LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jockey Vince Cheminaud is quietly making a name for himself while trying to emulate what his fellow Frenchmen have accomplished in the United States.
Cheminaud, 28, bagged three wins from the first four cards at this 14-day September meet, good for a tie for second in the standings behind countryman Julien Leparoux (four wins). Leparoux, Prat, and Florent Geroux all have enjoyed tremendous success in this country after emigrating from France.
Edgeway, winner of the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap for the second consecutive year at Del Mar last month, will not race again until the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 5 at Keeneland, trainer John Sadler wrote in a text message over the weekend.
The BC Filly and Mare Sprint may be Edgeway’s final start for Hronis Racing. Kosta Hronis said in a text on Monday that Edgeway is entered to be sold at auction at Keeneland in the days after the Breeders’ Cup, but a decision on whether she goes through the sales ring will be made at the last minute.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hot Rod Charlie, the leading prospect for the Oct. 1 Lukas Classic at Churchill, has been on a steady work schedule.
Based at Keeneland since late June, the 4-year-old colt has breezed there the last five Saturdays for trainer Doug O’Neill, starting Aug. 20 and on through a six-furlong work in 1:12.80 last Saturday. Third in the Aug. 6 Whitney at Saratoga in his last start, Hot Rod Charlie will have a final pre-race work this coming Saturday. He has earned more than $5.25 million.
Average daily handle at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., during the track’s recently completed 60-day meet was up 14.8 percent compared to last year’s 55-day meet, according to figures generated by Daily Racing Form.
Total pari-mutuel handle for the meet was $218.5 million, a $44 million gain on the total handle last year, when $174.4 million was bet. Monmouth ran 606 races this year over a 60-day meet, compared to 555 races last year during a 55-day meet, and average handle per race was up 14.7 percent.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The final night card of the year at Churchill is set for Saturday when four stakes, all for 3-year-olds, anchor an 11-race program that starts at 6 p.m.
The Grade 3 Dogwood is the only graded event among the foursome. Last Leaf, already a four-time stakes winner this year and owned by the Monarch Stables of Frank Bertolino, was among the fillies expected for the seven-furlong race. Eddie Kenneally has assumed her training from Ron Spatz, for whom Last Leaf captured three Gulfstream Park stakes and the Aug. 14 Audubon Oaks at Ellis Park in her latest start.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Damon’s Mound exited the first defeat of his career in fine shape, with “any option on the table,” owner-breeder Cliff Love said in the aftermath of the Girvin colt finishing a tired sixth behind the victorious Curly Jack in the Iroquois Stakes here Saturday.
Damon’s Mound, trained by Michelle Lovell, was sensational in his first two wins. In the Iroquois, he and favored Echo Again led to the top of the stretch before both folded up, with Echo Again fading to seventh.
CYPRESS, Calif. - The Chosen Vron was a two-time winner in Grade 3 stakes as a 3-year-old in 2021, but he is unlikely to be tried in those sort of races in coming months.
After The Chosen Vron won Saturday’s $75,000 E.B. Johnston Stakes for California-bred milers at Los Alamitos, trainer and co-owner Eric Kruljac said the statebred division has greater appeal.
“The main thing is to keep him around as long as we can,” Kruljac said in the winner’s circle. “I don’t think we’ll try anything graded anytime soon.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Nest, who won both the Grade 1 Alabama and Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga this summer, returned to the work tab Saturday morning, breezing an easy half-mile in 50.45 seconds over the Belmont Park training track.
Nest, the clear leader of the 3-year-old filly division, worked outside of Al’s Rocket. They went their opening quarter in 24.60 seconds and galloped out five furlongs in 1:03.29.
Jessica Pyfer, the champion apprentice jockey of 2021 who has struggled to gain mounts this year, plans to start working as an in-house television commentator at Santa Anita this fall while continuing to ride.
“I still love riding and the horses I’m riding and the people I ride for,” she said. “I don’t want to quit, but I’m looking at other options.
“It’s been a hard time since losing my bug. I want to learn different aspects of the industry.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York-bred 2-year-old filly Maple Leaf Mel, who won the Seeking the Ante Stakes at Saratoga 16 days after winning her maiden, will be given off the remainder of the year and point to a 3-year-old campaign in 2023, trainer Jeremiah Englehart said Friday.
