Diego Saenz, Eduardo Ramirez Take Leading Rider, Trainer Titles At Evangeline

Diego Saenz took charge of the jockey standings with a five-win night on the first Friday of the Evangeline Downs meet and never looked back. Finishing off the season with a two-bagger, Saenz finished the season with 116 victories from 403 mounts, a 29 percent winning clip. With 88 runner ups and 58 show placings, Saenz hit the board with 65 percent of his mounts and brought in $1,872,243 in earnings.

Three other riders brought in over one million dollars for their connections with their mounts. Tim Thornton was second behind Saenz with $1,611,046, followed by Pedro Cotto, Jr. with $1,340,315 and Joe Stokes with $1,235,400.

The complete top 10 jockeys for the 2021 meet were: Diego Saenz (116 wins), Tim Thornton (100), Pedro Cotto, Jr. (81), Joe Stokes (66), Roberto Morales (38), Kevin Smith (38), Gerard Melancon (37), Ashley Broussard (34), Casey Fusilier (34) and Antonio Quiles (26).

The long reign of Karl Broberg as the top trainer at Evangeline Downs came to an end on Saturday night. Capping off the season with three victories on the closing night card, Eduardo Ramirez drew off to capture his first training title. Ramirez, a former assistant in the Broberg brigade, saddled 44 winners on the season. Winning at a 31 percent clip, Ramirez finished the season five wins ahead of Broberg. The Ramirez barn tallied $541,682 in purse winnings for the meet. Karl Broberg runners did lead in that category, bringing in $624,546 for the meet.

The complete top 10 in the trainer standings were: Eduardo Ramirez (44 wins), Karl Broberg (39), Juan Larrosa (33), Scott Gelner (30), Allen Landry (26), Keith Bourgeois (23), Sam Breaux (21), Dale White, Sr. (20), Rylee Grudzien (19) and Ron Faucheux (18). Of the trainers in the top ten, Bourgeois runners had the highest strike rates with 34 percent winners and 72 percent on the board from his 68 total starters.

Jimmy Johnson's Red Rose Racing fended off the challenge of End Zone Athletics, Inc. to bring home the title in the owner's race. Red Rose Racing starters won 30 races from 88 starts, while finishing second 10 times and third 10 times, for a 34 percent winning percentage and 57 percent in the money. End Zone Athletics, Inc. was active at the entry box with a meet leading 144 starters that tallied a second-best 28 winners. The End Zone Athletics, Inc. runners led in money won with $434,936 in earnings followed by Joe Alfredo Castillo with $361,925 and Red Rose Racing with $300,307.

The complete top 10 in the owner standing were: Red Rose Racing (30 wins), End Zone Athletics, Inc. (28), Joe Alfredo Castillo (19), Dale White, Sr. (16), Rylee Grudzien (15), Elite Thoroughbred Racing, LLC (12), Adriel Gonzalez (10), Whispering Oaks Farm, LLC (8), and a tie for ninth between George Santis and Sandy Badeaux with 7 wins apiece.

Evangeline Downs will be dark for a couple of weeks. Live racing resumes with the start of the American Quarter Horse meet on Wednesday, October 6. Post time for the 53-day season will be at 5:35pm Central Time.

For more information on Evangeline Downs, visit the track's website at www.evdracing.com. Evangeline Downs information can also be found on Twitter @EVDracing and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EvangelineDownsRacing.

Evangeline Downs Racetrack Casino and Hotel, a property of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD), features exciting casino action, live horse racing and fun dining experiences. Evangeline Downs is located in Opelousas, Louisiana, off I-49 on Cresswell Lane at Exit 18.

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Kentucky Downs Closes with Record Handle; Rosario Dominates Rider Standings

The FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs wrapped up Sunday with a nearly 24% rise in handle from the same period last year. A total of $74,088,532 was wagered via all-sources handle, up $14,260,088 (or 23.8%) from last year's total of $59,828,444, which was also a record at the time. Sunday's card of 10 races saw a handle of $13,899,277, third-highest at the all-turf track. Saturday's wagering of $20,849,967 on 11 races set a new mark for one day of racing at Kentucky Downs.

