Maker, Geroux cashing in at rich Kentucky Downs meet
FRANKLIN, Ky. – Everybody likes a plan to come together. And for Mike Maker, boy, his plan for the Kentucky Downs meet has come together nicely.
With Florent Geroux riding most of his stock, Maker has come close to maxing out at the five-day meet that ends Thursday. The 47-year-old trainer has won four stakes – remarkably, all with horses he claimed for various clients – and his meet earnings are nearly $1.3 million.
After Churchill Downs ended its spring meet July 2 and until Kentucky Downs began Sept. 3, Maker campaigned primarily on three fronts – Ellis Park, Gulfstream Park, and Saratoga. Among those tracks, he totaled 21 wins and 17 seconds from 119 starts for stable earnings of $942,854.
Similarly, a return to Kentucky Downs has put Geroux on top of the world again. Although he enjoyed a couple of big days away from Saratoga – most notably Aug. 13, when he won four graded stakes on the Arlington Million card – Geroux already has 11 wins and mount earnings of more than $1.6 million here. His totals from 120 mounts at Saratoga were 10 wins and $1.09 million.
“We’ve been focused on this meet for a while,” Geroux told Kentucky Downs publicity. “While some connections were focusing on Del Mar or Saratoga, Mike’s been focusing on this meet. You have to have luck to get in the [overfilled] maiden and allowance races, but with a stakes, you pretty much know you’re going to get in.”
Together, Maker and Geroux had three stakes winners last weekend – Da Big Hoss in the Kentucky Turf Cup, Try Your Luck in the Dueling Grounds Oaks, and Oscar Nominated in the Dueling Grounds Derby. Both also won an additional stakes Saturday – Maker with Julien Leparoux riding Watchyourownbobber in the More Than Ready Mile and Geroux with Mississippi Delta in the Ladies Sprint for trainer Mark Casse.
As if they haven’t done enough already, Maker and Geroux have Al’s Gal as the favorite Thursday in the closing-day feature, the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon.
◗ Numbers on the four Kentucky Downs stakes winners for Maker:
– Da Big Hoss, claimed June 21, 2015, for $50,000 for Skychai Racing LLC. Earnings since: $1,445,220.
– Oscar Nominated, claimed Oct. 16, 2015, for $75,000 for Ken and Sarah Ramsey. Earnings since: $588,995.
– Watchyourownbobber, claimed Dec. 18, 2014, for $50,000 for the Ramseys. Earnings since: $542,948.
– Try Your Luck, claimed Feb. 3 for $75,000 for the Out of This World LLC of Justin and Stephanie Carroll. Earnings since: $217,374.
Claiming horses for such big prices is “obviously a huge gamble,” Maker said, “but no different than getting them out of the sale – and you’re getting them for a little less.”
◗ Harvey Diamond, who manages the Skychai partnership with Jim Shircliff, said Monday that a decision on whether to send Da Big Hoss to Australia for the Nov. 1 Melbourne Cup needs to be made within the next couple of weeks.
“They say getting him there around Oct. 1 is about right,” Diamond said. “I’d say we’re 50-50 at this point whether or not to go. Otherwise, it’ll be the Breeders’ Cup Turf,” on Nov. 5 at Santa Anita. “There’s not a lot of downside to either one.”
◗ With such good racing to offer, Kentucky Downs attracted $5,769,505 in all-sources handle on the 10-race Saturday card, easily surpassing the track’s record of $5,071,415 bet last year on a 13-race card. A severe thunderstorm prior to the seventh race seriously threatened to foil the big day, but the weather relented, allowing action to resume following a half-hour delay.
Amid perfect weather Sunday, but with the National Football League for competition, all-sources handle was $4,487,790 on a 10-race card.
◗ Brian Hernandez Jr. was so sure that he and Artful Union had been defeated on the wire in the third race Sunday that he returned to the jockeys’ trailer and took off his silks.
But the photo-finish camera ultimately revealed that Artful Union had somehow eked out the victory over Mascarpone by a whisker, so Hernandez hurried out to be part of the celebration in the winner’s circle. There he stood, alongside the others – without a mount and without his silks and helmet.
“First time I’ve ever done that,” said Hernandez, who has won 1,557 races in a 13-year career.
◗ Perhaps the most impressive maiden winner of the weekend was Sweeping Paddy, who took the third race Saturday by 12 lengths under Robby Albarado. Trained by Dale Romans, Sweeping Paddy is a 2-year-old filly by Paddy O’Prado out of C.S. Royce, which makes her a full sister to Cherry Wine, the 2016 Preakness runner-up – also trained by Romans.
◗ Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm was on hand Saturday to watch Seize win a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race by 5 1/2 lengths under Hernandez. Seize, a 3-year-old homebred colt by War Front, was produced by Might, a full sister to 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Blame.
◗ Cammack and Daddy’s Boo both earned free nominations and travel stipends to the Dec. 3 Claiming Crown series at Gulfstream by winning designated prep races Sunday. For Cammack, trained by Chris Block, it was his sixth straight victory in a streak dating to April 8 at Tampa Bay Downs.
◗ Trainer Neil Pessin said Scatter Gun might run next in the Oct. 14 Franklin County on the Keeneland turf after the 4-year-old filly returned from a layoff of nearly 11 months to win a first-level allowance Sunday under Geroux.
◗ Favorites are winning at a 40 percent clip (16 for 40) at this meet, while field size has averaged 10.9 horses per race. At the 2015 meet, those numbers were 25 percent (12 for 48) and 10.6 horses.