Three tracks ran yesterday, and all of them actually started and completed a full card. How ’bout that?
At Laurel Park, very slow times and upsets were the order of the day. After 7-10 Shouldabeencharlie blitzed the field in the opener, favorites were shut out the rest of the way. Meanwhile, longshot winners included Princess Beau K (16.90-1), Kylie’s Cozy Kid (36.10-1), Secret Jackpot (10.40-1), and Cochita Rich (12.00-1)…
The Princess Beau K triumph marked the first career victory for apprentice rider Mohamed Osman. The 31 year-old, a former hotel manager, is an immigrant from Somalia (details here)…
Victor Carrasco won two yesterday, the only multiple winner at the track. He took the sixth with Secret Jackpot and then the seventh, via disqualification, aboard Ronnie James Jr. In the seventh, original winner Cotton Won, with Carlos Gutierrez up, was disqualified after squeezing rivals at the five-eighths pole. Had the result stood, it would have provided the second win of the day for Gutierrez, a seven-pound apprentice with six career victories…
On December 4, Secret Jackpot won a $12,500 claimer at odds of 5.90-1. In his next start, he won a $12,500 claimer at odds of 4.20-1. Yesterday, he ran, once again, in a $12,500 claimer going a route of ground — and the bettors made him 10.40-1. Once again, he closed determinedly to post a narrow victory…
Three wins on the Charles Town evening for trainer Ronney Brown. He took the early double with Blaze of Honor and Mia’s Angel and the fourth with Mellow Miss…
Trainer (and owner) John McKee also struck twice, and he now has 992 wins in his career. His Free Humor took the sixth, and Did You Know won the seventh, both claiming races, and both at decent prices; Free Humor was 7-1, and Did You Know was 12.40-1. Rider J.D. Acosta was the only jock to score more than once…
The evening’s only non-claiming event was a maiden special weight for state-breds. Mesotrouble, 11.50-1, got the job done by a head for trainer Patricia Simpson. The gelded son of Mesopotamia was making his third start and narrowly prevailed in a race in which the top five finishers were within 1 1/2 lengths of each other…
At Penn National two riders struck twice each. Apprentice Natasha Coddington took the first on favored Handy Andy and the sixth on 15.50-1 outsider Reckless Runner. Meanwhile, journeyman Edwin Gonzalez won the second on Chocolato and the eighth aboard Tastefully Simple. Gonzalez leads the colony with four wins in 2014, while Coddington has three…
Trainer Steven Chircop, who won eight races in 2013, took two last night (Chocolato, 2-1, and Bold Cailin, 2-5) and now has two wins and a second from three starts in 2014…
Fleeting Fancy won the third for trainer Graham Motion, a maiden special weight event for three year-old fillies. The daughter of Great Notion had been third in two previous starts, the most recent of which was won by Fleet of Gold. That horse returned to be third in the $100,000 Busanda at Aqueduct…
