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Peterson, Krone, To Aqueduct Fall Meet

Ferrin Peterson, the second-leading rider at Monmouth this summer, plans to begin riding at the Aqueduct Fall Meeting when it opens November 6, she said Monday, adding that she intended to ride through the winter at the track.

Jockeys joining the colony need to test negative for COVID in New York twice the week leading up to the meet, and to continue to follow strict protocols thereafter.

Peterson, 28, has made a splash this summer on the Jersey Shore, for both on and off-track reasons. She rode 42 winners at the summer meet, including two four-win days, and finished just off the pace of perennial leading jockey Paco Lopez. Her agent is former jockey Julie Krone, stepping into a new career after her Hall of Fame worthy riding career. Additionally, Peterson graduated from U.C. Davis with a degree in veterinary medicine in 2019, making her arguably the best-educated jockey in history.

Peterson had originally considered going to Tampa for the winter, she said, but a strong showing after she lost her bug midway through the Monmouth meet led her to reconsider.

“We want to be where the top trainers and riders are,” said Peterson. “We had a really good meet at Monmouth and we feel the next step is to go to New York. Julie had success there, and good contacts for people, and there is a lot of respect for Julie Krone there.”

“I always wanted to get to New York and this opportunity presented itself, so it seems like the opportune time.”

Krone, who rode in New York from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s, said that the decision was a little bit of reading the tea leaves.

“When opportunities show themselves and you think you’re going another direction, but every single thing points you a different way, you have to listen to that,” said Krone. “We came off an amazing, strong Monmouth meet riding for a lot of the Monmouth-based trainers, having two four-win days and winning a stakes race,” she said. “Ferrin is so strong and so focused and she has improved so much.”

Krone said she had caught the eye of no less a judge than Ramon Dominguez.

“I was talking to Ramon last night,” Krone said. “He watches races all the time, and he was saying he has been watching her and that she has improved so much over the summer and she looks so good on a horse. When you see her ride, you say, `wow, she is going to make it and is going to be along the lines of a Julie Krone or Rosie Napravnik’. Ramon said, `she is ready to go to Aqueduct for the fall and winter after a summer like that.'”

“Having ridden at Aqueduct, I think the inner track will suit her,” Krone concluded. “She’s good at saving ground, and at having a horse left for the stretch run.”

Said Peterson, “I’m really looking forward to being around top trainers and high-quality horses. We want to compete with the best.”

The post Peterson, Krone, To Aqueduct Fall Meet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Sunday’s Golden Hour Pick 4 Rewards Two Winning Tickets With $35,628 Payout

In an incredible twist of pari-mutuel fate, Wedding Groom, a handy winner at odds of 4-5 of Santa Anita's eighth race on Sunday, keynoted an unlikely $35,628.60 bonanza as there were two winning tickets in the one dollar Golden Hour Pick 4, which is comprised of the final two races at both Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields. What is equally astonishing is that the one dollar parlay in the four-race sequence would've paid, by comparison, a paltry $3,347.

Instituted at the beginning of the current Autumn Meet on Sept. 25, the Golden Hour Pick Four complements the five dollar Golden Hour Double and also features a low 15 percent takeout.

With Umberto Rispoli up, Wedding Groom sailed to victory by 8 ¼ lengths and paid $3.80 to win. Leg Two in the Golden Hour Pick 4 was run next at Golden Gate, as Shot of a Lifetime, with Cristobal Herrera up, won their eighth race at 7-1 and paid $16.20 to win.

The Golden Four then shifted back to Arcadia, where longshot I Will Not, with Mario Gutierrez aboard, took the ninth race at 10-1 and paid $22.40.

The Golden Hour Pick 4 concluded with Golden Gate's ninth race and it was won by longshot Southern Thunder. Off at 19-1 with Hugo Herrera, Southern Thunder paid $40.00 to win.

Beginning with Santa Anita's eighth race, the winning numbers, with prices in Sunday's one dollar Golden Pick 4 were (9) $3.80, (5) $16.20, (1) $22.40 & (6) $40.00.

