Yesterday and today: April 5 racing highlights
Vim won an allowance at Laurel Park on March 20. Photo by The Racing Biz.
From Staff Reports
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: SERVIS THRIVING AS QUARANTINE BATTERS PARX
The equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) case that has Parx Racing quarantined is taking a toll on the racing product — but trainer John Servis must not have any complaints.
Yesterday’s 11-race card at Parx featured just 64 horses — fewer than six horses per race. That’s because the track is dependent on the horses on the grounds to fill its cards; any shipper to Parx is stuck there until the quarantine is lifted, which will be at least 21 days from the discovery of the EHV-1 case but could be much longer if new cases arise.
Monday’s card included a three-horse field, a four-horse field, and three five-horse fields — and bettors still pushed nearly $1.8 million through the windows.
No complaints from John Servis, though. The veteran conditioner sent out four runners, and all four won. The fun started for him in race three, when favored Irish Reward powered to an easy win in $25,000 claiming company. In race six, he legged up apprentice Katie Davis on Authoritative, who lived up to her name with an eight-length win against maiden claiming rivals.
He also took the seventh — the three-horse field — with Hearty Jones in a maiden special weight event and the ninth, another maiden special, with Smarty Mr D. Roberto Rosado rode two of Servis’ winners, and Kendrick Carmouche rode the other.
Servis is third by wins and by earnings at the Bensalem oval. Remarkably, he has sent out 11 winners from 17 starters there — and all 17 of his starters have finished in the money.
LOOKING AHEAD: TODAY’S RACING
- Parx Racing, the only track in the region in action today, has a nine-race card on the docket.
- The featured eighth, a first allowance for three-year-old fillies, has an interesting group set to go seven furlongs. A two-horse entry helmed by — who else? — John Servis is favored at 8-5. His runners there are Miss Inclusive, who won at Laurel Park at first asking and has since been third and fourth against allowance rivals at Gulfstream and Oaklawn, and Whistling Straits, who broke her maiden easily at Gulfstream but was up the track in the Busher, at Aqueduct.
- In the fifth, a maiden special weight event for three-year-olds going six furlongs, the two-horse entry headed by Hennessy Fire is favored at 6-5. The Friesan Fire colt has been second or third in all three career starts
