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Cross Country Pick 5 Pays $6,000 Saturday

Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5, featuring action from Saratoga, Woodbine, and Monmouth Park, paid $6,061.25 for selecting all five winners for the 50-cent wager. The total pool was $106,967.

Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, commenced the sequence with graded stakes action, as Jolie Olimpica won the $175,000 Grade 2 Nassau for older fillies and mares going one mile on the turf in Race 6. Trained by Josie Carroll and ridden by Luis Contreras, the Brazilian-bred Jolie Olimpica's three-quarters of a length victory in a final time of 1:34.83 paid $5.30 on $2 win wager.

The first of three races at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., came in the second leg, as Luis Saez piloted 10-1 Midnight Worker to a victory by a head over Bourbon Heist in a six-furlong maiden sprint over the main track in Race 6. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Midnight Worker paid $22.20 in hitting the wire in 1:11.92.

Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., also got in on the stakes action, with He'spuregold besting slight favorite Quiberon Bay by one length in the $85,000 Irish War Cry for New Jersey-breds 3-years-old and up going one mile on the turf in Race 9. The Kelly Breen trainee, who posted a final time of 1:35.53, returned $5.40.

Saratoga concluded the last two legs, starting when Sifting Sands topped Never Explain by a head in a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming tilt on the turf in Race 7. Trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Manny Franco, the British-bred Sifting Sands won at 28-1, paying $58.

A Brown-trained horse completed the Cross Country Pick 5 when the Irish-bred Rastafara won a one-mile inner turf contest for maidens 3-years-old and up going one mile on the inner turf in Race 8. Ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., Rastafara paid $7.10 in notching a final time of 1:36.47.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

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Spill At Monmouth Sends Mejia, Figueroa To Hospital For Evaluation

Jockeys Tomas Mejia and Heriberto Figueroa were taken by ambulance to Monmouth Medical Center following a spill in Sunday's fifth race at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

Mejia was “transported for further treatment and evaluation for a head trauma,” according to Dr. Angelo Chinnici, Monmouth Park's Medical Director.

Figueroa was “alert and oriented and will be evaluated for a possible concussion,” Chinnici said.

“I expect he will be treated and released,” Chinnici said.

The incident occurred when Mejia's mount, Service With Honor, appeared to clip heels with a tiring One More Nightcap coming out of the final turn of the mile and a sixteenth starter allowance on the grass, with Mejia slamming into the turf face down. Figueroa, aboard Rose for a Saint, went down trying to avoid Service With Honor.

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Young Bugler A Crowd Favorite At Monmouth Park

For a sport looking to appeal to a younger audience, Dan Minervini is exactly what Thoroughbred racing needs. There's just one problem: Minervini, a constant presence at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. who can be seen humming, miniature bugle in hand, when track bugler Joe Luckenbill issues the “Call to the Post” 10 minutes prior to each race, is just 5 years old.

So racing will have to wait until he can legally participate.

For now, though, his enthusiasm is contagious.

“I like Monmouth Park more than Chuck E. Cheese,” says Minervini, a Middletown, N.J. resident who aspires to be a bugler, which is why he practices prior to each race by humming along with Luckenbill.

With racing at Monmouth Park taking place Friday through Sunday throughout the summer, Minervini and his family are usually in attendance from the first race to the last, with Dan playing his toy bugle, feeding horses and wishing good luck to the jockeys walking out of the paddock.

He will celebrate his sixth birthday on Sunday at Monmouth Park with a special day that will include an appearance in the announcer's booth, playing the “Call to the Post” prior to the second race, and presenting the trophy in the winner's circle following the second race.

Fans have taken to him as a crowd favorite when they watch him play the bugle each race day.

“Monmouth Park is his happy place, and he never wants to leave,” said Stephanie Minervini, Dan's mother. “When we bring him there, he listens to everything we say since it's his favorite place in the world.”

