Monarchs Glen flies in Schuster Memorial

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Wednesday, July 7, 2021) — Monarchs Glen and Umberto Rispoli scored the third win of the day on the turf for the Mike Maker barn in the 12th running of the Jonathan Schuster Memorial Stakes Wednesday, July 7 at Indiana Grand. The Listed stakes was one of six on the Indiana Derby card, which featured purses in excess of $1 million.

Starting from post 10 in the 11-horse lineup, Monarchs Glen got away next to last and was content to follow along as Joyful Heart and Orlando Mojica led the way. Strong Tide, the Indiana bred from the Mike Lauer barn ridden by Marcelino Pedroza, was sitting to his outside in second tracking the progress of the tempo.

Around the final turn, the field began to bunch up in the one and one-sixteenth mile event with Monarchs Glen moving up into the pack of horses. Rispoli angled the Frankel gelding to the outside and once he found a spot to advance, he was gone. The seven-year-old hit another gear and caught the front runners, moving on for the win by one-half length over Hemp Hemp Hurray and Sonny Leon, who was the widest of all in the stretch drive. Split the Wickets and Florent Geroux saved ground along the inside to move into third.

The Italian born Rispoli, who spent time on the Hong Kong circuit before relocating to the United States a few years ago, was making his first start in Indiana. It didn’t take long for him to find the winner’s circle with three wins on the card.

“The trip (with Monarchs Glen) was amazing,” said Rispoli. “There was some speed up front. I saw he was a horse capable of coming from nowhere. My only concern was around the turn to save some ground and to put him in the clear at the top of the stretch. He’s such a big horse. He deserves to use that big long stride. And that’s what happened. It was a little bit not pretty straight down the lane, but once I put my whip from my left to my right, he just kept going again. I wasn’t able to pull him up until the three-eighths pole.”

Monarchs Glen paid $9.80 for the win. He was bred by Juddmonte Farms of Great Britain and is owned by Michael M. Hui and William Simon’s WSS Racing. The stakes win was his fourth of his career but his first in the United States. The Great Britain-bred gelding increased his career bankroll to more than $370,000 as his eighth career win in his 29th career start.

Photos by Coady Photography