With 117 horses entered (just two as alternates) for Sunday’s 12-race New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival at Monmouth Park, the state’s breeding program will celebrate its biggest day with a robust turnout that bodes well for the future.

Two stakes races – the $100,000 Eleven North and the $125,000 Charles Hesse III Handicap – highlight the card showcasing many of the best Thoroughbreds that New Jersey has produced.

“I think it’s great that there are 117 horses entered,” said Mike Campbell, executive director of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association of New Jersey. “We are certainly thankful to the racing office for writing 12 races for our biggest day this year and we’re grateful to the owners and breeders for supporting the day.

“The fact that we have this many horses running on Sunday is an indication that the industry is thriving.”

Trainer Eddie Owens will be well represented in the two stakes races with morning line favorites in the Eleven North in Riding Pretty and the Charles Hesse III Handicap in Sea Streak, who was fifth in the Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes in his last start.

The Owens-trained Great Navigator is also in the Hesse, looking to win the race for the second straight year after a 10-length romp in 2023.

All three are Holly Crest Farm homebreds.

Eight of the 12 races have at least nine starters and five have 10 or more.

“It’s a great day for New Jersey and the entire community that supports Thoroughbred racing in the Garden State,” said John F. Heims, Director of Racing at Monmouth Park. “To watch this program once again flourish is incredibly rewarding to all the stakeholders. After several years of increasing foal crops, the results will now be on full display Sunday.

“None of it would have been possible without the leadership of Dennis Drazin (chairman and CEO of Darby Development, LLC, the operator of Monmouth Park), the late Millie Fleming and her husband Larry, Mike Campbell and Rory Huston. And more than that, none of it would be possible without the support of the all the breeders, owners, farmhands and the backstretch community in New Jersey who should all take a bow for their incredible work which culminates with this great 12-race program.

“While we’re excited to see great New Jersey racing Sunday, we’re even more excited about the future of breeding and racing in the Garden State for years to come.”

The prowess of Sea Wizard as a sire has enhanced the reputation of Jersey-breds nationally.

“Sea Wizard has definitely made an impact as a sire,” said Campbell. “You look at all of the stakes horses he has produced. And he is getting horses to run on turf or dirt and at any distance.

“Overall, horses like (Grade 1 winner) Book’em Danno, He’spuregold, Mia’s Crusade and Sea Streak have been a very positive reflection of the breeding program in New Jersey now.”