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‘Everything Is About Being Consistent’: Panamanian Jockey Castillo Could Pick Up First Stakes Win This Weekend

Jockey Isaac Castillo looks at his list of accomplishments at Monmouth Park this summer and sees enough to know that this is far and away the best year of his young career.

He was able to ride in a graded stakes race for the first time. He had his first three-winner day (on Aug. 22). He has already exceeded his victory total at the meet from a year ago, doing so in 64 fewer mounts. And he has cracked the top 10 in a competitive jockey colony after finishing 14th a year ago.

But there's one thing missing: A stakes victory.

The 22-year-old Panamanian hopes to add that final piece to a breakout year this weekend, first aboard Absentee in Saturday's $100,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes, then again on Sunday when he re-unites with the Anthony Margotta, Jr.-trained Bronx Beauty in the $75,000 Regret Stakes.

“Everything is about being consistent,” Castillo said through an interpreter. “My first year riding in 2017 I didn't do much. The next year was only a little better. Finally, last year, people got to know me and I was getting more opportunities. I feel very good about the way things are going this year.

“It's all about hard work, being there every morning to show you want to work, a good attitude and staying positive.”

Castillo, a 2014 graduate of the Panama jockey school started by Laffit Pincay, Jr., heads into the weekend at Monmouth Park with 17 winners from 145 mounts (compared to 15 from 209 mounts a year ago). That's good for eighth place in the rider standings.

While a victory aboard Absentee on Saturday would represent a significant upset, Bronx Beauty looms as one of the horses to beat in Sunday's Regret Stakes, which has drawn a field of seven fillies and mares 3-and-up going six furlongs.

Castillo has ridden Bronx Beauty twice this meet, earning a win in a $50,000 optional claimer and then finishing second in the Incredible Revenge Stakes. A 5-year-old mare, Bronx Beauty has won nine of 21 career starts with lifetime earnings of $527,270.

“Every race I watch replays to see what I could have done better for the next time,” said Castillo. “I'm trying to improve with every ride. This has been a good year for me because my confidence is growing. I'm being more aggressive and I can see from the results that I can do it. I just have to keep working and keep getting better.”

Castillo said he was inspired to become a jockey by the success of Eddie Castro, the 2003 Eclipse Award-winning apprentice who grew up in the same town in Panama. He made the move to the United States to launch his riding career in December of 2016, getting two mounts that month.

It took until Sept. 5 for Castillo to land his first graded stakes mount, finishing fifth aboard Share the Ride in the Grade 3 Red Bank Stakes.

“That was a great experience,” he said. “It's part of the progress I am making and shows how things are coming along – not easily, but step by step.”

Castillo said he will head to Tampa for the first time following the nine-day Meadowlands-at-Monmouth meet in October in an effort to continue to build his business.

“The harder I work the better things will be. I can see that from the way things are going for me now,” he said.

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‘All Of Them Started Somewhere, Too’: Natalia Lynch Chasing First Training Victory In Mr. Prospector Stakes

The way Natalia Lynch had it planned out in her mind is that she would spend another year or so working as an assistant trainer before trying to go out on her own. Then owner Al Gold offered to let her train nine horses from Gold Square LLC.

So on Aug. 25, Lynch, known by her nickname “Tally,” officially became a licensed trainer. A day later, she saddled her first starter.

And now on Saturday, with just the fourth starter in her burgeoning career, the 26-year-old Lynch will send out Wendell Fong in the $100,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes that headlines Monmouth Park's 14-race card that day.

“It's very surreal,” she said. “I haven't had time to sit down and process how quickly everything has happened yet. I remember the day I got my trainer's license I was walking out of the office and a trainer said to me `who do you work for?' I looked down at the license and said `I guess myself now.'

“I keep telling myself that this is not any different than what I have been doing for a long time. This is something I have been working for. When Al Gold gave me this opportunity I couldn't turn it down. So my one-year process before going out on my own turned into a two-week plan.”

Lynch, who will be based at Belmont Park, currently has 10 horses overall, eight from Gold Square (one was claimed). The Bethesda, Md. native was enrolled in the nursing school at Towson University when she started galloping horses, originally with the intent of becoming a jockey.

“I ended up not going back to school,” she said. “I started riding and worked my way up. I rode in a few amateur races last year. But my ultimate goal was to be a trainer.”

After becoming an assistant to Brittany Russell, Lynch then worked for Jeremiah Englehart. Most recently she was assisting Ray Handal.

Now she's in a race saddling a horse under her name against the likes of Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, Kelly Breen, Monmouth Park's leading trainer, and Gregg Sacco, who has multiple Grade 1 winner Mind Control entered in the field of seven 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs.

“It's terrifying to think about at times,” said Lynch. “I just look at it as at some point I hope I'm where they are. And I keep reminding myself that all of them started somewhere, too.”

A 4-year-old son of Flat Out, Wendell Fong (the horse's name is an obscure reference from an episode in the old “Frasier” TV sitcom) will need to re-capture his 3-year-old form if the colt is to become Lynch's first career winner. Robertino Diodoro trained the horse in his last start, when he was fifth in an $80,000 optional claimer at Saratoga on July 23. Jorge Vargas, Jr., who rode the horse his first six career starts and accounted for all three of Wendell Fong's career victories, has the mount.

“He's a really cool horse,” said Lynch. “His last race he was a little bit out of form but I had a thought to give him one more shot in a stakes race. He was running really good in stakes company at Oaklawn and I felt the race at Monmouth Park fit him. We put Vargas back on him because they did so well together when Wendell Fong was a 3-year-old.”

