Betting Saturday's Card at Monmouth Park

 The following "best bets" for Saturday's race card at Monmouth Park are reposted via permission from ScoresandStats.com

Saturday’s “Best Bets” for a Trio of Graded Stakes Races at Monmouth Park

Monmouth Park in New Jersey is best known as the host track for the annual Grade 1 Haskell Stakes later in July. This Saturday, the coastal New Jersey horse racing venue has caught my eye with a trio of interesting betting events on the daily card.

All three of these races are Grade 3 stakes events and each one has $150,000 up for grabs in total prize money. The Eatontown Stakes is a turf race open to fillies and mares three and older. It will be contested over a distance of 1 1/16 miles.

The Salvator Mile will be run on the dirt track at Monmouth. This graded event is open to Thoroughbreds three and older. As the featured event of the day, the Monmouth Stakes covers 1 1/8 miles on the turf. This race is also open to three-year old Thoroughbreds and older.

Breaking down the probable field for each of Saturday’s races, I have come up with my winning pick along with ‘one to watch’ in each projected field.

Saturday, June 18 – Monmouth Park

Eatontown Stakes

My top choice to win this race would be Princess Grace. This five-year old Kentucky-bred mare has been able to finish in the money in each of her last seven races. Idle for 2022, trainer Michael Stidham has hand-picked this race for her season debut. Still listed as probable for Saturday, she would have the highest Horse Racing Nation rating in the projected field at 6.55.

Trainer Shug McGaughey’s Vigilantes Way would be my one to watch coming off a second-place finish in this year’s Miss Liberty Stakes at Monmouth Park on May 30. This was the five-year old mare’s sixth finish in the money in her last seven races.

Salvator Mile Stakes

The race is expected to feature Hot Rod Charlie as my favorite in the projected field. Trained by Doug O’Neill, the son of Oxbow placed second in this year’s Grade 1 Dubai World Cup in late March after opening his 2022 racing season with a victory in the Al Maktoum Challenge at that same track on Feb. 4. Saturday’s race would act as a warm-up prep for the upcoming summer racing schedule, including the Haskell Stakes in late July.

My one to watch would be trainer Todd Pletcher’s Mind Control if he runs in this race. The son of Stay Thirty faded to fifth in this year’s Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes his last time out.

Monmouth Stakes

Trainer Danny Gargan is expected to enter Tax in Saturday’s featured event. If the six-year old gelding gets the green light to run, he would be my clear favorite to win. This would be his first event in 2022 after placing 10^th in last year’s Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup. The long layoff would be a concern but this veteran horse appears to be the class of this field. The son of Arch still holds a lofty 6.67 HRN rating despite the long layoff.

If trainer Gerald Bennett decides to run Carpenters Call in Saturday’s race, he would definitely be my one to watch. This four-year old Kentucky-bred colt only managed a sixth-place finish at Monmouth in the ungraded Cliff Hanger Stakes in late May but that was an off day at the track.