Dan's love for horse racing started before he was even born, according to his mother. The family's Monmouth Park “lifestyle” was passed down two generations, from Dan's grandfather, who took Dan's father, John, to Monmouth Park when he was little.

As a 2-year-old, Dan made it to Monmouth Park for the first time and could be seen feeding apples and carrots to the outriders' horses as they returned to the tunnel that leads to the track. It was during that time that the youngster first heard horse racing's signature call.

“When he was 2 years old, he was feeding the horses there and that's when he started watching Joe (the bugler),” said Stephanie. “One time we went to Monmouth Park and he started mimicking Joe playing the horn, and since then I think we have been stalking him for the last three years.”

Luckenbill says he enjoys sharing the spotlight prior to each race with Minervini.

“I love when he comes around. He's a great kid and he always says something that makes me laugh when I see him,” Luckenbill said. “I would tell him to continue to come to the track and learn from the people here.”

Horse racing and Monmouth Park have become an integral part of Dan's daily life as well. According to his parents, when he is home, the youngster can be heard announcing races, re-enacting his favorite phrase from announcer Frank Mirahmadi, “And they're off at Monmouth Park!”

In addition to attending the races on each live day, Dan Minervini said he wants to “race the ponies.” According to his mother, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he received riding lessons at a local farm in hopes of one day following in the footsteps of his favorite Monmouth Park jockeys — Nik Juarez, Tomas Mejia, Paco Lopez, and Ferrin Peterson.

Juarez and Mejia have made it a point to seek out Dan on race days, often taking pictures with him and even giving him the race goggles they wore in exchange for high-fives. According to his mother, there have even been occasions when Dan and Mejia have shared popcorn while they talk about the upcoming races on the card.

“It's really nice how the jockeys all come out and speak to him, and it makes a huge difference,” said Stephanie Minervini.

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He’spuregold Follows Up Maiden Win With Victory In Irish War Cry At Monmouth

Owner and breeder John Bowers was so confident in the turf breeding of He'spuregold that he specifically targeted a summer stakes race for trainer Kelly Breen to point to with then-3-year-old maiden gelding this spring.

That race was Saturday's $85,000 Irish War Cry Handicap and Bowers' faith was rewarded in a big way as He'spuregold skimmed the rail coming out of the final turn and went on to a one-length victory in the feature at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., just one race after breaking his maiden.

A half-brother to 2019 New Jersey-bred Horse of the Year Valedictorian, He'spuregold is a son of Australian sire Vancouver out of Smart N Classy. He paid $5.40 to win in the field of eight New Jersey-breds, 3 years old and up, covering the mile over a firm turf course in 1:35.53.

“This was on Mr. Bowers' plan when he gave me the horse to run at Monmouth this spring,” said Breen. “We talked about this race on Jan. 1. He had this circled on his calendar. He asked me if I could get him to this race.”

The optimism on Bowers' part was steeped simply in the turf breeding, since He'spuregold took seven tries to break his maiden. Given to Breen from Michelle Nehi three races ago, He'spuregold now has two wins and a second over that span.

Ridden by Nik Juarez, He'spuregold was kept off the early pace of Optic Way, who was hounded by Quiberon Bay, through fractions of :24.46, :47.77 and 1:10.75 for three-quarters of a mile.

As Quiberon Bay engaged Optic Way in the stretch, Juarez sent He'spuregold through an opening on the rail. Quiberon Bay finished second, a head better than Optic Way.

“The trip was perfect,” said Juarez. “I thought I was sitting a perfect spot off the speed. We were going honest fractions and knowing that I knew I was in a perfect spot if the rail opened and I had the horse. It opened and I had enough horse to get through and he dug in really gamely.”

Said Breen: “He rode him great, the rail opened up, it all worked out.”

He'spuregold, owned by Bowers' Roseland Farm Stable, now shows a 2-2-3 line from eight career starts, all on the turf.

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