Pompay, has a record of 6-5-1 in 14 starts on the Monmouth grass, and was beaten just a neck and a head when third to Silver Tree in the Oceanport Stakes. Last out, he dropped back to a mile in the Grade 3 Red Bank and finished sixth.

Get Serious, Fagedaboudit Sal and Ballonenostrikes have all won on the Monmouth grass.

Pat McBurney trains Get Serious, a 4-year-old son of City Zip who has taken his last two on grass here, both allowance races.

Ballonenostrikes, trained by Dennis Manning, is winless this year, but has been in the money in 10 of 16 career trips on the Monmouth grass.

Fagedaboudit Sal made a memorable turf debut for trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. in the Bob Harding Stakes here on July 12, when he went wire-to-wire to beat Kiss the Kid as the longest shot on the board at 39-1. The New Jersey-bred finished seventh in the Red Bank last out.

Drum Major, a 6-year-old trained by George Weaver, finished third behind Shakis in the 2007 running of the Baruch, and then was out for a year. He returned in this season’s running of the Baruch and was seventh behind Shakis.

Nightscape, trained by Charles DeMario, ships in from Delaware. His last victory came at Penn National in August when he beat $25,000 claimers. -- MONMOUTH PARK