Greenway Court gunning for fifth It’s Only Money title
Greenway Court was along late to win the 2017 It’s Only Money Stakes. Photo by Coady Photography.
by Frank Vespe
One horse going for his first stakes win and another going for his eighth — and the win that would push him past $500,000 in career earnings — are the top contenders in Saturday’s $50,000 It’s Only Money Stakes for West Virginia-breds at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races.
While four-year-old Aaron’s Tap gets the nod as the 8-5 favorite, it’s likely that most eyes will be on the redoubtable nine-year-old, Greenway Court (5-2 on the morning line). The Windsor Castle gelding, bred, owned, and trained by James W. Casey, won this event last year and has taken four of its last five runnings.
The It’s Only Money is a 4 1/2-furlong dash, Greenway Court’s specialty, and has been shifted from its typical mid-September date of recent years. Last year, Greenway Court, with Antonio Lopez in the irons, was up late to win the It’s Only Money by a half-length as the 4.40-1 fourth wagering choice.
A win here would push Greenway Court, who has earned over $480,000, past the half-million dollar mark. He has won 18 of 38 starts overall.
Lopez will do the honors once again for Greenway Court, and the duo will leave from post number two.
That puts them one slot inside of the favorite, Aaron’s Tap. Trained by Jeff Runco for Smart Angle, the Northern Afleet gelding has won five of nine career starts, with earnings of more than $87,000. He has tried stakes company three previous times, with his best result a runner-up effort in last fall’s Robert G. Leavitt Stakes, when he was four lengths in arrears of Unrideabull.
Arnaldo Bocachica will ride Aaron’s Tap, who has a first and a third from two starts this year.
Just once in the last five years has Greenway Court failed to take this event. That defeat came in 2016, and the winner that day, Eutaw Street, makes his 2018 debut here. He is 3-1 on the morning line.
Trained by David Walters for his family’s Fairview Farm, Eutaw Street, a Great Notion gelding, has won six of 13 starts overall and earned more than $135,000. His 2016 It’s Only Money score marked his lone win in added-money company.
Eutaw Street made just four starts in 2017, with his best result a runner-up effort in the Dash for Cash on Breeders’ Classics night. He shows three works in preparation for this test and will have Oscar Flores in the irons.
The rest of the field includes Court Date (8-1), cutting back after a credible effort in the seven-furlong Lucy’s Bob Boy Stakes; Last Plunge (10-1); George Town Cat (12-1), who scored a shocker at 41-1 odds in last year’s Dash for Cash; and High Mileage (15-1).
The It’s Only Money Stakes is race seven on the eight-race program, and post time is 9:49 EDT.
