Ozara wins Miss Liberty Stakes in seasonal debut at Monmouth Park

Monmouth Park’s Saturday turf stakes card produced three winners, but only one changed the conversation beyond Oceanport in a meaningful way. Ozara, back for her seasonal debut, used the Miss Liberty Stakes to announce that her graded-stakes profile is still very much alive, while Neat finally snapped a long drought and Third Coast turned a third career start into a stakes breakthrough.

Ozara covered 1 1/16 miles on firm turf in 1:43.15 to win the $100,000 Miss Liberty by a half-length over Long Ago. Manny Franco asked for a late push after the 5-year-old settled behind moderate fractions of :24.71, :49.25, 1:14.30 and 1:37.40, and she delivered just enough to hold off Long Ago with Shotgun Wedding third. Cheyenne Stables LLC owns the Irish-bred daughter of Lope de Vega, trained by Miguel Clement, who had made getting her off to a good start a clear priority after a layoff that stretched back to November. Christophe Lorieul called her a little rusty but still full of class and grit, adding that she “runs well fresh” and that “there are many options for her ahead.” At this point, the Miss Liberty mattered as more than a seasonal opener: Ozara improved to 8-for-16 with $667,882 in earnings and claimed her sixth stakes win, the kind of record that keeps her in graded-company discussions later this summer.

Neat’s Cliff Hanger Stakes win was a different kind of statement. The Grade 2-winning son of Constitution had gone nine races and 21 months without reaching the winner’s circle, then surged up the rail under Reylu Gutierrez to edge Cosmic Year by a neck and return $21.80. Rob Atras trained the 7-for-19 gelding for Red White and Blue Racing LLC and CMNWLTH, and the victory pushed his bankroll to $999,110. The chart could not deliver fractional times because of a timer malfunction, but the result still carried weight: this was a class horse finding his form again, not a fluke. It was a reminder that older turf runners can still reset a campaign in one sharp effort.

Third Coast made the loudest noise among the younger set. In the Jersey Derby, the Thomas Proctor colt ran down a $100,000 one-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds in 1:36.18, beating Aces Honor by two lengths while 9-10 favorite King’s Remark settled for third. Jose Lezcano said the colt was turning into “a very nice and determined runner,” and the numbers backed that up: Third Coast is now 2-for-3 with $82,485 in earnings, racing for breeder Glen Hill Farm as a son of Uncle Mo out of Marketing Mix. The Jersey Derby drew 15 nominations, but the bigger question now is where the colt goes next.

Of the three, Ozara moved the national picture most. Neat revived a career, and Third Coast advertised upside, but Ozara’s return off the bench suggested a mare with graded-stakes relevance still in front of her.