New Money Honey gets her chance on dirt in Alabama – finally!

Ever since the press conference following the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), when trainer Chad Brown floated the idea of New Money Honey trying dirt on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) trail, I’ve been waiting for her surface switch.

As it turned out, New Money Honey didn’t pursue the dirt option then, focusing instead on a turf campaign through the $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1). Fair enough for connections to stick with a winning formula, even though the Kentucky Oaks ended up being a more open affair after Unique Bella was sidelined.

But now, at long last, the time for the grand dirt experiment has come in Saturday’s Alabama (G1) at Saratoga.

New Money Honey strikes me as the type to excel on dirt, partly on a pedigree basis, but particularly in light of her running style. The pedigree angle is clear enough: by Medaglia d’Oro and out of a full sister to Any Given Saturday. New Money Honey is bred along the same lines as Medaglia d’Oro’s best fillies, Rachel Alexandra and Songbird, all produced by Forty Niner-line mares.

As far as the running style angle goes, New Money Honey is more of a tactical stalker who wins through superior positioning, not the typical deep-closing turfiste who slays them with a lethal burst of acceleration. She has a kick, to be sure, but one best deployed nearer the pace. In that respect, her ability should translate as effectively to dirt – at least in theory.

New Money Honey’s debut performance at Saratoga may be instructive. The 9-5 favorite in a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden, she was off a half-step slowly and patiently handled near the back. The eventual winner, La Coronel, was just a couple of lengths ahead of her, but displayed a potent rush around the far turn. New Money Honey couldn’t match it, and settled for a rallying second.

Of course, La Coronel was quite a rival to bump into first out, especially one who’d had a couple of races under her belt. But the point remains, since New Money Honey doesn’t usually race so far back. Her typical pattern ever since (note one telling exception below) has been taking up closer order, suggestive of cruising speed.

Brown pitched the maiden New Money Honey straight into the Miss Grillo (G3), where she broke alertly, took a snug hold a couple of lengths off the pace, and stayed on strongly:

 

With the Miss Grillo characterized by a slow pace on yielding turf, it wouldn’t be definitive. But her Breeders’ Cup trip was similar, despite coming in radically different conditions – a scorching pace on firm ground: