News & Barn notes

Simon Bar Sinister Back to Stakes Action in My Frenchman

July 20, 2017

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            Simon Bar Sinister makes his first appearance against stakes company in over a year when he faces 10 rivals in Saturday’s $60,000 My Frenchman Stakes going five and a half furlongs on the Monmouth Park turf.

            “He has been doing really well coming out of the previous race,” said trainer John Mazza. “It was good to get that race under him. He had to go a little wide, but he finished well.”

            The 6-year-old by War Front out of the Forestry mare Christmas Jones returned to the races for the first time in 2017 with a third place finish by a length and a half behind Pool Winner, who is graded stakes placed and won the My Frenchman last year.

            Simon Bar Sinister’s last stakes appearance came last season in the Wolf Hill Stakes where he finished fourth behind graded stakes winner Rainbow Heir.  

            Owned by Theres A Chance Stable, the gelding has worked once to get ready for Saturday. He ran a bullet on July 12 when he went four furlongs in :47 4/5, the fastest of the 21 horses that went the distance on the day.

            “He went that last work easy,” said Mazza. “He’s a horse you have to control because he just wants to go. You push the button on him and he takes off. The inside post doesn’t matter with him. He’ll be able to sit behind horses. This horse doesn’t get intimidated easily.”

            To grab the first stakes win of his career, Simon Bar Sinister will have to get by five stakes winners in this year’s My Frenchman field including Everything Lovely, for Kathleen Demasi, who took this year’s The Very One Stakes on the Preakness undercard and Amelia’s Wild Ride, out of the Jane Cibelli barn, who one last year’s Sunshine Millions Turf Sprint at Gulfstream Park.

            The My Frenchman will run as race 9 on Saturday’s 10-race card. Gates open at 11:30 with first post scheduled for 12:50 p.m.