Rough riding on Penn Mile program
Buoyed by beautiful weather, Penn National put on a good show last Saturday on Penn Mile Day. The races were interesting, and a good-sized crowd turned out.
The 11-race card handled $3.2 million, with more than $1 million bet on the $500,000 Penn Mile, the first Grade 2 race in the track’s history.
While things went smoothly on the business front, there was some rough riding on the card. With seven stakes slotted and riders coming in from New York and up from Maryland, there were four separate jockey objections in the first seven races, including three in races 6 and 7.
In race 1, a Pennsylvania-bred maiden race, Angel Suarez checked his mount while on the pace leaving the three-eighths pole and subsequently claimed foul against jockeys Felix Pinero, Angel Rodriguez, and Edwin Rodriguez. All three objections were disallowed.
In race 6, the $200,000 Penn Oaks, Feargal Lynch tried to split the leaders in upper stretch but couldn’t get through. He claimed foul against Luis Saez, the rider of the winner, Dynatail, who had the lead but did drift. The objection was not allowed.
In race 7, the $200,000 Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup, Horacio Karamanos had to check his mount, Oak Bluffs, along the inner rail entering the far turn of the five-furlong turf sprint when Rainbow Heir and Javier Castellano came up on his outside. The stewards let the order of finish stand.
In the same race, front-running winner Bold Thunder was disqualified from first to second after he ducked out sharply from a left-handed whip from Irad Ortiz Jr., herding runner-up Richard’s Boy outward. Bold Thunder held on to win by a head but was disqualified after Paco Lopez on Richard’s Boy claimed foul.