OCEANPORT, N.J. – I Want Revenge faces five rivals Saturday in the second start of his comeback, the Grade 3, $300,000 Phillip H. Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Now 4 and in the care of trainer Rick Dutrow, I Want Revenge returned July 3 to run third in the Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park. The Suburban was the culmination of a long road back. The morning-line favorite for the 2009 Kentucky Derby, I Want Revenge was scratched on the morning of the race with a leg injury. The subsequent surgery threatened to end his career.
Joe Bravo will be aboard Saturday, replacing regular rider Joe Talamo, who suffered a fractured wrist in a spill at Del Mar.
The remainder of the field for the 1 1/8-mile Iselin is Sir Whimsey, Our Edge, Duke of Mischief, Redding Colliery, and Salvator Mile winner Gone Astray.
Trainer David Fawkes gave Duke of Mischief a breather following two tough races in a tight time span. The Oaklawn Handicap winner ran eighth in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on June 12 at Churchill Down before heading to Monmouth for a second-place finish in the Salvator Mile on July 3.
Gone Astray, trained by Shug McGaughey, won the Salvator by five lengths. It was a paceless race, run in 50.11 seconds for the half-mile and 1:14.05 for the six furlongs.
“It was very strange,” Fawkes said. “Everything all day was speed, wire to wire. Earlier in the day, cheap horses were getting to the half in 47. I don’t know what happened to the track. It just went dead.”
Duke of Mischief had his final breeze Saturday, a half-mile in 48.40.
“Even though the track was deep, he still had a nice work,” Fawkes said. “I was real happy with him.”
Dubai Majesty’s next start undecided
Dubai Majesty flew through the lane Sunday, edging the Todd Pletcher-trained West Ocean by a neck in Monmouth’s Incredible Revenge Stakes for filly and mare turf sprinters.
“That turn of foot, the last eighth of a mile was incredible,” winning trainer Bret Calhoun said. “I never expected to be last down the backside and I wasn’t planning on being last turning for home. Todd’s filly is really impressive, and I thought we had a chance to beat her. I thought I would have first run, and she would have to catch me. I had no idea I would have to go get her.”
And get her she did, for Dubai Majesty’s 10 career win and third on the turf. A 5-year-old, Dubai Majesty has tackled some of the top distaff sprinters on dirt and synthetic tracks. She is stakes-placed in Grade 1 races, a testimony to her versatility.
“We haven’t had a lot of opportunities to sprint her on the grass because we’ve been chasing some graded races with her,” Calhoun said. “We’ve known for quite a while she has affinity for sprinting on the turf. We just didn’t have a chance to do it much.”
Now comes one of the more pleasant challenges: deciding where to go next following a winning effort.
One option is the $200,000 Turf Amazon at five furlongs on Sept. 25 at Philadelphia Park. Dubai Majesty missed by a neck in last year’s edition.
Another path under consideration is a pair of races on synthetics: the $400,000 Presque Isle Masters on Sept. 11 as a prep for the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes on Oct. 9 at Keeneland.
“For broodmare value, it would be better for her to be a Grade 2 winner,” said Calhoun who expects to make a decision in the next week.