Monday's Golden Hour Pick 4 will begin with Santa Anita's seventh race, which has an assigned post time of 4:13 p.m. PT.

First post time for an eight-race card today at Santa Anita is at 1 p.m. Santa Anita's races, including the final two races from Golden Gate Fields, can be viewed live and free of charge at santaanita.com.

The post Sunday’s Golden Hour Pick 4 Rewards Two Winning Tickets With $35,628 Payout appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Hall of Fame Trainer Gary Jones Passes Away at 76

Trainer Gary Jones, who was inducted into the United States Racing Hall of Fame in 2014, passed away Sunday at his home in Del Mar, California. His son, trainer Marty Jones, said his father had been in hospice care and died of natural causes. He was 76.

“He was an amazing person, first and foremost,” his son said. “For me, that’s the most important thing. On top of that, he was a great horse trainer.”

Gary Jones was the son of longtime California-based trainer Farrell Jones and took over his father’s stable upon his retirement in 1975. He picked right up where his father left off, winning with the first horse he ever saddled, King Wako, on Dec. 26, 1975 at Santa Anita, and quickly established himself as one of the leading trainers in Southern California. In 1976, he had 47 winners at the Santa Anita meet, breaking the record that had been set by his father. It was the first of 15 meet titles he would win.

Over the years, Jones continued to pile up stakes wins, many of them with fellow Hall of Famer Chris McCarron aboard.

“Gary was family,” McCarron said. “He was the first major trainer in Southern California to give me a real shot. I developed a relationship more quickly with Gary than any other trainer out there and I will be forever grateful for his support. I was tickled to death when he got inducted into the Hall of Fame years ago. I am so glad it happened before he passed away. As the years went on, we became incredibly close and our families got very close. I am very saddened by this loss.”

Though Jones won stakes with numerous horses, he will be best remembered for two–Turkoman and Best Pal.

Turkoman enjoyed his best season in 1986, when he was named Champion Older Male. He won the GI Widener H., the GII Oaklawn H., the GI Marlboro Cup H. and was second in both the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup and the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“Turkoman did not care about running,” Jones told the Del Mar Times in 2014. “I had to breeze him an eighth of a mile the morning of a race to let him know he was going to run.”

After starting his career for Ian Jory, Best Pal was turned over to Jones in 1991, midway through his 3-year-old season. After a win in the GII Swaps S., Best Pal, owned by John C. Mabee, won the inaugural running of the Pacific Classic.

“It was a big deal at the time,” Jones said in 2014. “The race was Mr. Mabee’s dream. There was quite a bit of pressure.”

“Best Pal had a limited amount of ability, but he was all desire. He never wanted to lose–a classy son of a gun. And he was a character,” Jones added.

Jones also trained the outstanding fillies Kostroma (Ire), who won the GI Beverly D. S., the GI Yellow Ribbon Invitational S. and the GI Santa Barbara H., and Lakeway, a daughter of Seattle Slew who won four Grade I races. Jones won his first $1-million race when capturing the 1983 GI Hollywood Futurity with Fali Time.

Though just 52 at the time, Jones retired in 1996 after suffering from heart problems.

“He had some heart conditions he was dealing with at the time and made that decision along with my mom,” Marty Jones said. “He felt like it was time to turn the page.”

The younger Jones took over his father’s stable after he retired.

It was not until 18 years later that Jones made the Hall of Fame.

“I was flabbergasted when they told me,” he said in 2014 after learning that he was to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. “I had been passed over a few times already, and I had decided I probably wouldn’t be making it.”

Jones won 1,465 races during his career and his horses earned a total of $52,672,611. He won 102 graded stakes.

In addition to his son Marty, Jones is survived by his wife, Joan, and another son, David, who is an attorney.

The post Hall of Fame Trainer Gary Jones Passes Away at 76 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Farewell to Enable, Senior Horseback Riders, and More Must-Click Links of the Week

Welcome to our link roundup, where we share our favorite stories from around the Internet! Know a link that should be included? Email it to americasbestracing@gmail.com! Imagine. Imagine making a typo and earning $600,000 from your goof. That’s what happened to an Australian horseplayer this week! (Sportscasting)