Purple Egg hatches first win at Monmouth

Last updated: 8/24/12 4:28 PM

Purple Egg was a “cracking” success at Monmouth Park

(Equi-Photo)

It wasn’t easy getting Purple Egg into the starting gate, but the
two-year-old proved on Thursday at Monmouth Park that he was worth the wait and
the trouble.

Conditioned by leading trainer Jane Cibelli, the Kentucky-bred son of Lion
Heart captured the

3RD race, a $40,000 maiden special weight, by 4 3/4 five lengths. In doing
so, he overcame a speed duel in which the first spilt was run in :21 4/5, took
complete control in the turn and then shifted to another gear to draw off
through the lane under Paco Lopez. It was a very impressive effort for the first
time starter, who finished the five-furlongs contest in :58 3/5.

“I’m getting quite a few phone calls and texts from those showing interest in
buying him,” Cibelli said while savoring the victory on Friday morning. “He’s
got quite a following.”

Owned by the Goodwood Racing II partnership, Purple Egg had been a bad actor.
Twice before he was led to the starting gate, and twice he had to be scratched.

“The first time he went right up in the air and ran off,” Cibelli explained.
“The next time I walked out there with him and even though he’d been schooled
with the pony in the mornings, he acted like he wanted to kill him. It was
horrible. He had both front feet over the pony and knocked the pony girl off.
That kind of behavior only gets worse, so unfortunately, we had to geld him.”

That made all of the difference and it showed in his first start since the
surgery.

“His race was very exciting. He always had a lot of potential,” Cibelli said.
“The first time I laid eyes on him on the track I liked the way he moved. I
thought ‘My goodness, he’s got a stride’. You can see that he takes one stride
for everyone else’s two.”

Sven Johnson, a member of the Goodwood Racing partnership, had the
opportunity to choose the dark bay colt’s unusual name.

“My wife, Sara Sawti, was pregnant when we were trying to think of one,” he
said. “She was wearing a purple sweater at the time and looked like an egg, so
there you have it.”

When Cibelli was told, her first reaction was, “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding
me. But Sven said that the best horse in the world (at that time) was Black
Caviar and those are eggs, so why not?”

Johnson, who lives in Singapore with his Nepalese wife, was on hand for
Purple Egg’s debut and was ecstatic in the winner’s circle afterward.

“I have horses racing in Singapore, New Zealand and now Monmouth. I used to
cut school to come to the races here so standing right here with this horse is
fantastic.”

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