Blinkers, a short field and being lone speed is all it took for Pandora’s Gift to end a two-year-plus drought – and for jockey Jose Gomez to win his first stakes race in 15 months.

Pandora’s Gift, trainer by Miguel Clement, broke sharply in the 5½-furlong Incredible Revenge Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park and basically gave none of the other five fillies or mares a chance in the $100,000 feature, winning by three lengths.

For the Irish-bred daughter of Churchill, an $850,000 yearling purchase, it marked her first win in the United States in 13 tries. The 5-year-old mare, owned by LSU Stables, last won at Chelmsford City in England on May 2, 2024.

The winning time over a firm turf course was 1:03.40.

“We put the blinkers back on her because two starts ago she had a good race at Aqueduct with blinkers,” said Christophe Loriuel, Clement’s assistant. “But we took them off (for her last start), and the other day we walked her back with blinkers and they seemed to make a bit more of a difference with her.

“So we decided to put them back on, especially running at Monmouth Park. We know it’s speed favoring and she has speed. The blinkers kept her focused.”

Sent off at 6-1, Pandora’s Gift had only hit the board once in her previous six starts.

“I don’t know otherwise what the difference was today,” said Loriuel. “She made the lead easily, and then turning for home, when she opened up two or three lengths, it was like `we look pretty good here.’ So I don’t know if it’s the racetrack, the jockey, or the change of scenery. I can’t say for sure but it worked out today.”

For Gomez, it was his first stakes win since the New York Stallion Stakes at Aqueduct aboard Storm Changer on April 13, 2024.

Mopo, the 6-5 favorite, was a late-running second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Obstreperous.

“I think the blinkers being back on made a big difference with her,” said Gomez, who rode her for the first time. “It might seem like a small change but for a horse like her it did the trick. I thought going in, with all of the scratches and looking at the pace on paper, that we would be the lone speed. So I wanted to get out of there relatively easy. I just wanted to break as good as I could and place her forward early.

“With an outside post position I didn’t want to rush. She just broke well and did it easily. I didn’t take hold of her too much. I had confidence in her because she had run in some very tough races, even though she hadn’t won in a while. I know she has talent.

“The way this track has been playing, going 5½ furlongs there’s not much time for game planning. You have to break well and she did.”

Obstreperous chased Pandora’s Gift most of the way but never offered a serious threat, eventually tiring late when Mopo passed her

Pandora’s Gift returned $15.80 to win.