Weekend Warrior: Monmouth opener

Opening weekend for Monmouth Park's experimental 2010 meeting was a huge success. Attendance was up, and handle more than doubled.

Let us repeat the formula for horsemen or racing executives who were not paying attention: less race dates, higher purses, bigger and better fields, lower minimum wager increments, and lower takeout = the future of horse racing.

I did my part my part to support the concept by heading up to Keeneland to play Monmouth Saturday and Sunday. Other than Haskell day and the 2007 Breeders' Cup, I never previously have gone out of my way to bet on the New Jersey track.

I love the new 50-cent pick 5 wager Monmouth is offering (only 15% takeout). The bet produced a carryover of $123,029 into Sunday's card. My $54 stab hit three of five...

Horses Of Note

Repole Stables' Winaholic broke his maiden going a mile and 70 yards in the seventh race at Monmouth on Saturday in his second career start. The speed figure may not be too fast, but Winaholic was checked on the first turn and backstretch, and he was in traffic for much of the race. He launched a four-wide move turning for home and won by 2 1/4 lengths despite a few green moments. He is a candidate to improve with added distance and seasoning.

Speaking of seasoning, I thought Cash Is King Stable's Afleet Again was best in the Spend a Buck Stakes despite finishing third by 3/4 of a length on Sunday at Monmouth. The gray Afleet Alex colt was fractious in the gate, four wide on the first turn, and five wide on the second turn. He ducked out as the field turned for home and lost several lengths to the leaders, and he and jockey Abel Mariano still nearly won the race.

Afleet Again was not even the most impressive performer of the weekend from second-crop sire Afleet Alex. That honor goes to Gainesway Farm and Martin L. Cherry's Afleet Express, who won a NW1 allowance at Belmont on Saturday by 7 lengths. Afleet Express' time for seven furlongs was 1:21.72, and he was assigned a eye-catching Beyer Speed figure of 107. Let's see how he reacts to that huge effort in his next start.

On Friday I sent in my vote for the 2010 Racing Hall of Fame inductees, and one of my two YES votes went to 1989 champion sprinter Safely Kept (my other YES vote went to Horse of the Year and three-time champion older mare Azeri).

On Sunday at Belmont, Safely Kept's three-year-old colt Safety Check (by Empire Maker) looked grand while winning a maiden race by seven lengths. Owned by Richard Santulli, Safety Check set fleet fractions of :22.73, :45.61, and 1:09.90. His final time for seven furlongs was 1:22.99, about four lengths quicker than 13-length maiden winner Flawless ran a couple races earlier.