Yesterday and today: June 27 racing highlights
Chublicious took the Mr. Prospector Stakes at Monmouth Park. Photo by Ryan Denver/EQUI-PHOTO.
From Staff Reports
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: CHUBLICIOUS TAKES MR. PROSPECTOR
(from a Monmouth Park release)
With 13,441 cheering him on, David Gruskos’s Chublicious went by stablemate Shaft of Light late in the lane to capture the $75,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes at Monmouth Park on Sunday by a length and a quarter.
The winner covered the six furlongs over a fast main track in 1:08 3/5 and paid $7.40, $3.80 and $3 as the second-choice in the field of seven colts and geldings. Shaft of Light, who opened up a slight lead turning for home, settled for second, completing the $30 exacta and paying $4.80 and $3.80. It was another five lengths back to Visionary Ruler, who paid $6 to show. The all-Navarro trifecta came back $201.20 for a $2 wager.
“It feels great to have the top three finishers in the race,” said trainer Jorge Navarro, “especially at Monmouth, my home and in a really good field. I said going in that all three horses were doing really well. I’ll probably keep all of them running here with Jersey breds.”
Ridden by Antonio Gallardo, the New Jersey-bred Chublicious is now two-for-two at the meet, having won the John J. Reilly Handicap in his last. The 5-year-old gelding by Hey Chub from the Arch mare Sassy Broad, has won 7 of his 14 outings with earnings just shy of a quarter million.
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BY THE NUMBERS
- HANDLE:
- Monmouth Park: $3,306,253
- Parx Racing: $905,722
- Pimlico: $1,761,085
- CLAIMS:
- Monmouth Park: 5
- Parx Racing: 4
- Pimlico: 2
- MULTIPLE WINNERS
- JOCKEYS
- Paco Lopez, 6 wins at Monmouth
- Nik Juarez, 2 wins at Monmouth
- Trevor McCarthy, 3 wins at Pimlico
- Luis Ocasio, 2 wins at Parx
- TRAINERS
- Jorge Navarro, 2 wins at Monmouth
- Mario Serey, Jr., 2 wins at Parx
- Juan Carlos Guerrero, 2 wins at Parx
- JOCKEYS
LOOK AHEAD: TODAY’S RACING
- Tracks in action today: Parx Racing and Delaware Park.
- Delaware Park’s fifth race today is something not seen too often in this region: a lengthy turf test, this one 1 3/8 miles. Seven runners are slated to tackle the $34,000 event, with Michael Matz trainee Trensita (2-1) the morning line favorite. Trensita, a Curlin filly, is winless in 11 career tries, with her best results a pair of second-place finishes. Erick Rodriguez will ride. Matz also sends out the second favorite in the race, Summer Evening (3-1), who enters off a fourth-place finish over the strip and will have Brian Pedroza in the irons; she posted her best-ever result going 1 3/16 miles. Tres Abbott, all four of whose runners at the meet have been in the money (4-2-0-2), has Achillina Bo (8-1), a daughter of Gio Ponti who showed improved speed last out but has not hit the board in two starts. Forest Boyce will ride.
- Black Jet (7-2) carries a four-race winning streak into today’s seventh at Parx Racing, a $52,000 allowance contest going five furlongs on the grass. The Mario Serey-trained Arch gelding owns five wins at the trip and has been worse than third just once in eight five furlong grass races. Mychel Sanchez will ride. Runaway Raj (5-2), trained by Marya Montoya, sports a record of 10-4-3-3 at the distance and will have Rosario Montanez up. Perhaps the most intriguing entrant here is Aktabantay (10-1), a Tom Morley runner who is dropping out of graded company in which he was thrashed in each of his last two starts. The son of Oasis Dream, bred in Britain, won a Group 3 event overseas as a juvenile but hasn’t found the range since, all at seven furlongs to a mile. Dylan Davis will ride.
