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Turf Racing From Gulfstream, Santa Anita Highlights Friday’s Stronach 5

Turf races from Santa Anita Park and Gulfstream Park lead a competitive Stronach 5 Friday afternoon with a low 12-percent takeout.

The Stronach 5, which continues to offer a strong return on investment, will start at 4:16 ET and will also include races from Laurel Park and Golden Gate Fields.

Laurel's ninth race, a $10,000 claimer for 4-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 mile, starts the popular wager, and it drew a wide-open field of 10 with four horses running for new barns off claims. Dr. Ferber breaks from the rail after being claimed last time out by Kieron Magee, who is 28-percent off a claim. Pay The Kid goes out first time for Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon, 50 percent first off the claim, and Souper Emperor returns to the barn of Mike Trombetta, 12 percent off the claim.

The Stronach 5 moves next to California and Santa Anita's third race, a mile event for filly and mare maiden claimers. Awesome Pamela comes into the race off a second-place finish last time out against similar company at the distance. A neck behind Awesome Pamela last time out was Medusa's Gaze, who breaks from the rail and has placed in six of nine starts at the distance, and a length back was Glory of Chrome, who closed well despite a wide trip. Cayton Kid goes out first time off the claim for Gary Stute.

Gulfstream's ninth race, a mile turf event for fillies and mares with a $35,000 tag, will serve as the third leg of the sequence. Una Luna gets Paco Lopez in the saddle and will make her first start for trainer Steve Klesaris since finishing off the board in the Claiming Crown Tiara. My Sweet Wife enters off a second-place finish last out against similar company. Chose to Be Happy, first or second in seven of 10 turf starts, goes out for the first time in five months for Eddie Plesa Jr.

The fourth leg of the sequence, Golden Gate's third race, is a starter allowance at six furlongs for fillies and mares. Holy Zags will break from the rail and will make his first start for a new barn and trainer Jonathan Wong off an eighth-month layoff. Wong also saddles She Said Yes, fifth last time out. Daniela Bella broke her maiden last out against maiden special weight company and enters with a record of 6-1-4-0.

Santa Anita's fourth race, a starter optional claimer at six furlongs on the turf, concludes the Stronach 5. Cherubic Factor and Algeria are the only starters in the seven-horse field with a win on the turf. Doug O'Neill will saddle two horses for the first time in Explosive and Cotopaxi, who was claimed for $50,000 last time out.

Friday's races and sequence

Leg 1 –Laurel Race 9: (10 entries, 1 1/16 mile) 4:16 ET, 1:16 PT
Leg 2 –Santa Anita Race 3: (8 entries, 1 mile) 4:33 ET, 1:33 PT
Leg 3 – Gulfstream Race 9: (12 entries, 1-mile turf) 4:42 ET, 1:42 PT
Leg 4 – Golden Gate Race 3: (8 entries, 6 furlongs) 4:49 ET, 1:49 PT
Leg 5 –Santa Anita Race 4: (7 entries, 6 furlongs turf) 5:04 ET, 5:04 PT

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

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Leading Maryland Trainer Claudio Gonzalez Dipping Toes Into South Florida Waters

Claudio Gonzalez, Maryland's overall leading trainer by wins the past five years, is overseeing a string of horses in South Florida for the first time during Gulfstream Park's 2021-'22 Championship Meet in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Gonzalez, a 45-year-old native of Chile and cancer survivor, currently has eight horses at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. He brought his first group down Jan. 13 and saddled his first starter of the winter, Magic Stable's I'm Listening, in Saturday's third race.

An 8-year-old New Jersey-bred mare, I'm Listening finished third in the 1 1/16-mile claiming event over Gulfstream's Tapeta surface. Gonzalez said the addition of the all-weather surface was a major factor in coming to Florida.

“I have some horses that I believe will like it, that's why I wanted to be here. The weather is great. The winter is tough in the north because of the weather,” he said. “It gives you good options. In the winter, if you have horses for grass or you can try the Tapeta, it will be good.”

