Cibelli notches pair of weekend turf-sprint wins

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jane Cibelli will be departing south Florida shortly for her summer home at Monmouth Park. She picked up a little extra cash to make the trip north over the weekend, parlaying a couple of mid-priced claims into a pair of five-furlong turf victories, including Sunday’s $60,000 Sunset Stakes with the veteran Aquinnah.

Cibelli claimed Aquinnah for Patriot Stable for a bargain $20,000 earlier in the meet. The 7-year-old mare won for the second time in three starts since changing barns when rallying from off the pace to register a three-quarter-length decision over stablemate Satan’s Mistress, giving Cibelli a one-two finish in the overnight stakes.

“The owner wanted an older horse that he could have some fun with,” said Cibelli. “He said he’s had some young horses and had some disappointments and just wanted an old, hard-knocking horse. I kind of knew [Aquinnah] from Monmouth Park. They run a lot of five-eighths there, so she might be all right.”

Aquinnah, who has now won a dozen races in 36 starts, was ridden to victory by Jonathan Gonzales.

The previous afternoon, Cibelli gave owner Michael Dante quick dividends for the $20,000 investment he made to claim Starship Wildcat out of his prior start when the turf-sprint specialist outlasted favorite Delta Bluesman to win the afternoon’s five-furlong optional-claiming feature.

Starship Wildcat was ridden to victory by Eddie Castro, who returned to post a hat trick the following afternoon, assuming the lead in the jockey standings for the spring-summer session that began April 8.