Gimme a Nother storms past field in Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes

Gimme a Nother looked every bit the mare her record promised she could still be. Back from a layoff since September, the South African import swept past longshot Creative Stuff on the far turn and drew clear to win the Grade 3, $150,000 Eatontown Stakes by 3 3/4 lengths at Monmouth Park, finishing 1 1/16 miles on firm turf in 1:42.90.

Creative Stuff, sent off at 113-1 in the 55th running of the race, did the early work on the front end and carved out soft fractions of 25.24 seconds for the opening quarter and 50.42 for the half. Jorge Ruiz timed his move perfectly aboard Gimme a Nother, and once she was asked, the 6-year-old mare quickly separated from a six-horse field. It was her first North American graded-stakes victory, and another sign that the class she showed in South Africa, where she won all seven of her starts, has begun to reappear after a rocky transition. Gimme a Nother had already returned to the winner’s circle in the 2025 John C. Mabee Stakes (G2) at Del Mar before her layoff, and Equibase listed her at 13 starts, 9 wins and 3 seconds with $513,773 in career earnings.

If Gimme a Nother was the comeback story, Program Trading was the reminder that established quality can still matter when the conditions finally line up. The Chad Brown ridgling, ridden by Flavien Prat, snapped an eight-race, 25-month losing streak in the 18th running of the $125,000 Monmouth Stakes, winning the 1 1/8-mile turf race by two lengths as the 3-10 favorite. He ran without blinkers after one previous try in the equipment, tracked the pace in the clear, then ranged up outside on the backstretch and kicked away after a three-wide bid on the far turn.

Naptown and Eldest Son set the early pace before Sand Pipes took over midway through, but Program Trading always looked like the horse with the strongest finish once Prat asked him to go. The winner earned $78,750, and the performance suggested that his ceiling has not disappeared, only been harder to reach when the trips have gotten complicated.

Together, the two stakes wins gave Monmouth more than a polished Saturday card. With the meet framed as Haskell Preview Day ahead of NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes Day on July 18, Gimme a Nother and Program Trading both strengthened the summer stakes picture. One proved that a mare can rebound quickly enough to matter in the turf division again; the other showed that a proven horse can still reassert himself when the setup finally turns favorable.