The big story of the six-day meet was jockey Joel Rosario's dominance over his fellow riders. He ran away with the leading jockey title, winning five races on the first day's 11-race card (Sept. 5). He won another five on Sept. 6, added just one on Sept. 8, two on Sept. 9, and none on Sept. 11, but finished strong with four on closing day. That gave him 17 wins, good for an astounding 26.5% of all the races at the meet.

Steve Asmussen, Brendan Walsh, and Michael Maker finished in a three-way tie for leading trainer, while Godolphin Stables captured the leading owner title.

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Joel Rosario’s 13 Wins A Meet Record At Kentucky Downs

Joel Rosario won three races Thursday to bring his meet-leading total to a track-record 13 with two days left to go in the six-day FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs.

Rosario got his record-breaking victory in Thursday's finale aboard the Wesley Ward-trained 2-year-old Castle Leoch. Rafael Bejarano first set the track standard with 12 wins at the 2004 meet. Florent Geroux also won a dozen in 2015 and 2016. Rosario bolted to the meet lead with a five-bagger on last Sunday's opening card and another five on Labor Day. He won a single race Wednesday and then two Thursday. Rosario is scheduled to ride nine races apiece on Saturday and Sunday's closing cards.

“My agent, Ron Anderson, thought we might have a good chance today, but you never know,” Rosario said. “Sometimes you have a good chance and you don't win. So I'm glad. We've been blessed the days we've been here, great opportunities. I'm glad I have an agent like Ron.”

A $17,000 purchase as a weanling at Keeneland's 2019 November sale, the 2-year-old colt Red Danger was the lowest-priced horse that Bonnie and Tommy Hamilton's Silverton Hill LLC purchased that year. Now the chestnut son of 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb could be on his way to being the Hamiltons' biggest money-earner.

With Luis Saez aboard, Red Danger wore down pacesetting favorite Kaufymaker and then held off Romancer for a three-quarters of a length victory in Thursday's $500,000 Global Tote Juvenile Sprint at the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs.

“We're so happy about this because he was the least expensive horse we bought that year,” Bonnie Hamilton said. “Phil Hager picked him out, so anything from there is gravy. He's done everything right, and just fun to have one. They don't come around very often…. That's a really great thing. I mean, we've bought them for more than that. But it encourages people to think, 'I have a racehorse without spending $100,000, $200,000.' Which we have.”

Kaufymaker, who took the lead in upper stretch after pushing a swift early pace, gave way to settle for third, another three-quarters of a length back in the field of eight 2-year-olds.

“It was perfect,” Saez said. “That was the trip we were planning to get. He's a come-from-behind horse. He broke good today. He was right there. The main thing was try to relax, let the speed go and sit behind the speed. When we came to the top of the stretch, he made the move. He was a little confused with the turf at the three-eighths because it's a little like dirt. But when we came to the top of the stretch he gave me that kick, so we got there on time.”

It was Saez' second victory ever at Kentucky Downs amid limited opportunities; his first coming in the 2018 Dueling Grounds Derby on Channel Cat. Brian Lynch also became the first trainer to win the Juvenile Sprint other than Wesley Ward, who won the first three runnings of America's richest 2-year-old turf stakes outside the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Red Danger finished fifth on dirt at Saratoga in his debut, then won at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf in his next start.

“He's really been a problem-free colt that just kept getting better,” Lynch said. “Every time we worked him leading up to his first race he just kept getting better. Never left an oat. Never had a pimple on him or a snotty nose. So we tried him on the dirt first time because he worked so well, but I always have a tendency to try my horses on the grass. So he ended up on the grass next time and won very impressively.

“We came back and had a work in between and the work was just fantastic. Mike Luzzi worked him for me up at Saratoga and he said, 'Not only did he work good, I just couldn't pull him up.' That gave me hope that we could press forward here in the 6 1/2 and gave us a glimmer of hope he could be Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Mile horse. This is an undulating sort of track, so 6 1/2 plays like seven.”

Red Danger covered 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.51, paying $7.20 as the third choice.

“The one bit of confidence I had going into this race is that I always felt he'd do his best running late,” Lynch said. “So when I saw him sort of get to the outside there and I could see him digging in, I always thought he'd close ground. Whether he was good enough to beat them, he wasn't going to back out of it. So it was great to see him prevail.”

Ward was vying to win the stakes for the third time in four years with a filly.

