Sibling rivals square off in Spruce Fir

The $75,000 Spruce Fir Handicap for New Jerseybred fillies and mares highlights the 12-race holiday card on Saturday at Monmouth Park. Liz’s Cable Girl is looking to get back in the winner’s circle for the first time since she won the six-furlong Spruce Fir last year – and her chief foe is her half-sister Diamond Play.

Diamond Play, a 7-yearold E Dubai mare, and Liz’s Cable Girl, a 6-year-old Cable Boy mare, are both out of the Belong to Me mare Forbidden Isle, who went winless in three starts while racing as a homebred for Colonial Farms. Colonial bred both Liz’s Cable Girl and Diamond Play, who are the two highweights for this race. Liz’s Cable Girl, with Paco Lopez in the irons, has been assigned 122 pounds, giving from a pound to six pounds to the other seven entrants in the race. Nik Juarez has the call on Diamond Play, who carries 121 pounds.

Liz’s Cable Girl won the 2019 edition of the Spruce Fir by a half-length, with Crazy Daisy, also back for the 2020 renewal, a wellbeaten third. That was the third stakes victory for Liz’s Cable Girl, who also won the 2018 Eleven North Handicap at Monmouth and Roamin Rachel Stakes at Parx. Although Liz’s Cable Girl was second in the 2019 Eleven North, she is winless in six starts since the Spruce Fir.

Liz’s Cable Girl’s three most recent outings have come for new connections, as Elliott Logan’s TEC Racing purchased her for $60,000 at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale from the partnership of John Cocce, Lisbeth Dodd, Peter Donnelly, and Gerard Melley. Transferred from Patrick McBurney – who trained her dam, Forbidden Isle – to Tom Amoss, Liz’s Cable Girl wintered at Oaklawn Park, where she finished off the board in three optional-claiming races.

Diamond Play is trained by Anthony Margotta Jr. for Carol Luchento and Kyle Wells. Diamond Play was third in the 2018 Jersey Girl Handicap at Monmouth, and was second in last year’s renewal of that race. After winning a starteroptional claiming race in December at Gulfstream Park, Diamond Play has made one start this year, finishing ninth in the South Beach Stakes in January on the Gulfstream turf.

Colonial also bred a third entrant in this field in Boomerang Miss, a 7-yearold Silver Train mare out of the Crafty Friend mare Crafty Coed. Boomerang Miss, who races for M3 Racing Stable, is the only member of this field with a win in 2020, having taken an allowance-optional event in January at Turf Paradise for trainer Michael Moore.