Month: June 2022

It was an action-packed evening at Horseshoe Indianapolis Saturday with the 8th annual World Jockey Challenge taking place over the nine-race card. Action came down to the wire, but Team Puerto Rico emerged on top with 48 points over Team USA to claim their second straight victory in the event.

A total of eight teams competed for their countries and Puerto Rico got off to a fast start with a win from apprentice jockey Andrea Rodriguez. Team Panama, which consisted of Santo Sanjur and Marcelino Pedroza Jr., rallied to take the lead with a one-two finish in the second, but blazing back to take the lead was Puerto Rico with a pair of wins from Jockey Joe Ramos. Marcelino Pedroza Jr. retook the lead for Panama in the evening's fourth race.

Just when it looked like it would be a two-team finish to the end, Team USA began to pour it on, getting wins from apprentice jockey Gage Holmes and Jockey Tommy Pompell. Going into the final race, Puerto Rico held a slight edge over Team USA and completed their victory by two points for the title.

“This means a lot to me because I started from the very bottom in Puerto Rico,” said Ramos, who is currently in second place on the leaderboard this season. “We all tried very hard, and it was a team effort. We love to win this for our country.”

In addition to Rodriguez and Ramos, Jockeys Sammy Bermudez and Joshua Morales added points to the tally for Team Puerto Rico. All four were in the winner's circle following the event for the trophy presentation. Other jockeys from Puerto Rico who are part of Horseshoe Indianapolis' jockey colony but did not ride on the Saturday card were Edgar Morales, Bryan Rivera, Orlando Mojica and Rafael Mojica.

Other countries represented in the 8th annual World Jockey Challenge included England, who had a win by Jack Gilligan, Peru, represented by Fernando De La Cruz, and Mexico, represented by Jose Beltran, Edgar Diaz, Manny Esquivel, Juan Marquez (winner of the last race), Daniel Martinez, Eddie Perez, Giovani Vazquez-Gomez, Rolando Del Rio Pina, and German Rodriguez.

Other members of Team USA who put points on the board included E.T. Baird, Erik Esqueda, Lindsey Hebert, Dex Mitchell, DeShawn Parker, Rodney Prescott, and Shanley Jackson.

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The Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships Series (MATCH) returns to Parx Racing Tuesday with two turf events that are part of the second leg of the 2022 series.

The pair of $100,000 stakes—the Neshaminy and Bensalem, both at 1 1/16 miles—are part of an 11-race program that includes the third leg of two starter allowance sprint series tied to points and bonus money. The Neshaminy and Bensalem are races 8 and 10, respectively. First post time is set for 12:55 p.m. (ET).

The Neshaminy (Filly and Mare Long—Turf division) attracted Deciding Vote, who won the Dahlia Stakes, first leg of her division, in April at Laurel Park. Owned and bred by William Pape and trained by Edward Graham at Fair Hill, Deciding Vote won the Dahlia in her first start of the year to run her career record to 4-2-2 in 10 starts on grass.

The 5-year-old mare by Mr. Speaker will be ridden again by Angel Suarez. The Dahlia was her first start in stakes company.

Also entered in the Neshaminy are Respect the Valleys' Out of Sorts, a Brittany Russell trainee who finished a troubled fifth in the Dahlia; Dede McGehee's Gladys, who was third in the Hillsborough Stakes (G2) at Tampa Bay Downs in March and exits an allowance victory at Churchill Downs; and Timory Ridall's Tic Tic Tic Boom, who is trained by Alan Bedard and overcame traffic to finish a good second in a May 31 allowance race at Parx, where she is based.

The Neshaminy drew a field of 10 that includes one main-track-only runner.

Bruno Schickedanz' Mandate, second in the Henry Clark Stakes at Laurel in his last start in April, is one of 11 (two main-track-only) horses entered the Bensalem (3-Year-Olds and Up Long—Turf division). Based at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course with trainer Robert Johnston, Mandate is second in the MATCH division standings given his strong performance in the Henry Clark behind the highly-regarded Arnaud Delacour trainee Chez Pierre.

Mandate, a 5-year-old Blame gelding, last fall won the Artie Schiller Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack at 44-1 under Andrew Wolfsont, who was aboard for the Henry Clark and is named again for the Bensalem.

Delacour, a regular participant in MATCH Series events, has entered Mark Grier's Eons, a five-time winner on turf with earnings thus far of more than $430,000.

Also entered in the Bensalem are Runnymore Racing's Beacon Hill, a close fourth last time out in the Dinner Party Stakes (G2) at Pimlico Race Course; and Wind N' Leaves Farm's Parx-based Mt. Suribachi, who is 4-for-8 with a pair of seconds on grass and prepped for the Bensalem in a Monmouth Park allowance test in late May in his first start of 2022.

Parx will host all four divisions of MATCH action this year on Monday, Oct. 3, which is the fifth and final leg of the series. The June leg was split between Parx and Penn National, which will offer two dirt-sprint division stakes the evening of Friday, June 14.

The MATCH Series bonus money distribution for 2022 offers up to $92,500 per division and $30,000 for the overall champion by points. For each division, first place pays $30,000 to the owner and $15,000 to the trainer; for second, $20,000/$10,000; and for third, $10,000/$7,500. For the overall champion, the owner receives an additional $20,000 and the trainer $10,000.

The Maryland Horse Breeders Association, Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association and Virginia Thoroughbred Association have each agreed to offer $5,000 bonuses to breeders based on the performances of horses in the series for a potential total of $30,000. Pennsylvania and Virginia will recognized the top male and female state-bred runners by overall points earned, while Maryland will award bonuses to the top Maryland-bred and Maryland-sired runners by overall points earned.

For the 2022 MATCH Series schedule and rules, click here.

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