Delightful Joy looks sharp winning Monmouth Oaks

Delightful Joy finished with a sharp late run to win the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks on Sunday, defeating the 5-2 favorite Eskenformoney by 1 3/4 lengths. Delightful Joy, a Tapit filly trained by Chad Brown, now is 3 for 5 in her career. She raced farther back than usual in the 1 1/16-mile Oaks, which may have worked in her favor as Lady Serena – also trained by Brown – Light the City and High Dollar Woman raced three across the track early through fractions of 23.05 seconds and 46.91.

White Clover made a sharp move to the lead late on the backstretch and took control when High Dollar Woman could not stay with her. Eskenformoney, meanwhile, raced in traffic as she tried to work her way toward the leaders from between horses on the backstretch and far turn. White Clover held the lead into the stretch, with Tiger Ride challenging from the outside and Eskenformoney on the move up the rail. But it was Delightful Joy who finished fastest once she shook loose entering the stretch under jockey Paco Lopez.

Eskenformoney was second, a half-length in front of a game White Clover. Tiger Ride finished fourth, another length back. Delightful Joy came into the Monmouth Oaks off a first-level allowance win at Belmont Park. She paid $8.20 in the Oaks while being timed in 1:43.74 after six furlongs in 1:11.55 and a mile in 1:37.34 Peter Bradley, part of a partnership that owns Delight Joy, was clearly happy after the race. “It’s unbelievably important to win a stakes with a Tapit filly like her,” he said.