Claudio Gonzalez | Horse Racing Free Tips

Monmouth Meet Ends With Third Straight Year Of Average Handle Increase

Monmouth Park continued an upward trend by showing an increase in average total handle and average on-track handle for the third straight year as the 51-day meet came to a close Sunday. Paco Lopez claimed his 10th riding title and Claudio Gonzalez was the leading trainer for the second straight summer.

The average total handle was $4,032,648 this year, an 11.4 percent increase over last year's average of $3,620,719.

The on-track handle rose 15 percent to $340,257 compared to the 2022 average of $295,896.

In addition, the average field size of 7.71 was the largest since 2015.

“We are grateful to our fans, horsemen, stakeholders and especially Governor Murphy and the entire state legislature,” said Dennis Drazin, chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, operators of Monmouth Park. “To see our across-the-board numbers, year after year, continue to show large increases is a direct result of the purse supplement, the hard work of all our employees, and of course, the racing fans.

“We have witnessed a continued growth of not just the breeding program in New Jersey, but an overall attraction by nationwide horsemen to ensure Monmouth Park is on their summer calendar.

“Not only has the racing office done an amazing job working with our horsemen and ensuring the best possible product to the racing fans, but the same can be said for all our employees. From group sales to admissions, from mutuels to marketing, and of course operations and accounting. I am so appreciative to have such amazing people all working together for the betterment of Monmouth Park.

“We will take this year as a success and continue to build on this next year and for many years to come.”

The GI TVG.com Haskell S. saw a record handle of $21,359,642 for the 14-race card.

Lopez easily captured the Monmouth Park riding title for the ninth time in the past 11 years with 76 winners. His 10 overall titles are second only to Joe Bravo's 13 in track history.

Gonzalez backed up his first training title at the track in 2022 with an outstanding meet as the runaway winner this year. His 46 winners were more than double the total of his nearest competitor.

Klaravich Stables finished as the leading owner with 13 wins, including victories in the GIII WinStar Matchmaker S., the GIII Molly Pitcher S. and the GIII Eatontown S.

Madison Olver and Luis Rivera, Jr. tied for honors as the leading apprentice at the meet with 17 wins apiece.

Thoroughbred racing in New Jersey shifts to the Meadowlands in East Rutherford for a 10-day, all-turf meet that starts Friday, Sept. 15. The meet will run for five consecutive Fridays and Saturdays.

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Jorge Hernandez Wins First U.S. Race

Jockey Jorge F. Hernandez captured his first win in the United States when guiding Queen Cadence to victory in the first race at Laurel Park Sunday.

A multiple group-stakes winning jockey in his native Chile, the 33-year-old Hernandez's first domestic win came in his 27th mount. He also finished fourth on Shoulda Had It for owner-trainer Mario Serey, Jr. in Sunday's second race.

“I am really happy. I was waiting for it. After having five seconds in a month, I wanted to get that first win out of the way,” Hernandez said through fellow jockey Angel Cruz. “It's special.”

Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both also named Jorge, Hernandez began riding at the age of 16 prior to entering the Blanco Encalada Riders School. Standing just 4-foot-7, Hernandez quickly became one of Chile's top riders and earned the nickname, 'El Bomba.' He said he won 960 races in his home country, including Group 1, 2 and 3 stakes.

“My career was awesome over there, but I wanted to try something different in the United States,” Hernandez said.

Brought to Laurel by Claudio Gonzalez, Maryland's overall leading trainer six straight years who also hails from Chile, Hernandez had five seconds and one third from his first 26 mounts. He made his North American debut Jan. 6, finishing fifth on Gonzalez-trained God is Love. Seventeen of Hernandez's mounts have come for Gonzalez.

“Claudio brought me from Chile,” Hernandez said. “I want to thank Claudio and all the other trainers that have given me the opportunity since I've been here. I'm so happy for the opportunity Claudio gave me. He opened the door for me to come here.”

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Handle Jumps 25% at Monmouth; Lopez, Gonzalez Take Meet Titles

Monmouth Park showed a 25.2% increase in total handle and a 16.07% increase in on-track handle, while Paco Lopez won his ninth riding title and Claudio Gonzalez earned his first training title as the Jersey Shore track closed out its 77th season Sunday.

Total handle was $217,243,199 this summer compared to $173,511,611 a year ago. On-track handle was $17,753,794 in 2022 compared to $15,216,978 a year ago.

Total attendance was 368,101. Monmouth ran 60 live days of racing this year compared to 55 a year ago.

“We're extremely pleased by the increase in handle for the 2022 meet, which we feel is a reflection of the quality of the product we were able to offer and the commitment from the horsemen to our program,” said Dennis Drazin, Chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, operators of Monmouth Park. “The numbers show the strength of our product and the willingness of bettors to wager on it. As we look forward to 2023, we want Monmouth Park fans and horsemen to know they can count on our ongoing commitment with additional facilities upgrades and to the highest quality of racing we can offer.”

Thoroughbred racing in New Jersey now shifts to the Meadowlands Racetrack for a nine-day all-turf meet that gets underway Friday, Sept. 23, and runs through Saturday, Oct. 22. First race post time throughout the meet will be 7 p.m.

Lopez, 36, easily outdistanced the competition with 91 winners. His nine riding titles leave him behind only Joe Bravo's 13 for the most in Monmouth Park history. He punctuated his latest title with a four-winner day on Sunday.

“Every title for anyone I think is special,” said Lopez. “It's going to be hard to catch Joe Bravo but I'm going to try. It's not going to be easy. But I am going to enjoy this one. Winning the title at Monmouth Park is always special for me. I'm very grateful to all of the owners and trainers who put me up on horses and helped me have success.”

Gonzalez, who started his career at Monmouth Park as an assistant to Ben Perkins, Jr. in 1995, owns 16 training titles at Laurel and two at Pimlico. He finished with 32 winners, three better than runner-up Kelly Breen.

“I started here. I still feel like this is my home,” Gonzalez said of Monmouth Park. “I feel this one is special for me. I really wanted to win the title here this year, especially after we got off to such a fast start. And we got it. I'm very happy. I have a great crew of workers. Any time you win a title it's a team effort.”

Leading owner wound up as a four-way tie with eight winners between Bergen Racing, Dave Gruskos, Monster Racing and the partnership of Joseph and Gayle Ioia and Chuck Spina.

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New Face Narrowly Takes Laurel Summer Title

In the last race on the final day of Laurel Park's 2022 summer meet, trainer Rudy Sanchez-Salomon edged Claudio Gonzalez by one win, 19-18, to earn his first career training title, breaking their weekend tie.

“It's been a great meet,” Sanchez-Salomon said. “Everything has been great for us. We've been very blessed. I thank God
and thank my help and thank everybody.”

Jevian Toledo and Horacio Karamanos finished tied for leading jockey honors with 31 wins apiece. They also shared Laurel's summer meet title in 2020.

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