“I tried to get her in the best position I could on the outside. “She broke better this time,” said Castillo. Castillo followed that move with Leader of the Band. Wholebodemeister was done after six furlongs, with Beth’s Dream – trying two turns for the first time - surging to the front midway through the final turn. She’s sharp.”Ĭastillo had Leader of the Band in the race early, stalking in fourth on the outside through an opening quarter in :23.62 and half in :48.36, with speedster Wholebodemeister setting those fractions, but being pressed by Beth’s Dream as she did so. I told Isaac not to worry too much about the break because she will put herself in the race.
It’s slippery out there, but she has run well in the slop. “(Jockey) Isaac Castillo said she came out of the gate fine, but she lost her footing a little bit. “She broke a little better this time, not great, but a little better,” said Servis. Servis was able to get a wedge to use in the starting gate to prevent her from repeating her starting gate behavior. Leader of the Band has a tendency to lean back at the start, almost sitting down, and broke last in that race. Leader of the Band made amends for her last start, a fourth place finish in the Serena’s Song Stakes at Monmouth Park on May 8 one of only two times she has failed to hit the board in her 13-race career (the Grade 1 Cotillion was the other).īut that performance had an excuse. That’s why we have kept her here at Monmouth, to point for that race.” “I’m tickled with this performance,” said Servis.
The winning spoils included free entry and starting fees to the Molly Pitcher Stakes. The winning time for the mile-and-a-sixteenth was 1:45.87. Leader of the Band, who won last year’s Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks, had no issues with the sloppy and sealed track. Leader of the Band was able to grind away just enough in the stretch to collar favorite Beth’s Dream in the final 50 feet before poking a head in front to win the $100,000 Lady’s Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park on June 11, according to a press release.