Saucy Don finds room late to prevail in John Reilly Handicap

Trainer Terri Pompay said her horse Saucy Don hates racing on the rail. So she was understandably concerned when that’s precisely where Saucy Don got stuck during the stretch run of Saturday’s $60,000 John B. Reilly Handicap for New Jersey-bred sprinters at Monmouth Park.

Fortunately, jockey Abel Castellano Jr. found an opening, took Saucy Don between horses, and he got up by a head to win the six-furlong sprint, snapping a seven-racing losing streak.

“I didn’t expect to get shuffled back inside,” Pompay said. “Saucy doesn’t like to run on the inside. We found that out at Gulfstream. So I was worried when he got stuck down inside.”

Castellano, who rode Saucy Don to two victories at Monmouth last summer, said he was bottled up.

“At the eighth pole, I had no place to go,” Castellano said. “But we were able to get to the outside and he still had some kick left and had just enough ground to get there. I was blessed.”

In winning for the sixth time in 23 starts, the 5-year-old Saucy Don ($14.20), owned by Patricia Generazio, covered the distance in 1:09.59. Loverbil edged Javerre by a neck for second. Rainbow Heir who dueled up front through fractions of 22.03 and 44.62 seconds, faded to fourth as the 2-5 favorite.