In addition to Palm Meadows, Gonzalez continues to maintain a full barn at Laurel Park with an additional string at historic Pimlico Race Course. He owns or shares 18 individual meet titles at the two tracks, sweeping all three full meets in 2021 and leading the state with 110 wins and more than $3.6 million in purse earnings.

“This was my first week here and I wanted to see how I can make it work better, to see what days I can be here and what days I can stay there,” Gonzalez said. “The good thing is I have good assistants in all three places, so I am confident in them.”

Gonzalez has led Maryland in annual wins since 2017, averaging 106.4 per season. He earned his 1,000th career victory with He's a Shooter Oct. 14 at Laurel and ended 2021 with a lifetime-best $5,323,750 in purse earnings to go along with 161 wins.

“Like I say all the time, if you don't have good help you're done,” he said. “When you have the right help and you're confident in everybody, everything is going to be good.”

Gonzalez's next runner at Gulfstream is Magic Stable's Sloe Gin Biz in a five-furlong claiming sprint over the Tapeta Thursday, Jan. 27. The 3-year-old gelding drew far outside Post 8 and is third choice on the morning line at 4-1.

“We're going little by little, step by step. We'll come and take a look at the condition book and see what we have here,” Gonzalez said. “It's not easy here. It's tough to win races anywhere, but here they come from everywhere. But, we're very excited to try.”

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Attorney For Suspended Jockey Mychel Sanchez: ‘He Is Not A Criminal … He’s A Person Who Needs Help’

The case against jockey Mychel J. Sanchez, suspended for 60 days by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission for betting against his own horses, is not the story many of us might think it is, according to the rider's attorney, Alan Pincus.

Pincus confirmed that Sanchez opened a TVG account in his own name in late December 2021. He said that Sanchez made numerous bets over a period of about 10 days, including wagering on horses that were racing against his own mounts. But the attorney said Sanchez rode to win in those races and in fact registered two upsets at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa., during the period in question, one at 12-1 odds and the other at 18-1.

“These are extremely weird circumstances,” Pincus said. “You can never totally understand how the human mind works. People who may appear to be on top of the world – like the tennis star Naomi Osaka – can be suffering from depression. You don't know.

“Mychel Sanchez is suffering from some type of depression,” he said. “I'm not a psychiatrist, but he's someone who needs help. He started betting. Not in any cheating way, just as a way of coping with the pain he was experiencing. He's been feeling low for some time and it's been building up in him.

“He's doing this, and fortunately TVG notices who it is and what's going on and they alert the racing commission,” said Pincus. “It's inexplicable. He had races where he actually bet against his own horse, then went out and won the race. One horse paid $37 to win. Another race he bets against himself and he won the race on a horse that paid $27. He's not pulling horses, he's not doing it for evil purposes, he's doing it for crazy purposes, inexplicable purposes. But obviously it is against the rules and you can't do that.”

Sanchez rode the $38.60 winner Jakarta at Parx on Dec. 28 and the $27.40 winner No Fooling Dude on Dec. 29, according to Equibase charts.

TVG confirmed its role in alerting racing officials of Sanchez's wagering activities.

“As part of TVG's regular monitoring of new accounts and account activity, members of our team noticed wagers that warranted us suspending the account in question and alerting the regulatory authorities in the states where those races occurred,” a statement from the advance-deposit wagering platform said. “We are cooperating fully with the authorities investigating these activities.”

Pincus said the penalty was fair, given the circumstances.

“If you are betting against your own horse and stiff him, now you are talking about being barred forever,” he said. “That didn't happen.”

Sanchez has been ordered to undergo treatment facilitated by the Jockeys' Guild, Pincus said.

“He has started a treatment program,” Pincus said. “He is not a criminal. He was not pulling horses. He's a person who needs help.”

He also said regulators in Maryland and New York may be investigating the matter. Sanchez rode at several tracks in December, including Parx, Laurel Park in Maryland, Aqueduct in New York, and Gulfstream Park in Maryland.

A native of Venezuela who first rode in the U.S. in 2013, Sanchez was co-leading rider at Parx in 2019 and leading rider in 2020. He was a top 10 rider at Monmouth Park, Laurel Park and Parx in 2021. Sanchez compiled 940 career wins in the U.S. from 6,097 mounts.

