Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association of New Jersey
Monmouth Park Press Release– There are several reasons that trainer Cal Lynch has decided to try Cairo Surprise against open company and on the turf during Saturday’s $100,000 My Frenchman Stakes at Monmouth Park.
For one, the Jersey-bred son of Cairo Prince has been dominant against state-breds lately, winning the John J. Reilly Handicap by 6¼ lengths in last start on June 7 after cruising to a 9¼-length win in a Jersey-bred allowance prior to that.
And the fact that the 5½-furlong My Frenchman is restricted to 3-year-olds made it too tempting not to try.
“He’s going against 3-year-olds, which I prefer at this stage, and in the one race we ran him on the turf he ran well. So this looked like a good spot for him,” said Lynch “He was a little green (in his only turf try) and maybe bumped the other horse. But he ran a really good race. He has trained on the turf and I actually feel he will be a better horse on the turf than he is on dirt.”
If not for being disqualified from first to second at Laurel on April 12 in his only turf try, Cairo Surprise would be 4-for-4 this year as he prepares to take on seven rivals in the My Frenchman.
Overall, he has done little wrong in his career, with four wins and four seconds from eight lifetime starts. Bred and owned by Hope Haskell Jones, the daughter of Armory L. Haskell, the former founding president and chairman of the board at Monmouth Park for whom the Haskell Stakes is named, Cairo Surprise has earned $181,600 during his career.
Julio Hernandez is listed to ride.
“He’s a good horse. He’s a very good Jersey-bred but he’s just a good horse,” said Lynch. “He’s won in Maryland and ran a good second in the South Mountain Stakes at Penn National as a baby. We gelded him after that race (his final start at 2) because he was a little green. That has helped him be where he is now.
“He has run against some good open horses. He’s just a good, useful horse.”
Lynch said he has always felt Cairo Surprise would take to the turf, a conviction he hopes to validate on Saturday.
“Last year as a baby we breezed him on the turf and I told (Hope Haskell Jones) afterwards that he’s a better horse on the turf. She said `yeah, yeah, yeah.’ I kept telling her he will be better on the turf,” said Lynch. “He’s a good horse on the dirt but he excels on the turf.
“That race at Laurel was the first chance I had to run him on the turf so I took it. It wasn’t a surprise that he ran as good as he did that day.”
For now, Cairo Surprise will keep sprinting, Lynch said, with all eight career starts at six furlongs or shorter.
Stretching him out is something that is a future consideration.
“We’ve been talking about going two turns with him at some point,” said Lynch. “As effective as he has been sprinting it’s a don’t fix it if ain’t broke kind of thing. I don’t think it’s a big stretch to ask him to go two turns at some point. But right now he has these options and this race, timing-wise, worked out right.”
The field for the My Frenchman Stakes from the rail out: Azizam, Rebel With a Cause, Capanaparo, My Boy Star, Beach Beamer, Big Destroyer, Chasing Freedom and Cairo Surprise.