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Monmouth: 44 Horses, 14 Jockeys Enter Six Races For Friday’s Opening Day Card

Sifting Sands, from the powerhouse Chad Brown stable, is among eight 3-year-olds (plus one main track only entrant) set to go in the $100,000 Jersey Derby that will serve as the feature race for opening day of Monmouth Park's 76th Thoroughbred season on Friday.

A total of 44 horses (plus one MTO) have been entered for the six-race twilight card, with a first race post time of 5 p.m.

With the New Jersey commission's enactment of the strictest whip rules in the country, allowing use of the crop only when needed for safety, Monmouth has been in the news for it's strict stance on jockey participation in the 2021 meet.

There are 14 jockeys named to ride on Friday's card, including: Jorge Panaijo, Luis M. Ocasio, Tomas B. Mejia, Luis R. Reyes, Christian J. Navarro, Jose C. Ferrer, Carlos J. Hernandez, Jomar Torres, Isaac Castillo, Jose Baez, Carlos Montalvo, Keiber J. Coa, Sean Gilpin, and Derbe Glass.

Three of the stakes entrants, including the MTO entry, do not currently have riders listed on Equibase.

The Jersey Derby, scheduled for a mile on the grass, will be contested for the 78th time. It's the oldest Derby in the United States, having first been run in 1864.

Trainers Kelly Breen (It's A Gamble), Gregg Sacco (It Can Be Done) and Jerry Hollendorfer (Riptide Rock) will look to get off to fast starts for the 53-day meet in the Jersey Derby as well.

Owned by Peter Brant, Sifting Sands will be making just his fourth career start in the Jersey Derby. The Irish-bred son of Dubawi made his last start in the Woodhaven Stakes at Aqueduct on April 21.

Monmouth Park will conduct live racing four straight days over the Memorial Day weekend. Post times on Saturdays, Sundays and special Monday holiday cards throughout the meet is 12:15 p.m.

The $100,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes at six furlongs headlines the Saturday card, with the $75,000 Politely Stakes serving as the Sunday feature. The Memorial Day card on Monday will be top by the $75,000 Spruce Fir for Jersey-breds.

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Trainer Kelly Breen Gearing Up For Monmouth Park Meet

With Hall of Fame trainers Todd Pletcher, Steve Asmussen and Jerry Hollendorfer – along with future Hall of Famer Chad Brown – all having a formidable presence on the Monmouth Park backstretch this summer it's easy to forget that the race for leading trainer honors still goes through Kelly Breen.

It did last year, when the 52-year-old Breen easily captured his third Monmouth Park trainer's title.

There's no reason to think things will be any different when the track's 76th season gets underway with four straight days of live racing starting with a twilight card on Friday, May 28.

“We do gear up for Monmouth Park,” said Breen. “It goes back to me saying all we can do is continue to work hard and to try to do our best. So much depends on the condition book. I can't predict how we'll do this year because I don't know how the condition book will play out.

“But we have a good variety of horses, from $5,000 claimers to multiple-graded stakes winners. There are probably guys with more well-rounded stables, maybe with more claimers, guys with bigger stables. But we have 40 horses right now that are ready to run. We'll just try to put them in the right spots.”

Breen's quest for a title repeat will start on opening day, when he sends out It's A Gamble in the $100,000 Jersey Derby at a mile on the grass. He then has Tracy Ann's Legacy set to go in Sunday's feature, the $75,000 Politely Stakes.

His impact will likely be felt throughout the 53-day meet, since he led all Monmouth Park trainers last year with 117 starters. His 32 winners were nearly double that of runner-up Jose Delgado.

That Monmouth Park success was a major factor in a career year for the New Jersey native, who set personal bests in overall wins (84) and starters (418) while producing the second-best earnings year in a career that began in 1992.

“Last year was more validation after having built up a public stable after almost 10 years of being a private trainer and not being out there with multiple horses and this many horses,” said Breen. “It has been a gradual process of evolving. I didn't always have a big stable after I became a public trainer again. It took a couple of years to get to this point. It took time. But we have a nice, well-rounded stable now.”

Breen, who went 14 years between Monmouth Park training titles, again figures to make an impact when the 2-year-old races start as well. He currently has 15 “babies” with a couple more due in shortly.

“The 2-year-old program at Monmouth Park has always been exceptional, so we hope to be a factor in that later in the summer,” he said.

Though Breen says his sights aren't necessarily set on another Monmouth Park title – “Whatever amount of wins we get that's what we're going to have as a total,” he said – he knows he enters the meet as the favorite.

“Not being cocky or anything, but I like to think when people think of Jersey racing they think of my name,” he said. “I'm a Jersey guy. I grew up here. We have more of a presence in New York than we've had in a while but Monmouth Park is still home.”