1/ST Racing, which operates Laurel and Gulfstream, issued a statement saying Sanchez has been suspended indefinitely from riding at its tracks.

“After learning of the serious allegations of illegal wagering on the part of jockey Mychel Sanchez, effective immediately 1/ST Racing will institute an indefinite ban against him from training or racing at any 1/ST Racing venue,” the statement said. “Any decision regarding Sanchez's reinstatement will be made at a later time. 1/ST Racing stands on the principles of integrity and accountability, and we believe there is no place in our sport for this kind of unethical and illegal activity.”

“Although he needs to be punished and needs treatment,” Pincus said, “it shouldn't be fatal punishment.”

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Stakes Winning Colt Named For President Biden Entered In Two-Turn Allowance At Laurel

When The Elkstone Group homebred Joe captured the Maryland Juvenile Dec. 18 at Laurel Park, it provided founder Stuart Grant with an ideal Christmas gift to bestow the colt's namesake, a longtime family friend who also calls Delaware home.

“I don't know where it's displayed, but I know the President has a win photo from [Joe's] stakes win,” Grant said. “The Biden family and us have been close for 30 years. I'm hoping it's in the White House, but I don't know for sure.”

Joe, based at Laurel with trainer Mike Trombetta, is entered to make his sophomore debut in Sunday's fourth race, an optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up going around two turns at about 1 1/16 miles. Regular rider Victor Carrasco gets the call from the rail in a field of six.

“He's doing great. We are bringing him along slowly. We'll look for the best spot for him,” Grant said. “Especially in a six-horse field, I don't really care where he is. If it was 12 horses, I might not want the inside or the outside, but he's a good horse.”

Joe is also nominated to the first stakes in Maryland for 3-year-olds, the $100,000 Spectacular Bid, sprinting seven furlongs. Originally scheduled for Jan. 22, it is one of six stakes worth $550,000 in purses that was pushed back to Saturday, Jan. 29 at Laurel.

“With him being a Maryland-bred, there's not much difference in the purse money to us than the stakes. Right now we may wind up being in the allowance and we'll just see what happens,” Grant said. “Assuming the track is good and everything's in good shape, I don't know why we wouldn't run him there. There are plenty of stakes. He's a young horse, and we want to build his confidence. We think he can do really good things. We're taking it easy with him.”

By Declaration of War out of the Arch mare Battle Bridge, Joe is a half-brother to Grade 3-placed turf router Irony of Reality who was unveiled in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight turf sprint Oct. 24 at Laurel, where he got bumped at the break and wound up fifth in a field of nine. Moved to the dirt and stretched out to a mile for his next start, Joe sat just off the lead before taking over after six furlongs and drawing clear to a 3 ¼-length triumph Nov. 21.

“We liked him. Donna Freyer down at the Camden Training Center breaks them for me and she always liked him,” Grant said. “He didn't get up to Mike that quickly. It took him a little bit longer to develop. We don't push horses unnecessarily, and when Mike got him he was really happy with him. He's the one who said [he'd] like try him first on turf while we still have turf. We ran on that once and we brought him back to the dirt. Mike's done a good job.”

Next up was the seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile, where Joe found himself trailing all but two of 12 horses in the early going before uncorking a steady rally on the far outside to gain the lead in mid-stretch and win by 1 ½ lengths in his stakes debut.

“It's tempting after a stakes win like that to say, 'OK, go put him on the [Kentucky] Derby trail.' I'm not sure that's the best thing for this horse, so we're going to continue to bring him along slowly,” he added. “We're going to target the right spots. We'll move from this month's race to presumably a stakes race. If he wins the allowance, he won't have a lot of choices. We'll put him in some overnight stakes and see how he does with that kind of company. It's a long summer with a nice 3-year-old. We'll find some good places for him.”

Joe is actually the second horse Grant named for Biden. He also bred V P Joe, a son of Sky Mesa that won three of 21 starts between 2009 and 2012.

“This one, I tried to name Ridin With Biden but someone took it,” Grant said. “I said, 'We'll just go with what we call him,' and lo and behold it was available.”

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