Gerrards Cross shot out of the starting gate and never looked back on her way to winning the $100,000 Colleen Stakes by two-and-a-half lengths at Monmouth Park July 27.
The two-year-old chestnut filly became the 80th Stakes winner for her sire, Midshipman, and the second Stakes winner for her sire at the current meet after his son, Surface to Air, took the G3 Monmouth Cup July 19. Gerrards Cross remains perfect in two starts; she broke her maiden by six lengths at Gulfstream Park June 25.
A field of eight juvenile fillies went to the post in the Colleen Stakes, contested over five furlongs on the turf. Gerrards Cross, who was overlooked by the bettors at odds of 13-1, appeared more like an odds-on favorite, breaking sharply out of the gate under jockey Sonny Leon and going right to the lead. She was never seriously threatened at any point, always maintaining a one to two-length lead throughout, eventually crossing the wire two-and-a-half lengths ahead of Slick Merlin.
Gerrards Cross was bred in Florida and races as a homebred for James M. Chicklo. She is out of the Stakes-winning Concerto mare, Spanish Concert, and is a half-sister to the multiple Stakes-placed Dream Concert.
Gerrards Cross is one of a trio of recent Stakes winners for her sire, Midshipman, joining Surface to Air and Kontiki, winner of the Tah Dah Stakes at Belterra Park July 18. In addition to that trio, Midshipman is the sire of Navy Seal, winner of the Nodouble Breeders’ Stakes at Oaklawn Park, three-time Stakes winner One Last Chance, and three Chilean G1 winners this year: Lucky Red (G1 El Derby), The Goat (G1 Dos Mil Guineas, G1 St. Leger), and Cassis Violeta (G1 Las Oaks).
