Flay Mignon outsprints foes in Jersey Juvenile

The filly Flay Mignon proved far too speedy for her four opponents in Saturday’s $60,000 New Jersey Juvenile, the final stakes of the season at Monmouth Park.

A stakes winner sprinting on turf two starts ago, Flay Mignon proved equally adept on the main track, completing six furlongs in 1:11.72 while finishing 5 3/4 lengths in front of runner-up Charleymillionaire. It was another 8 3/4 lengths back to She’s Hot Wired in third.

Sent to the front by jockey Paco Lopez, Flay Mignon ($3.40) clicked off fractions of 21.94 and 45.12 seconds. Charleymillionaire, one of only two males in the field, stayed within 1 1/2 lengths after the first half-mile, but Flay Mignon increased her advantage to four lengths at the eighth pole and widened her margin even more while being hand-ridden to the wire.

“I know that she’s a very fast filly,” said Lopez, who has been aboard for all three wins in Flay Mignon’s four-race career. “She broke really fast and went to the front easily. On the turn, I was just looking around to see if anyone was coming and didn’t see anyone.”

Flay Mignon is a home-bred daughter of Yesbyjimminy who races for owner Laurie Plesa and trainer Eddie Plesa Jr.

“She’s shown how good she is and that she can run on anything,” trainer Plesa said. “We’ll see how she comes out of this and decide what’s next. We may give her some time off, but she ships to Florida on Wednesday so we’ll just wait and see.”