Royal Posse shortens up in Jazil Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Royal Posse was claimed for $20,000 last May with the idea of being able to run in some two-turn races at Saratoga. That he has become a two-time stakes winner has been a pleasant surprise to his connections.

Royal Posse will seek another stakes victory in Saturday’s $125,000 Jazil Stakes at Aqueduct. Royal Posse was one of seven horses entered Wednesday for the Jazil, named for the 2006 Belmont Stakes winner.

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez claimed Royal Posse for $20,000 for an ownership group headed by Michael Dubb. He ran three times at Saratoga, winning twice, including the Evan Shipman Stakes by a nose over Saratoga Snacks. After finishing second in the Empire Classic at Belmont in October, Royal Posse won the Claiming Crown Jewel at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 5.

“He was training very, very good. That kind of race doesn’t come around all the time,” Rodriguez said. “We took a chance, flew him down there four days before the race, and he ran big.”

In five races since being claimed, Royal Posse raced each time at 1 1/8 miles. On Saturday, Royal Posse will be shortening up to a mile and 70 yards.

“You’re always concerned about that, but he’s training here, and you don’t always get to train them the way you want with the weather,” Rodriguez said. “We had some days with rain, and the track was not good.”

Junior Alvarado will ride Royal Posse from post 5.

Also entered were Day of Fury, the sharp winner of an allowance race Jan. 2; his David Jacobson-trained stablemate Stormin Monarcho, the winner of the Mr. Sinatra Stakes here last year; Turco Bravo, the winner of the 2015 Stymie Stakes, and Majestic Affair and Lucky Lotto, the one-two finishers from a Dec. 16 allowance race.

The Jazil was carded as race 3.

Jose Montano moves to N.Y.

Jose Montano, who beat out Irad Ortiz Jr. for the Eclipse Award for leading apprentice jockey in 2012, will soon start challenging Ortiz on a daily basis when he moves his tack to Aqueduct beginning Jan. 24.

Montano has been the leading rider at Charles Town in each of the last four years, including in 2015, when he rode 230 winners. He will be represented in New York by agent Shawn Klotz.

“He wanted to take a shot and come here,” Klotz said.