“She ran good. Did everything right. Just got outrun,” he said. “She ran a great race… She made the lead like she was supposed to. Maybe it's just a distance issue. She ran great and the winner ran tremendous.”

The start was delayed when No. 7 Detroit City reared in the gate, then twisted and had his front legs over the back doors of his gate stall, tossing jockey Adam Beschizza in the process. Even as Detroit City was extricated and burst out the back, No. 6 Pure Panic bolted out the front and ultimately also was scratched. Both Detroit City and Pure Panic walked off the track on their own. Trainer Jack Sisterson said Detroit City was unscathed. Beschizza's agent, Liz Morris, reported that the jockey also was OK.

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A loss at Saratoga Race Course last month resulted in a big win for Hendy Woods Thursday in the $400,000 One Dreamer Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

Hendy Woods, a Stonestreet Stables homebred, came from off the pace under Tyler Gaffalione to win by 4 ¼ lengths over Sweet Melania. The 4-year-old Uncle Mo filly covered the mile and 70 yards in 1:38.33 and paid $6.60 as the second choice in the field of 11 older fillies and mares. Alta's Award was third at 25-1. Dominga, the 2-1 favorite, was fifth, a head and a nose behind Alta's Award.

“Actually, I thought this was a tough race,” trainer Mark Casse said. “I was surprised with the ease that she won it. She was training really well. We lost a heart-breaker with her at Saratoga.”

That half-length loss in the listed De La Rose Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 8 turned out to be a timely defeat. If she had won that $120,000 race she would not have been eligible for the One Dreamer, which is restricted to horses that have not won a stakes this year. First-place money in the $120,000 De La Rose, won Regal Glory, was $66,000. Hendy Woods earned $233,120 in the One Dreamer, pushing her career earnings to $528,451.

Hendy Woods was Gaffalione's third winner of the day and fourth of the meet. His record through the first four days of the six-day meet is 4-7-4 from 33 starts. He is second in purse money earned to Joel Rosario, the record-setting runaway leader in wins, with $923,173.

“It started off a little slow but we just kept persevering,” Gaffalione said. “Our horses are showing well today in the big races. This filly was push-button the whole way. She broke sharp, put me in a great spot. It was just hang on, really. She really stretched it out beautifully. All the credit goes to Mark and his team.”

Gaffalione was up for the De La Rose, which the 4-year-old filly led late, but was overtaken.

“Last time she ran a big race,” he said. “You never want to lose, but it actually worked out because we were able to run in this.”

Sweet Melania led the way through opening fractions of 22.74 and 45.98 seconds. She was 1 1/12 lengths in front through six furlongs ion 1:10.28. Hendy Wood was never more than about three lengths off the pace, took over at the eighth pole and extended her advantage through the stretch.

In 2019, Casse and Gaffalione and Stonestreet won the One Dreamer with Hanalei Moon.

“This has been a good race,” Casse said. “We're going to try again next year.”

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Teen Phenom: How A High School Student Has Become Maryland’s Leading Rider

Idle time is something rare for Charlie Marquez these days. When the teenage riding sensation somehow managed a three-hour break between mounts over closing weekend of historic Pimlico Race Course's Preakness Meet, he took the opportunity to shut off his cell phone and turn off his mind.

The respite was short-lived. Maryland Jockey Club clerk of scales Frank Saumell, asked to summon Marquez during his downtime, walked briskly toward the back of the jockeys' room, perched high above the Pimlico winner's circle.

“Charlie!” Saumell called out. “Charlie! … Marquez!” he repeated, his voice rising each time.

Slowly, a head poked out above a row of white-painted cabinets. It is Marquez, his dark hair tussled from a quick nap on the bench in front of his locker stall. He slipped a pair of black slides over his socks and made his way out into the sunlight on the porch outside.

Sitting on a chair overlooking the main track, Marquez's thoughts go back a dozen years to a time when he watched the horses go by from a much different perspective.

“I always wanted to be a jockey,” Marquez said. “I came to the track a bunch when I was young. I came to Pimlico with my mom and on Preakness Day we used to walk over here with my brother.

“I used to go in the morning with her when she used to gallop for Mary Eppler and when she used to work for Jose Corrales at Laurel. I'd go in the morning and sit by the rail and fantasize. Now I'm doing it.”

