Grade 3 Winner Fondly Targeting Monmouth Oaks

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Madaket Stable's Fondly proved her talent on the graded level June 14 with a dominant three-length victory in the Delaware Oaks (G3) at Delaware Park. Plans call for the lightly raced 3-year-old daughter of Upstart to take at least one more start at that level before returning to grade 1 company. Having not entered the July 19 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, Eclipse's president and founder, Aron Wellman, stated on the July 14 episode of the BH Monday podcast that the Graham Motion-trained filly is targeting a start in the $250,000 Monmouth Oaks (G3) July 26 at Monmouth Park. "We're resisting the temptation to go back into the deep end of the pool and run her in the CCA Oaks," Wellman said. "We're going to stay in a little bit more of a realistic zone and run her (in the Monmouth Oaks)." Bred in Kentucky by Brereton Jones, Fondly was a $50,000 find by Eclipse's vice president of bloodstock, Sean Tugel, at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale. She has opened her career 3-for-4 with two stakes victories and $339,200 in earnings. "(Tugel) bird-dogged this filly for 50-grand at Fasig-Tipton October," Wellman said. "I gave him the green light to go on with it, and to see where she is now is a remarkable achievement for Sean; one that needs to be acknowledged." The lone blemish on her record came in the May 2 Kentucky Oaks (G1), which Wellman called an ambitious placement off just two career starts. The skies opened, and rain quickly turned the Churchill Downs track to mud. The sealed track was officially labeled wet fast, but was not to Fondly's liking as she raced mid-pack and faded to finish 11th. Her gate-to-wire effort next out in the Delaware Oaks suggested she had bounced right back to her upward-pointing career path. "Didn't think she got the best of it in the Kentucky Oaks on a really tricky surface that day," Wellman said. "We got a deluge right before the Oaks, and she wanted no part of it. Thrilled to see her come back and rebound in the Delaware Oaks the way she did and put forth that type of effort." Should she repeat that effort on the Jersey Shore, it's likely the filly will take that step back up in class in a race such as the $600,000 Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Aug.16 or the $1 million Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing Sept. 20. "If she delivers like we hope she will, then we can consider races like the Alabama or Cotillion," Wellman said. "We think she's a filly with a grade 1 with her name on it."