It’s no surprise when a Chad Brown-trained turf runner rallies furiously from off the pace to win. It’s been a key part of the formula for success for the five-time Eclipse Award winner.

But there are occasions when one of those rallies brings the wow factor and dazzles.

That was the case before a crowd of 13,586 on Sunday at Monmouth Park when Spaliday surged from last at the top of the stretch and exploded past her six rivals as if they were standing still on the way to a 2½-length victory in the $102,000 Miss Liberty Stakes.

The winning time for the mile and a sixteenth over a turf course listed as firm was 1:43.35.

“Her last race she was a little rank at the beginning so Chad talked to (jockey Samuel Marin) and just told him to get her to relax the best you can and she liked it,” said Luis Cabrera, who oversees Brown’s division at Monmouth Park. “She was in the back saving ground and then exploded. This is kind of the style that Chad trains and he gets results.”
Last for most of the race despite modest fractions of 1:13.09 for six furlongs and 1:37.35 for the mile, Spaliday rallied seven-wide coming out of the final turn and used an impressive late turn of foot to put away her rivals.

Owned by Peter M. Brant, the 4-year-old daughter of More Than Ready is now 2-for-2 over the Monmouth Park turf course, having won the Boiling Springs Stakes at the Jersey Shore track last July 13.

She had been racing in graded stakes company her previous four starts, having won the Grade 2 Sands Point on Oct. 12.

“Last time she won (in the Sands Point) I watched the replay and she did the same thing,” said Marin. “Once you ask her in the stretch she will give you everything. So that was my plan, to stay clear and to let her run when it was time. Every time I asked her she was ready for me. It’s incredible the way she handled it. She did this last time (when she won). She came flying at the end.”

With the win, Spaliday earned a free entry and start fees to the Grade 3 WinStar Matchmaker Stakes on the July 19 NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes undercard. Cabrera said Brown will decide where and when the Kentucky-bred makes her next start.

“She is going to back to Belmont tomorrow morning and then Chad will decide where he wants her to go next,” said Cabrera.

Sent off at 7-2, Spaliday paid $9.20 in notching her fourth win from 10 career starts. Loose leader and pacesetter Joyful Lass held for second, a half-length better than Mohawk Trail.

Mission of Joy, the 7-5 favorite, finished last.

Spaliday blew past her along with the rest of the field with her stretch run.

“It’s just incredible the way she runs,” said Marin, who is coming off the riding title at Tampa Bay Downs. “I was just trying to keep her relaxed early. Last time she ran she kind of ran off. This time she was in the clear. I didn’t want to keep her covered so she did something crazy.”

Marin and Brown later teamed up to win the seventh race, also at a mile and a sixteenth on the grass, with first-time starter Growth Trajectory.