And doing it well. Marquez, who turned 18 in late January, finished his first full professional season as Maryland's leading apprentice rider of 2020 with 58 wins. Various circumstances – a global pandemic that paused racing in the state for 2 ½ months in the spring, a trial run on the New York circuit and a wrist injury that shelved him another four weeks in the fall – kept Marquez from the Eclipse Award conversation.

Success has carried into this year. He earned his first career meet title at Pimlico, a four-month stand that saw him finish with a nine-win cushion. Entering Laurel Park's calendar year-ending fall meet that begins Sept. 9, Marquez has won more races than any rider in Maryland with 76. He's hoping to continue his success come Thursday when Laurel Park's fall meet opens.

Success has carried into this year. He earned his first career meet title at Pimlico, a four-month stand that saw him finish with a nine-win cushion. Entering Laurel Park's calendar year-ending fall meet that begins Sept. 9, Marquez has won more races than any rider in Maryland with 76. Sheldon Russell is second with 64.

Russell, newly turned 34, is a multiple meet champion who led Maryland in wins in 2011 – when Marquez was 8 years old.

“He's really wanted this all his life – since he was a baby. To see that we actually got him to this point, it just brings tears to my eyes,” Marquez's mother, Valerie Kounelis, said. “Just the other day I found a picture of him and Sheldon when he was little. A lot of these guys, they've seen him since he was a baby and here he is riding with them. It's funny to see. He's just a kid, but they all love him. He's one that they all want to be friends with. There's just something about him.”

Marquez's maturity, both as a rider and a person, belies his age. Rather than the parties and proms of a typical teenager, his free time is primarily spent riding and watching races. Mornings start early, before sunrise, exercising horses anywhere from Laurel to Pimlico to the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md. and even Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del.

Afternoons, and the occasional evening, have had him racing in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia since losing his apprentice weight allowance and becoming a journeyman May 30.

“I just bought a new car maybe a month ago. It already has more than 17,000 miles on it,” Marquez said. “I've been driving a lot.”

“It takes a toll, it does. You'd think just because I'm 18 I can do it, and I agree with that to a certain extent,” he added. “But it takes a toll, driving up and down the road every day. It definitely is hard work, but it pays off in the end.”

Fortunately, it is only a 15-minute drive from Laurel Park to Marquez's childhood home in Columbia, Md., where he still lives with his mother, maternal grandmother Darlene and three dogs – 3-year-old Cooper and 1 1/2-year old Kobe, both golden-Labrador retriever mixes, and 8-month-old Charlie Brown, an English cream golden retriever. Marquez also has an older brother, Carlos.

“He loves his dogs. He loves to come home and play with them,” Kounelis said.

The Marquez family

“I always tell him you can go out if he has a day off, but you can't be eating junk food like a teenage boy would be doing. You have to be mindful of that. You can't stay out all hours of the night. You know you need your rest. It's hard on your body and you've got to be aware of what you're doing. You can't be tired.

“It comes with its trials and tribulations,” she added. “He's willing to give up what he has to to be successful and do what he loves.”

While the decision to begin riding professionally – which couldn't happen before Marquez's 16th birthday – was easy, the process was not. Kounelis had to convince the Board of Education to allow her to pull Marquez from a traditional school setting for one more flexible with her son's burgeoning career.

“When I pulled him out of school, it was time,” she said. “Normally I'm like, 'You're going to school, you're graduating, you're doing it the right way.' I pulled him out because I did see how talented he was. We talked about the fact that you're giving up your childhood, you're giving up your high school days and being a kid to pursue your career. He knew going in that he was going to have to give something up to gain something.

Nearing completion of his general educational development (GED) diploma – “It's very important to have. This game is very unpredictable, and you need something to back up on,” he said – Marquez doesn't see it as a sacrifice. To him, it's an investment in his future.

“Not too many 18-year-olds can say they were leading rider in Maryland. It takes a lot to get there and a lot of hard work, but if you put your mind to it, you can do it,” Marquez said. “I hang out with friends here and there, but during school I was never really that kind of person to go out anyway. So, it wasn't really anything different. Of course, I had friends, but the true friends that you hang out with outside of school. I had a few of them and I still hang out and see them from time to time.

