HORSES ARRIVE FOR 2011 MONMOUTH PARK MEET; OPENING DAY SET FOR MAY 14
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Carrying a trio of horses from the Gregg Sacco barn, the first van rolled through the Monmouth Park stable gate at 6:25 am, officially kicking off the training season for the 2011 meet.
“It’s good to be home,” said Sacco, a third generation horsemen who captured 20 races last season at Monmouth. “We’ll have a full barn again this year and hope to duplicate last year’s success.”
Among those returning to the Sacco barn in 2011 is Unbridled Essence, winner of last year’s Grade 3 Matchmaker Stakes on Haskell Day.
“I’m sure she’ll be glad to be back here,” Sacco said. “She just doesn’t like Florida, for whatever reason.
“We’ll have a good mix of horses this year – stakes runners, 2-year-olds, allowance horses. I’m just glad to be back and look forward to another great year at Monmouth.”
Other early arrivals on Monday included horses from the Henry Carroll barn as well as a string from the Chuck Spina camp.
As always, Monmouth’s stable area will be at capacity as 1,600 horses will call the Oceanport backstretch their home.
The 2011 racing season gets underway on Saturday, May 14. As always, the meet will be highlighted by the $1 million Haskell Invitational, set for Sunday, July 31. Other graded stakes highlights include the
United Nations Stakes on July 2, the Iselin on Aug. 20, and the Molly Pitcher on Aug. 28.
For more information, visit Monmouth Park online athttp://www.monmouthpark.com.