Month: October 2022

After a solid showing at Monmouth Park this summer, jockey Hector Diaz, Jr. was looking for more of the same for the Monmouth-at-Meadowlands meet. Turns out the 33-year-old from Puerto Rico undersold himself.

Entering the final weekend of the all-turf meet, Diaz sits atop the rider standings with seven winners from 23 mounts. He is listed to ride all six races on Friday, with closing day for the abbreviated meet on Saturday.

First race post time both nights is 7 p.m.

“I tried to take some momentum from the meet I had at Monmouth Park. I think I had a good meet at Monmouth this year,” said Diaz, who finished fifth in the jockey standings at the Jersey Shore oval with 33 winners. “It was a tough meet because it was such a good jockey colony this year. But I think I held my own.

“I was looking forward to the Meadowlands because I always seem to do well on the turf there.”

Diaz, who started riding in 2016, says there is something about riding on the grass that seems to bring out the best in him.

“I think I'm better on the turf because you can win races even if you aren't on the best horse,” he said. “If you pay attention, are smart tactically and take advantage when other riders make mistakes, you can win. It's more about giving your horse the best trip on the turf.

“I didn't want to set my goals too high for the Meadowlands because you never know what can happen. But I have been happy so far.”

A year after posting a personal best with 104 wins, Diaz sits at 75 for 2022. But he doesn't put surpassing last year's total beyond his reach.

He has been riding at Parx, Delaware, in Maryland and at the Meadowlands since the end of the Monmouth Park meet and will head to Florida following the conclusion of the Monmouth-at-Meadowlands meet to ride at Tampa Downs. That meet starts Nov, 23.

“I still have a chance to do it,” he said of setting a new personal best. “The main thing is staying healthy. When you are healthy it just comes down to hard work.”

Diaz' summer at Monmouth included a pair of stakes victories (the Presious Passion and the Oceanport Stakes) for trainer Chad Brown.

And let there be no doubt: If he winds up as the leading rider during the Monmouth-at-Meadowlands meet, despite just seven full racing cards, he will call that a riding title earned.

“There are some good riders at this meet so finishing on top would mean a lot,” he said. “For me, it would count as a riding title.”

The post ‘It Just Comes Down To Hard Work’: Hector Diaz, Jr. Hopes To Finish On Top At Monmouth-At-Meadowlands appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trainer Clayton Douglas told anyone who would listen in the build up to the TAB Everest that his unbeaten 3-year-old Giga Kick was a star in the making, and he was vindicated with the biggest win of his career at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

And the 27-year-old former jockey, who has only been training a couple of years, says the best is yet to come from Giga Kick who was only having his fifth race start but performed on the big stage before 46,221 people.

“I've ridden a lot of good horses in my time, and this horse just does things that people haven't seen,'' Douglas said.

“I noted that on Tuesday and people probably thought I was being a bit cocky, but Craig Williams had a lot of faith in this horse.

“He's a star and I'm so rapt for the owners, rapt for Jonathon Munz and (slot holder) James Harron, he put his neck on the line to take a three-year-old and do what he's done. It's great.

“There's a massive team behind me, I work very hard and I've got a great bunch of staff. To be honest, it's a bit of a whirlwind at the moment, but I'm very happy.”

It was a big punt by Harron to select Giga Kick on the back of a narrow, and on the face of it unimpressive, win in the Danehill Stakes a few weeks earlier but as he did in 2017 with Redzel his judgment was spot on.

The gelding settled well off a frantic pace and Craig Williams timed his run to perfection as Giga Kick rounded up Private Eye to win by a long neck with Mazu a half length away in third, just ahead of Nature Strip who for a fleeting moment looked the winner as he strode up after working at the 400m.

But the story of Nature Strip's defeat can be seen in the work he had to do early, running 10.37 between the 1000m and 800m, wide on the track.

“He's such a professional and you can see today, with the 53 kilos when ridden like that, he's electric,” Douglas said.

“It's a bit of a whirlwind, but he wasn't in the race to make the numbers up and I had a lot of faith in him. He's a star.

“Watch out, the new kid is on the block.”

Craig Williams turned down a ride in the Caulfield Cup to come to Sydney and partner Giga Kick keen to add an Everest to his trophy cabinet having run second on Vega Magic in the inaugural running in 2017.

Giga Kick reeled off the race's fastest last 600m of 34.34 (Punter's Intelligence) and his last 200m of 11.97 was clearly superior, and Williams was full of praise for how the young trainer prepared the horse.

“Clayton Douglas, you talk about how young of a trainer he is but he's well before his time,'' Williams said.

“I'm just lucky to have been part of the ride. My team around me, my family, thank you for everything throughout the years.

“This is a really big thrill. The inaugural running of it five years ago I finished second on Vega Magic and I thought we had unfinished business.

“He planned to give him a gap between his first and his next run into the Danehill at Flemington, he told me to come down and jump on him and Clayton said 'Craig this horse has absolutely improved four lengths. Come down and trial him'.

“'Actually we might not be 12 months behind schedule at all.' Then what he did the other day in the Danehill, and trusting Clayton as the horseman that he is, with a horse that he's got and given the opportunity from Pinecliff (connections) and of course James Harron (slot holder) who had a tough decision.

“Thanks for his support in our confidence in the horse but, again the equine athlete, the legend on this track today is Giga Kick.”

The post Scaling Everest: 27-Year-Old Former Jockey Saddles Giga Kick To Upset Top-Ranked Nature Strip appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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