“I wouldn't say I really have time for other hobbies. Horse racing is what I love to do and it's always going to be like that,” he added. “After I ride in the morning I go home and use that time to myself, whether that's hanging out with my mom or my grandma or my girlfriend. Whatever it is, those few hours before I have to go to bed I kind of just keep for myself.”

Marquez was 16 when he won his first race Jan. 9, 2020 aboard Sierra Leona at Laurel Park. His brief turn in New York at age 17 came under the tutelage of retired Hall of Fame rider Angel Cordero Jr. Back home, he earned his first stakes victory at 18 on Shackled Love in Laurel's Private Terms March 14.

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Standing 5-foot-8, Marquez is taller than most riders. He hasn't let his height be an obstacle to success.

“He's a little bit on the tall side. There was a question whether or not he was going to stay small enough to do it, but he's definitely shown everybody that thought he wasn't going to make it that he was all in,” Kounelis said. “He's definitely shown where he wanted to go with it.”

Marquez's dedication is reminiscent of his mother, who first brought him to the track as a toddler when she was galloping for trainer Larry Murray. His introduction to horses, so to speak, came much earlier.

“I galloped until I was like seven months pregnant with both [sons],” Kounelis said. “Everybody used to laugh that they were already riding before they were riding.”

Today, Kounelis gallops part-time for trainer Tim Keefe, is a technician for the Maryland Veterinary Group and spends racing afternoons working in the test barn. It's not hard to see where Marquez gets his work ethic.

“One thing about him, he knows the grind,” she said. “There were days before he really started riding, he would be getting on 12, 13 [horses] a day and you never heard a peep out of him.”

“My mom, she's been there since Day 1,” Marquez said. “She's definitely my top fan and I think about her all the time, every day that I ride. Everything I do is for her.”

Marquez's support goes beyond his mother and fellow horsemen. Kounelis' sister, Terry Overmier, is the Maryland Jockey Club's stable manager and a horse owner. The first time he rode her now 4-year-old Maryland-bred colt Whiskey and You in a Laurel Park allowance last March, they won.

His late grandfather, Carlos Marquez Sr., was a successful jockey whose wins included the 1970 Black-Eyed Susan with Office Queen before his retirement to Puerto Rico to teach at its famed Escuela Vocacional Hipica. Marquez rides with his old saddle.

“Charlie's grandfather would have been proud of him,” Kounelis said. “He passed away a few years ago and never got to see Charlie living his dream.”

Ultimately, the dream has Marquez riding for years to come and many more milestones to reach.

“I want to ride in the [Kentucky] Derby and the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. It's the dream of a lot of riders,” Marquez said. “I have many years until I retire, but definitely when I retire, I want to be a top rider in New York and go into the Hall of Fame. I want to end up in New York, settle down there eventually and retire there, and hopefully go into the Hall of Fame. That's the dream of a lot of riders, I think. Most of the game is just trying to stay healthy and keep things moving forward.

“At such a young age, I have many years to progress my riding,” he added. “I hope what I have done so far is just the beginning.”

Marquez studies the racing program in the jockey's quarters

In the meantime, Marquez – like any young professional – does his best to achieve a work-life balance. When time permits, he enjoys hanging out with friends and playing video games.

“He's very smart and computer savvy. There are a lot of other things he can do. He rebuilt his own computer and gaming setup. He's got a lot going for him – not only riding,” Kounelis said. “He has a couple good guys that he's been friends all along with that he will hang out with. He spends a lot of his time watching race replays, just taking in stuff that he sees.

“He's a kid at heart, but he's grown up pretty quick,” she added. “Yes, he is very mature for his age, but he is still a kid. I see that first-hand at home, when he's playing his video games or whatever he does with his friends. You can make a lot of money fast and you might have friends that try to steer you in the wrong direction. You just have to keep your head on straight and know where you want to go with it.”

Both mother and son have known where Marquez was headed from the time he was around 2 years old, wearing his jockey Halloween costume and sitting in front of the television on a stuffed toy horse that they still have.

“He'd watch the races and act like he's riding in them,” Kounelis said. “He's wanted it all along. There's no denying it.”

To read more, go to: https://www.laurelpark.com/teen-phenom/

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