Picture: Beach Bomb (Image: Wayne Marks)
The former Candice Bass-Robinson-trained Drakenstein Stud-homebred Lancaster Bomber filly Beach Bomb is all set to make her debut at Monmouth Park in New Jersey, USA, on Saturday
Marcus Hersh of the DRF website previewed the race, the Violet Stakes over a mile and 1/16th on turf.
Brown, Motion square off in Violet Stakes
Marcus Hersh (DRF.com Aug 29, 2024)
It’s Brown versus Motion on Saturday in filly-and-mare turf routes in Kentucky and New Jersey.
Mission of Joy and Sparkle Blue for Graham Motion take on Chad Brown-trained Fluffy Socks in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf, and in the $100,000 Violet at Monmouth Park, Motion sends out Beach Bomb, while Brown has Maman Joon.
Seven went into the 1 1/16-mile Violet, a patchwork group that on paper should be dominated by the Motion and Brown fillies.
Beach Bomb brings a rare résumé into the Violet, her first start since being exported from her native South Africa, where she won a pair of Group 1 races, including the Cartier Paddock Stakes on Jan. 6. The Cartier Paddock, contested at 1 1/8 miles, is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, and the filly’s connections have designs on the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
Beach Bomb, by the late Lancaster Bomber, an Aidan O’Brien-trained horse twice second in Breeders’ Cup races, was among 11 South African horses shipped to America this past spring. She spent two months in quarantine before arriving at Motion’s training base, Fair Hill in Maryland, where she posted her first breeze June 27.
“It’s been a pretty straightforward path, and she hasn’t done much wrong, but we did have to start from scratch with her,” Motion said.
Motion said he considered Beach Bomb for the 1 1/4-mile E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine, a race at a distance more suitable to Beach Bomb’s talents. But the vast, sweeping turns at Woodbine don’t at all resemble the course at Del Mar, which hosts this year’s Breeder’s Cup.
“I think a mile and a sixteenth is sharp for her, but this is something more comparable to what she’d do at Del Mar,” Motion said.
Maman Joon drops a notch or two in class from the Grade 3 Matchmaker, where she finished fifth after taking surprising betting action, going off at 7-2. A French import, Maman Joon has come around nicely this year for Brown, but the filly has absolutely no early speed and is pace dependent. She got none in the Matchmaker, a race run at a crawl, and while Maman Joon finished fast she could make no ground on the horses who got a jump on her.
There’s more pace in the Violet, with Damaso and Cecile likely to take up forward positions. In the end, this should come down to Brown or Motion.
