By Stefanie Grimm
Saratoga Maidens, presented by Keeneland
First-time starter Pay Monthly (Golden Pal) got the best of several more experienced rivals Friday in the Saratoga opener, becoming the 19th winner for her freshman sire (by Uncle Mo).
Sent up to stalk the pace set by Quartz Mountain (Golden Pal) in this 5 1/2 furlong turf sprint, the 7-1 shot sat right off that rival's flank into the far turn as the top pair separated themselves from the rest of the field by a widening margin.
Head and head turning for home with no one making up any discernable ground from the back, Pay Monthly steadily got the better of her rival to the inside and began to draw away nicely in the final sixteenth, leading in Quartz Mountain who won the photo for second over Breaker (Into Mischief).
7-5 race favorite Rockabye (Flightline) was fourth.
“We like her and she's fast,” trainer Brad Cox told Saratoga Live's Maggie Wolfendale after the race. “[She] broke well today and [winning rider] Luis [Saez] put her in a good position. Thanks to Valor Farm [owner Douglas Scharbauer] for sending her to us. They selected her last year as a yearling at Keeneland and she's been very precocious since she came to us in the spring. I do think the grass is what she wants to do. We'd never worked her on it but she showed up well today.”
Bred in Kentucky by the partnership of Emcee Stable LLC, Fortune Farm & Purple H Bloodstock, Pay Monthly twice passed through the Keeneland Sales ring, first as a weanling for $200,000 and then last September as mentioned for $350,000 to Douglas Scharbauer.
First dam Monthly, a winner on the grass in her own racing career, is a daughter of 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Funfair, making her a half-sister to MGSW and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint hero Four Wheel Drive (American Pharoah).
Sold through the Fasig-Tipton Digital platform in Dec. 2024, Monthly has two winners from four to race with a yearling Gunite colt and a weanling Jackie's Warrior filly both still to represent her. She was served by Taiba for 2027.
1st-Saratoga, $115,000, Msw, 8-28, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:02.74, fm, 3 1/2 lengths.
PAY MONTHLY (f, 2, Golden Pal–Monthly, by Malibu Moon) Sales History: $200,000 Wlg '24 KEENOV; $350,000 Ylg '25 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $63,250. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel Racing.
O-Douglas Scharbauer; B-Emcee Stable LLC, Fortune Farm & Purple H Bloodstock (KY); T-Brad H. Cox.
PAY MONTHLY cashes in on debut at Saratoga! 💰
The 2-year-old filly powered clear to win by 3½ lengths, becoming the 19th winner for leading freshman sire GOLDEN PAL.
Congratulations to owner Douglas Scharbauer, trainer Brad Cox and breeders Emcee Stable, Fortune Farm & Purple…
— Coolmore America (@coolmoreamerica) August 28, 2026
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