Hi All,

Happy Mother’s Day as we are excited with two races going back- to - back this afternoon at Monmouth Park. Trainer Kelly Breen will look to build on his two wins yesterday on Opening Day (see picture attached above and article about his plans for the Monmouth Meet at the end of this update.  In addition, we have scheduled our first 2026 Owner for a Day Event for Saturday June 13th which is Haskell Preview Day at Monmouth Park.  Please let us know if you are interested in spending the day with us including morning training,  a visit to the backside barns to meet and feed our horses and viewing the excellent race card from a beautiful Winner’s Circle Terrace Suite.  This event fills up quickly so if you are interested please let us know and we will send you the details.

She’s a Gamer is entered in Race 6 a 6-furlong sprint on the dirt with a post of 3:24 pm at Monmouth Park (see pp’s above and details below).  Paco Lopez will be in the irons in a short field of six to build off his 3 wins yesterday.  Scott’s pre-race comments are below and good luck to all Group 99 ARC 26 members and Trainer-Partner Kelly Breen.

SHE'S A GAMER is ready to go, as she'll step up in class against open Allowance company, sprinting 6f on the main track in Race 6; Post Time set for 3:24 PM this afternoon. She comes in off a short break after her blowout win at Tampa Bay Downs two weeks ago, but she has settled in nicely at Monmouth Park and has been acting like she is ready go again! It's a tough, short field of six horses and no early scratches, with She's a Gamer and Paco Lopez drawing mid pack, in Post Position #4 as the 5-2 second choice on the Morning Line. The favorite, #1-Layered for Chad Brown, is coming in off some lackluster efforts in her last few races, after winning easily on debut at Monmouth Park last year, before a close 4th Place finish in a Stakes sprint to close out the Monmouth Meet last year. She'll get back to the surface she has won over and seems to clearly prefer sprinting. She has had early speed before, and we expect her to be forwardly placed from the inside post position. #3-Tickin Time Blonde is a Kentucky shipper who likely prefers the turf but has some modest success over the dirt surface in past races. Her trainer shipped in with one yesterday on the Opening Day card that was a runaway winner, so she will be one to look for coming from off-the-pace. She's A Gamer will need to step up here and is coming off a lifetime best performance last out. Fingers crossed she can keep that momentum going, as we look to kick off the 2026 Monmouth Park Meet in style! Good luck today! 

 

She's a Gamer is entered on May 10, 2026 at MONMOUTH PARK.

Full Entries for Race

Race: 6 - 3:24 PM        Win, Place and Show Exacta, 50-Cent Trifecta and 10-Cent Superfecta Daily Double (Races 6-7)/$3.00 Late Pick 3 (Races 6-7-8)

ALLOWANCE OPTIONAL CLAIMING $20,000

Purse: $ 52,500. (plus Up To 40% Njb) For Fillies And Mares Three Years Old And Upward Which Have Never Won $20,000 Once Other Than Maiden, Claiming, Starter, Or State Bred Allowance Or Which Have Never Won Two Races Or Claiming Price $20,000. Three Year Olds, 120 Lbs.;Older, 124 lbs. Non-winners Of A Race Since April 11 Allowed 2 lbs. A Race Since March 12 Allowed 3 lbs. Claiming Price $20,000 (Maiden Claiming or Races Where Entered for $14,000 or Less Not Considered in Allowances). Six Furlongs.

PP

Horse

A/S

Med

Claim $

Jockey

Wgt

Trainer

4

She's a Gamer

4/F

L

$ 0

Paco Lopez

124

Kelly J. Breen

 

Red Head Italian will be in the second leg of a possible Kenwood Daily Double in race 7 with post of 3:56 pm (see pp’s above and details below).  Luis Rivera Jr. will ride in this 5 ½ furlong Jersey Bred Allowance with a full field of ten.  She will break from post 10 with the intent to get out and save ground on the front end. Good luck to all Group 91 Members and Partner RJR Racing.

It's NJ BRED race day for RED HEAD ITALIAN, as she'll face off against a full field of 10 in the NJ Bred Allowance sprint on the main track this afternoon in Race 7; Post Time set for 3:56 PM! RHI gets jockey Luis Rivera Jr. back in the saddle, and while it's a definite step up in class from where she has been running, there is no standout in this race on speed figures. If RHI can run back to her lifetime best figures, which she has run multiple times, she will have a shot against this field.  She gets a slight cutback in distance to 5.5f, which should only help, and we'll rely on a clear break from the outside Post Position #10, to clear the field and battle for the lead early. There is some other speed to her inside, with many of the horses coming off the longer layoff since last Fall, and the speed of the speed looks to be #4-Slick Merlin and #1- Cassie's Vault. RHI will need to run her best today, but she will have a shot in the finish if she can do that, and we're excited to have her running out of her own stall today at Monmouth Park. Good luck to all group members and our Partner, RJR Racing!  Let's get lucky

   

Red Head Italian is entered on May 10, 2026 at MONMOUTH PARK.

Full Entries for Race

Race: 7 - 3:56 PM        Win, Place and Show Exacta, 50-Cent Trifecta and 10-Cent Superfecta $5.00 Late Daily Double (Races 7-8)

ALLOWANCE

Purse: $ 65,625. (Includes $13,125 - NJB - New Jersey Bred Enhancement)For Registered New Jersey Breds Fillies And Mares Three Years Old And Upward Which Have Never Won One New Jersey Restricted Race(s) Other Than Maiden, Claiming, Or Starter Or Which Have Never Won Two Races. Three Year Olds, 120 Lbs.; Older, 124 Lbs. Non-winners Of A Race Since April 11 Allowed 2 lbs. A Race Since March 12 Allowed 3 lbs. (Races Where Entered For $10,000 Or Less Not Considered In Allowances). Five And One Half Furlongs.