Monmouth Park's meet starts with racing on Friday through Monday over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend before reverting to a Friday through Sunday schedule throughout the summer. Post times for Saturdays, Sundays and special Monday holiday cards is 12:15 p.m. Post time for Friday twilight cards is 5 p.m.

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‘The Rule Is Not Changing’: Monmouth Threatens To Ban Jockeys Who Refuse Mounts On Opening Day

This Friday marks opening day at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, NJ, as well as the first time the new state-mandated whip rules will be in effect. These are the strictest whip rules in the United States, allowing jockeys to only use the crop for reasons of safety.

According to bloodhorse.com, Monmouth has threatened that jockeys who refuse mounts on Friday will not be allowed to ride at the track for the remainder of the 2021 meet.

“We are having a problem with guys who have been on the backstretch all monthlong working horses and have calls and are now they are saying they won't ride Friday but they will ride Saturday,” John Heims, director of racing and racing secretary at Monmouth, told bloodhorse.com. “We are not going to let people stick it to us and cost us money by canceling racing. If you feel unsafe Friday, how are you safe Saturday? If it's unsafe and you don't want to ride, I get it. No one is asking you to do something you are uncomfortable doing. The rule is not changing, so if you will not ride Friday since you believe it's unsafe, why would you ride any other day?”

Entries for Friday's card close Tuesday. Heim said he has 12 jockeys lined up to ride Friday, and that a trio of jockeys serving suspensions through Friday (Paco Lopez, Nik Juarez, and Ferrin Peterson) will not be affected by the ban.

Former International Jockey Rafael Schistl Settling In To Trainer’s Shoes At Monmouth

The global journey that has taken Rafael Schistl from his home in Itajai, Brazil, to being a successful jockey in nearly a dozen countries has added yet another geographical twist: Monmouth Park.

That's where the 32-year-old will call home this summer – that and a 30-foot boat he purchased to live on throughout the meet – as he continues trying to make inroads in his first year as a trainer.

Schistl is one of several newcomers among the training ranks based at Monmouth Park for the first time, with the track's 76th season kicking off with four straight days of live racing over the Memorial Day weekend starting Friday, May 28.

“I looked around and decided this was the best place for the horses I have,” said Schistl. “I took into account the timing, the quality of the racing, how my horses fit and the racetrack. I know there are some big-name trainers here but for me, right now, this is the best fit for my horses.”

As a jockey from 2005 through 2019, Schistl estimates he won “more than 300 stakes races,” including three Derbies in Norway, two in Denmark and one in Sweden. He also rode in Dubai, Germany, France, New Zealand, Italy and Switzerland. But the ongoing battle to make weight eventually took its toll and forced him to switch gears professionally.

“I always had in my mind that I wanted to be a trainer,” said Schistl. “It was just time. You can't keep fighting the weight issue. It wasn't the way I wanted to leave riding but it was time.

“It's crazy when I look back. I'm 155 pounds now. I'm a normal person. But I rode at 113 or 114. It's just too much after a while.”

After he stopped riding Schistl eventually found his way to Florida and started working at farms in Ocala. He caught the attention of Bob and Jill Jones, the owners of Endsley Oaks Farms in Brooksville, Fla., and they wound up giving him 30 horses to train at Tampa Downs for the winter meet. From 50 starters he produced 10 winners, five seconds and 10 thirds.

That 30-horse division, which consists mostly of claiming horses, is now at Monmouth Park.

“This is my first year training but I have been around trainers my whole life,” said Schistl, who is fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish and German. “My father was a trainer. I have worked for some of the biggest trainers in the world. Along the way you pick up things.

“I'm a very detailed guy. I like small details. Taking care of the small details can make a big difference.”

Schistl said his globetrotting as a jockey has exposed him to enough prominent horsemen that he is not intimidated by the star power in Monmouth Park's backstretch. Hall of Famers Steve Asmussen and Todd Pletcher have returned with full divisions following a hiatus and Saffie Joseph Jr. has a string at Monmouth Park for the first time. In addition, Claudio Gonzalez, who has won or shared 15 training titles in Maryland, is back at Monmouth following a lengthy absence.

Kelly Breen, looking to defend his training title, will have a formidable presence again, as will another Hall of Famer – Jerry Hollendorfer, whose string is handled locally by Dan Ward.

Among the other newcomers hunkered down in Monmouth Park's backstretch for the next four months are Juan Carlos Avila, Philip Antonacci, Jose Camejo, Cody Axmaker, Darrien Rodriguez and Orlando Noda.

The 53-day meet will again find the $1 million TVG.Com Haskell Stakes on July 17 as the centerpiece. Post times on Saturdays, Sundays and Monday holidays is 12:15 p.m. First race post time on Fridays is 5 p.m.

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