Lynch says she hopes her emotions don't get the best of her when she winds up saddling her first winner – but suspect they will if it comes in Saturday's Mr. Prospector Stakes.

“I don't know if I'll be able to talk after the race if we win it,” she said.

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NYRA Partners With Monmouth, Woodbine, Delaware For Summer’s Final Cross Country Pick 5

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host the final Cross Country Pick 5 of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, teaming with Monmouth Park, Woodbine Racetrack and Delaware Park.

Live coverage will be available with Saratoga Live on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Saratoga, which offers four total graded stakes on Saturday's 12-race card, will start the Cross Country Pick 5 with the Grade 2, $150,000 Jim Dandy for sophomores going nine furlongs in Race 9 at 4:21 p.m. Eastern. Dr Post, the runner-up in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes in June, will be making his first start since running third in the Grade 1 Haskell in July at Monmouth Park. The Todd Pletcher trainee also saw stablemate Happy Saver entered. Other contenders include Mystic Guide, Celtic Striker, Jesus' Team, Liveyourbeastlife and First Line.

Monmouth will have a full field of 3-year-olds and upward going one mile on the turf in Race 9 at 4:40 p.m. The claiming race will see trainer Timothy Hills enter a pair in Beach Traffic and Leading Factor, while Rudy Rodriguez enters King of Ranch and Michael Trombetta sends out Make a Stand.

Action will shift to Delaware Park for an allowance races for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up contesting at one mile and 70 yards on turf in Race 8 at 4:45 p.m. Trainer Michael Matz will send out La Babia, who has finished in the money in five of her last six starts.

Saratoga will host the fourth leg by featuring the Grade 2, $200,000 Prioress in Race 10 at 4:57 p.m. Reagan's Edge will look to turn the tables on Frank's Rockette in the six-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies. The two were separated by a head in the Grade 3 Victory Ride on July 4 at Belmont Park. Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will saddle the dangerous duo of Center Aisle and Secondary Market to add to a competitive field.

The wager concludes with the fourth track to participate in the sequence, with Woodbine hosting the Grade 3, $125,000 Vigil for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on the main track in Race 9 at 5:10 p.m. Pink Lloyd, trained by Robert Tiller, will look to win the race for a fourth straight year, as the 8-year-old Sovereign Award-winner and 2017 Canadian Horse of the Year will seek his 23rd career stakes win.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available 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.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, September 5:
Leg 1 – Saratoga, Race 9: G2 Jim Dandy (4:21 p.m.)
Leg 2 – Monmouth, Race 9: (4:40 p.m.)
Leg 3 – Delaware Park, Race 8: (4:45 p.m.)
Leg 4 – Saratoga, Race 10: G2 Prioress (4:57 p.m.)
Leg 5 – Woodbine, Race 9: G3 Vigil (5:10 p.m.)

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‘Jersey Racing’ At The Forefront For Trainer Pat McBurney This Sunday At Monmouth

Though trainer Pat McBurney estimates that only “30 percent or so” of his barn consists of Jersey-breds that group of horses will have 100 percent of his attention on Sunday at Monmouth Park.

Of the 10 races scheduled for the 18th New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival on Sunday – with $743,125 up for grabs in purse money for state-bred runners – McBurney has nine horses entered in seven races, including defending champion Golden Brown in the $125,000 Charles Hesse III Handicap.

The all Jersey-bred card also features the $100,000 Eleven North Handicap and the $100,000 New Jersey Breeders' Handicap.

“I have three or four clients who have Jersey-breds, so this is always a big day for them and the barn,” said McBurney.

Golden Brown, coming off a 2¼-length victory in the Irish War Cry Stakes on July 25 at Monmouth, will be the prohibitive favorite against five rivals (including the McBurney-trained Ashley's Hope) in the Charles Hesse III Handicap at a mile and a sixteenth on the dirt. The 5-year-old son of Offlee Wild has won eight of 22 career starts, capturing three state-bred stakes races at Monmouth a year ago.

“I think against Jersey-breds going long on the dirt, with Sunny Ridge on the sidelines, he is at the top of the heap,” McBurney said. “His starts have been spaced out a little more than usual but I thought we'd take advantage of more Jersey racing with him this year.”

The start will be Golden Brown's third of the year after he made his seasonal debut in the John J. Reilly Stakes at six furlongs on July 5, finishing third. Had the Monmouth meet started as originally scheduled on May 2 he would have been ready then, McBurney said. COVID-19 forced Monmouth's opener to be pushed back to July 3.

“He's not a great `doing' horse and he is tough to get along with, so I kept him in New Jersey all year,” said McBurney. “He was up and training in February and was ready for the (original) start of the meet. We ran him in that Jersey-bred sprint but that's not really his distance. But he was ready to race.”

McBurney, who says he has never started nine horses on a card before, is optimistic he will have a good day.

“To me, looking at the races, I expect Golden Brown to win. I expect Crafty Don and Amazing Cat (both entered in an allowance optional claimer) to turn in the next-best performances,” he said. “Jingo (who goes in the second race) disappointed in his first race back last start but (jockey) Paco Lopez said he kind of got away from him the first quarter mile and ran himself into the ground. So we're looking for a good race from him.”

“Three wins (on the day) would be fantastic. I'm hoping for at least two.”

McBurney will also send out Powergirl in the first race, Lucky Jaime in the third, first-time starter Wild Czar in the sixth and Holy Guacamole in the 10th.

Overall, McBurney is having another solid Monmouth Park meet, with eight winners from 53 starters entering the weekend.

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