Lopez rides four straight winners

Jockey Paco Lopez stole the show here Thursday, winning four races in a row, the second through the fifth, on the 10-race card. The winners, none of whom was favored, ranged in price from Edgemoor ($9.40) to Moose Man ($41.20), two coming from the barn of Eddie Plesa Jr. and the others for trainers Rick Sacco and Steve Klesaris.

The four-bagger gave Lopez 42 wins for the meet, placing him third in the standings behind only Javier Castellano and John Velazquez. Not bad for a jockey who had ridden just three winners from his first 99 mounts during the opening four weeks of the meet.

"He had a lot of seconds in January and was basically riding well but there was always one horse who was just better in so many of those earlier races," said Lopez's agent, Cory Moran. "It was very frustrating but I was confident things would turn around. A lot of times it's just a matter of getting lucky."

Lopez will stay on here until the end of the meet on April 24. That makes him one of the favorites to win the riding title along with Elvis Trujillo, who is currently fourth in the standings with 39 wins and is also staying on until the end of the meet. Both Lopez and Trujillo will return to Monmouth Park for the summer.

Dutrow may run two in Skip Away

Nominations for the Grade 3 Skip Away, the final graded stakes of the meet, have been released with Bold Start and Arson Squad prominent among the 20 names on the list. The 1 3/16-mile Skip Away will be run next Saturday.

Trainer Rick Dutrow said Friday he might run both Arson Squad and Helsinki in the Skip Away. Helsinki has not started since finishing fifth, 14 lengths behind Quality Road, in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap.