Allowance race tops Friday card
With no stakes at Ellis Friday-Sunday, allowance races will serve as nominal highlights. The lone allowance on an eight-race Friday card at the western Kentucky track is the last race, while two allowances (races 5 and 7) anchor a nine-race Saturday card. First post daily is 12:50 p.m. Central.
The $50,000 Good Lord, set for July 22, is the next Ellis stakes.
Lanerie back on Kentucky circuit
Friday marks the first day of riding at a Kentucky track for Corey Lanerie since the death of his wife, Shantel. Lanerie is named to ride seven races Friday at Ellis after going winless with four mounts at Arlington Park last Saturday, his first day back since Shantel died June 22.
Lanerie, a 15-time leading jockey at Churchill, has won or tied for four riding titles at Ellis (2010, 2013, 2016, 2017).
◗ Chief Cicatriz, whose 110 Beyer Speed Figure from the June 2 Aristides at Churchill remains one of the highest of the year in any category, has suffered what trainer Shawn Davis described as a “very minor” recurrence of a foot bruise, casting doubt on a possible trip from Churchill to Del Mar.
“We’re just being very careful with him,” Davis said Wednesday. “We still might breeze him this weekend, but all our plans are on hold.”
◗ The new in-house simulcast host on the Ellis television signal is Rocco O’Connor, the 24-year-old son of trainer Rob O’Connor. The younger O’Connor has worked mostly as a jockey agent in recent years, aside from spot duties for Equibase and Trakus. This is his first such role in broadcasting.
Rob O’Connor, a trainer since 1985, topped the Ellis standings in 1991.
◗ Gloria Jones, the wife of longtime Kentucky owner and breeder Frank Jones Jr., died Saturday at age 79 in a Louisville nursing home. A funeral service was scheduled for Thursday in Louisville. Frank Jones, her husband of 58 years, has served the Thoroughbred industry in various high-profile capacities, including as a racing commissioner and horsemen’s official.
