Trainer, jockey seek sweep of Hialeah Derby, Matron
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
Trainer Rolando Almanza and jockey Yordanis Amaro have a good shot at sweeping the two richest stakes of the Quarter Horse meet at Hialeah Park on Sunday.
Almanza and Amaro have the morning-line favorite for the $417,575 Hialeah Derby for 3-year-olds and the track program’s second choice in the $204,715 Hialeah Matron for 4-year-olds.
The Hialeah Derby and Matron highlight a nine-race card that includes two other stakes, with first post time of 12:35 p.m. Eastern.
Moonin the Eagle, a well-bred colt who set the fastest qualifying time of 19.44 seconds for 400 yards while making his career debut in trials on Dec. 27, is listed as the 5-2 choice among 10 horses in the Hialeah Derby (race 8).
A half-brother to Quarter Horse racing’s top 3-year-old of 2014, Moonist, Moonin the Eagle is a son of the top stallion One Famous Eagle, who produced eight graded stakes winners last season.
Almanza also will saddle Bp Run Cartel Run, who won his trial in 19:61 seconds and will break alongside Moonin the Eagle (post 6) from post 7 with Hialeah’s leading rider, Omar Reyes.
“That means they’ll probably push each other early,” Almanza said. “Both horses are good enough to win the race, so we’ll see what happens in the heat of battle.”
The top threat to Moonin the Eagle may be Seize the Win, the winner of his trial in 19.67 seconds and a stakes winner at Indiana Grand in October. Seize the Win will break from post 3 under Shanly Jackson for trainer Matt Frazier. Those same connections won the 2012 Hialeah Derby with Feature My News. Frazier is 16 for 31 (52 percent) in Quarter Horse stakes at Hialeah.
This is the first time in six runnings that the Hialeah Derby will be run in January rather than December and with the distance shortened from 440 to 400 yards.
Amaro will also ride 3-1 second choice Daytona B for Almanza in the 440-yard Matron (race 7).
The Texas-bred Daytona B will be looking to extend his winning streak to four races. His current streak includes a Grade 3 victory at Prairie Meadows in October.
Almanza’s prowess with sharp horses includes a 5-for-12 mark (42 percent) with last-out winners making their second start following a layoff in races between 400 and 440 yards.
The morning-line favorite at 5-2 is Quick Dynasty, a four-time winner in five starts at Hialeah, including last season’s South Florida Derby.
G.R. Carter, who turns 47 on Feb. 6 and is Quarter Horse racing’s all-time leading jockey with 4,043 wins and $70.3 million in purse earnings, comes in to ride Quick Dynasty for the first time for trainer Anna Marie Crowson. Carter, who has ridden just two races so far in January, is 0 for 17 lifetime at Hialeah.