Paul Pompa Jr.’s WATCHMON (Maria’s Mon) broke alertly and closely tracked
Woodlander (Forestry) through slow fractions of :24 2/5, :47 1/5 and 1:11 before
being given his cue by jockey Javier Castellano on the far turn, and the
sophomore colt took command of Saturday’s $270,000
Jamaica H. (G3).
The race was forced off
the turf and reduced to a three-horse field over the sloppy Belmont track, but
that didn’t prevent Watchmon from steadily drawing off in upper stretch and
easily withstanding runner-up
Crown Point (Honor Grades) through the final furlong to win by 1 3/4 lengths.
Trained by Pat Reynolds, Watchmon was favored at 1-2 and paid $3.10 for the
win. Crown Point finished 11 lengths better than Woodlander. Silver Whistle
(Alphabet Soup), T. D. Vance (Rahy), Chestertown Slew (Seattle Slew), Jambalaya (Langfuhr),
Fishy Advice (Woodman) and Rebel Rebel (Ire) (Revoque) were all scratched. The
Jamaica was downgraded from Grade 2 status when taken off the turf.
Bred in Kentucky by Woodlynn Farms Inc., Watchmon was purchased for $165,000 at the
2003 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He’s the first registered foal out of multiple
stakes winner Watchfull (Notebook) and has an unraced two-year-old half-brother
named Ready More (More Than Ready), a yearling half-brother by Monarchos and a
weanling full sister. The gray colt recorded his first stakes win on Saturday
and has now earned $184,560 from a 10-4-2-1 line.