How to bet the Cliff Hanger Stakes

The Saturday feature at Monmouth Park is the $100,000 Cliff Hanger S., a 1 1/16-mile contest to be run over the lawn. An especially well-matched field of nine will vie in what looks like an attractive betting event.

Cliff Hanger Plays

• $5 exacta key box: 5 with 3,4,7 ($30)
• $1 superfecta: 5 with 3,4,7 with 3,4,7 with all ($36)

#3 Laughing Boy (20-1) will lead the field early on and attempt to steal the race for conditioner David Jacobson. The Distorted Humor six-year-old has raced on the green just twice in his career, but he has some class to him and is interesting for the exotics at a big number on a course that plays kindly to speed.

I will go with #5 Dataman (3-1) as my leading selection for conditioner Graham Motion. The Tapit four-year-old had a nice sophomore season and kicked off this year with a solid victory in the Henry Clark S. at Laurel Park. The gray is a stalker in a field full of them, but he has shown versatility in the past, and I’m confident that Jorge Ruiz will give him a good voyage from start to finish. He should be a fair number close to his morning-line price at post time.

#7 Forever Souper (5-2) is arguably the most consistent one in the cast for Michael Trombetta. The dark bay son of American Pharoah was a solid third in the Henry Clark most recently in a good group and previously picked up a pair of stakes wins over Florida-bred runners in 2024. The five-year-old gelding dons a 4-2-0-1 mark on the local turf and will stalk the tempo from the start beneath Daniel Centeno.

Kelly Breen’s #4 He’spuregold (4-1) had a solid 2024 debut at Gulfstream and returns to his favorite surface where he shows an 8-5-1-1 career line. The Vancouver six-year-old put in a strong four-furlong morning breeze recently and could be sitting third just off of the pace to the top of the lane in this one. The bay might get the jump on the deeper closing types under Paco Lopez.