[boxify cols_use =”3″ cols =”5″ position =”right” order =”none” box_spacing =”5″ padding =”5″ background_color =”white” border_width =”2″ border_color =”blue” border_style =”solid” height =”615″ ]Region’s stakes winners

  • White Clay Creek S. (DEL) – Hop the Six, trainer Ron Potts, owner The Elkstone Group, LLC
  • Power by Far H. (PRX, PA-breds) – Madrilena, trainer Michael Pino, owner Daniel Ryan, bred in Pennsylvania by Daniel M. Ryan
  • Crowd Pleaser H. (PRX, PA-breds) – Big Feat, trainer Elizabeth Merryman, owner Ellendale Racing, bred in Pennsylvania by Ellendale Racing
  • Desert Vixen S. (MTH) – Street Gem, trainer Kathleen O’Connell, owner Just For Fun Stable LLC
  • Teddy Drone S. (MTH) – Immortal Eyes, trainer Damon Dilodovico, owner Robert Abbo Racing Stable LLC
  • G3 Matchmaker S. (MTH) — Starstruck, trainer Larry Jones, owner Calumet Farm
  • G2 Molly Pitcher S. (MTH) — Joyful Victory, trainer Larry Jones, owner Fox Hill Farm Inc.
  • G2 Monmouth Cup (MTH) — Pants on Fire, trainer Kelly Breen, owner George and Lori Hall
  • Regret S. (MTH) — Geeky Gorgeous, trainer Daniel Lopez, owner Daniel Lopez, bred in New Jersey by Joe-Dan Farm
  • G3 Oceanport S. (MTH) — Silver Max, trainer Dale Romans, owner Mark Bacon and Dana Wells
  • G1 Haskell Invitational (MTH) — Verrazano, trainer Todd Pletcher, owners Let’s Go Stable, Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier, and Derrick Smith
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In our weekly LookBack, we circle back on some of last week’s top stories to see what happened next…

  • The top story last week was that of Monzante, the one-time Grade One winner who was pulled up and subsequently euthanized in a $4,000 claiming race at Evangeline Downs (we weighed in here).  Though not a mid-Atlantic story per se, the tale of Monzante has had national impact and touches on issues facing the sport as a whole.  It had engendered an investigation by the state’s racing regulators.  On Thursday, the Louisiana Racing Commission pronounced the case closed with no further action to come.  “The commission is satisfied that everything that the commission was required to do was done,” LRC executive director Charlie Gardiner told the Daily Racing Form.  “Unless there’s something else that comes up, we’re going to consider this closed.”
  • On Monmouth Park’s biggest racing day, Verrazano was the star of the show.  He ran away from his six rivals in a dominating 9 3/4 length victory and stamped himself all the way back from his dismal Kentucky Derby showing.
  • It was a less enjoyable day for rider Gary Stevens.  Two of the veteran jock’s mounts were injured during their races.  Take Charge Indy, cruising on the lead in the G2 Monmouth Cup, suffered a condylar fracture; Stevens pulled him up nearing the half-mile pole.  The horse will need surgery.  And Preakness champ Oxbow, who struggled home fourth after making the early fractions, suffered a soft tissue injury, which reportedly is not serious.
  • Attendance was up a tad and handle down a tad for the Haskell card this year.  Monmouth reported 36,284 in attendance, up about 1,000 from last year, but handle declined about two percent, to a bit over $12.5 million on the 14-race card.  Those are certainly healthy numbers — but just five years ago, with Big Brown in the house, Haskell day drew more than 45,000 to the track, and handle topped $17.5 million.
  • Teresa Genaro looked into some of the challenges facing breeding in Pennsylvania last week (here).  On Saturday Parx carded two grass stakes for state-breds; favored Madrilena took the Power by Far, by a nose over Chulula, and longshot Big Feat controlled throughout to win the Crowd Pleaser, returning $32.80 to win to his relatively few backers.
  • The Racing Biz debuted its new Partners for Happy Endings program with two charity partners, Thoroughbred Placement Resources and the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation at James River.  Check out the program here and learn how you can help our region’s horses!

(Featured image, of Oxbow prior to the Preakness, by Laurie Asseo.)