 

PP

Horse

A/S

Med

Jockey

Wgt

Trainer

10

Red Head Italian

5/M

L

Luis R. Rivera, Jr.

121

Kelly J. Breen

Speed Figures is being targeted for the Get Serious Stakes a 5f turf sprint on June 21st at Monmouth Park but since it is a long way off we are hoping something comes up for him before the end of May on the overnights

One Time Willard is being pointed to the NJ Bred John J Reilly Handicap a 6 furlong race on the dirt scheduled for June 7th and the Irish War Cry Handicap on July 4th where he finished a tough second to He’spure gold last summer. Here are his workout details from this morning

One Time Willard (7-Year-Old Gelding)

Date: May 10, 2026
Track: MONMOUTH PARK
Distance: Four Furlongs
Time: 49:60 Breezing
Track Condition: Fast
Surface: Dirt training
Rank: 21/51
 

Cadet Corps entered has been doing great in the mornings at Monmouth Park and has been nominated for the Cliff Hanger Stakes on Saturday May 23rd however he will only run if the race comes off the turf due to weather.  We will be looking for alternate races for him in the coming weeks.  Here are his workout details from this morning.

Cadet Corps (7-Year-Old Gelding)

Date: May 10, 2026
Track: MONMOUTH PARK
Distance: Four Furlongs
Time: 49:60 Breezing
Track Condition: Fast
Surface: Dirt training
Rank: 21/51
 

Adversary is well and has a possible entry at Delaware Park on May 20th unless something comes up for him on the overnights to stay and race at Monmouth Park. Here are his workout details from this morning

Adversary (4-Year-Old Gelding)

Date: May 10, 2026
Track: MONMOUTH PARK
Distance: Four Furlongs
Time: 49:60 Breezing
Track Condition: Fast
Surface: Dirt training
Rank: 21/51
 

Foggy Note is fine after her scary stumble out of the gate last Saturday afternoon and has been on the track and preparing for her next start.

 

   

 

 

 

Lisa’s Palace has been reported to be in foal and if all continues to go well will ship into Sunset Meadow Farm in NJ in the coming weeks.

 

VETERAN TRAINER KELLY BREEN LOOKING FOR A FAST START

AS MONMOUTH PARK LAUNCHES 81ST SEASON ON SATUIRDAY

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Kelly Breen is no longer chasing training titles with the gusto he once did but that doesn’t mean his competitive fire has dimmed.

The 56-year-old Breen will embark on his 35th season at Monmouth Park with three horses entered on Saturday’s eight-race opening card, and he does so with the anticipation of a fast start and a summer of steady success, as has been the case the past few years.

Breen won training titles at Monmouth Park in 2005, 2006 and 2020.

“We’ve held our own recently at Monmouth Park. I assume we’ll do the same this year,” he said. “If things go well I think we’ll be in the hunt and that’s always fun. But I’m not sure if we have enough horses to be the leading trainer.”

Breen, who has 45 horses currently bedded down on the Monmouth Park backstretch – with several more arriving from farms shortly, he said – is looking for immediate success from the outset of Monmouth Park’s 81st season with Duck Duck Goose in the first race of the meet. He has also entered Clean Winner in the fourth race and Royal Performance in the seventh race.

First race post time for Saturdays and Sundays during the 50-day meet is 12:50 p.m. When Fridays are added to the schedule starting on June 26 first race post time will be 2 p.m. those days.

“One of the things I’m optimistic about is that we have a good variety of horses,” said Breen. “Everyone always wants better quality. That will never change. But I feel like we have a little bit of everything. We have some lower-end claimers, middle claimers, allowance horses and a stakes horse or two.

“We have some nice babies coming in too. You’re always optimistic about the babies.”

Breen comes off a winter in Florida where he said “we held our own.” He won with seven of 59 starters at Gulfstream Park and was 4-for-19 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Overall, Breen has 1,127 career wins, the most notable being Ruler On Ice’s victory in the 2011 Belmont Stakes.

Training titles, though, are a thing of the past for him – maybe.

“I don’t focus on that anymore,” he said. “The problem with trying for a training title is that you’re trying to run your horses in the best spots and a lot of times you don’t have a choice because the races don’t fill. And if you have a nice one you might want to send him or her somewhere else for a stakes races and that can cost you a win at Monmouth Park.”

A year ago, Jorge Delgado edged out Chad Brown for the training title by a single victory on the final weekend of the season.

For Breen, who won 14 races at Monmouth Park a year ago, the only major change from his title years is his health. It’s almost three years since he had neck fusion ceremony that caused him to wear a heavy neck brace and walk with a cane for nearly two years.

“The first year after surgery, not being able to go to sales, not seeing people, hurt my business,” said Breen, who started as an exercise rider at Monmouth Park for then-leading trainer Walter Reese in 1986. “Right now I’m feeling the best I have in a while. I feel as if I’m back. I’m doing much better.

“I don’t know if I will ever be 100 percent again but I can still do most things around the barn. I can be more involved again even though I can’t do everything around the barn any more. I’m delegating more responsibility. It’s not easy for a person who is used to doing it all.”

Winning, though, makes everything easier.

“I feel I’m still as competitive as I’ve ever been,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get the right races to go at Monmouth Park this season. We’ve got enough of a smorgasbord of horses – colts, fillies, long, short, dirt, grass – to have a chance for some success.”