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Isaac Castillo Not Content With Breakout Year, Sets Sights On More Stakes Wins

After a year of “firsts,” 23-year-old jockey Isaac Castillo knows exactly what's next to keep his career on the rising arc it's now on.

“I need to win more stakes races. That's the next step for me,” he said.

After the breakout year Castillo has had at Monmouth Park, stakes victories are part of the logical progression that has seen the native of Panama improve his win total for all six years he has been riding.

This year has been particularly noteworthy as Castillo heads into a heavy three-day workload at Monmouth Park this weekend.

He is currently second in the Monmouth Park rider standings with 49 wins, trailing only Paco Lopez, the runaway leader seeking his eighth title. Last year he won 21 races at the meet.

Castillo also has 87 overall wins from 541 mounts after winning 36 races from 284 mounts a year ago.

“I'm very happy with the way everything is going,” he said. “It feels good to have this success. I have worked hard and the trainers have supported me. I would say it's even better than I expected this year.”

Castillo's other “firsts” in 2021 include riding in a Grade 1 race – something he did twice on the same day, with a mount in both the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (Basso) and the United Nations (Oceans Map). Neither longshot showed much but Castillo was grateful for the experience.

“It meant a lot just to ride in a Grade 1 race for the first time, and to do it twice in the same day was special for me,” he said.

Castillo said the momentum for his big year started at Tampa Downs over the winter and carried through to the Monmouth Park meet. His work ethic has taken that to another level this summer.

Though he has won two stakes races at the meet – the Rainbow Heir Stakes with Belgrano and the Regret Stakes aboard Bronx Beauty – he knows they have to come with more frequency at this stage of his career. He is convinced they will.

“I am seeing what happens if you keep working hard,” he said. “I'm out there every morning doing what I can do to get better. I want to be good and I know you have to work hard to get there. Good things happen if you work hard.

“The funny thing is I am not tired at all, not mentally or physically, from how much I have ridden this year. It just makes me hungrier. Hopefully more trainers will see the success I am having and I will continue to get better and better horses to ride.”

And finishing second in this case is actually something to feel good about.

“That would be a big accomplishment. There are a lot of good jockeys here,” he said. “Everyone knows how tough Paco Lopez is here. He's hard for anyone to beat. So being second to him would be a big deal for me.”

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First-Out Winner: Arrogate Colt Affable Monarch Headed To Champagne Stakes

After patiently waiting to get promising 2-year-old Affable Monarch to the races until last Sunday at Monmouth Park, trainer Jorge Duarte doesn't intend to show nearly as much restraint before giving the son of late Arrogate his first significant test.

An impressive 6½-length winner against Maiden Special Weight company, Affable Monarch's next start could be in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 2 if the Colts Neck Stables homebred stays on schedule. The Champagne is a “Win and You're In” race for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

“I think the way he came out of this race and what he got out of this race, it was a good learning experience. It didn't take anything out of him,” Duarte said. “He cooled out very fast. The way he ran and galloped out I think he wants to go longer for sure.

“The Champagne is a one-turn mile with those sweeping turns. He's a big, big horse who should like that. We'll have a couple of breezes and if he keeps training the way he has been I would take a shot in the Champagne to see what we have.”

Kentucky-bred Affable Monarch became the just the second son of Arrogate to reach the winner's circle, with Adversity beating him there by an hour at Saratoga on Sunday.

Duarte said patience may be the key to any Arrogate offspring.

“I believe the Arrogates are a little late bloomers,” he said. “He just had his first two winners on Sunday. Maybe that is the way they are going to trend. I can just go by what I have. I have a couple of Arrogates and this is the first one I got to the races. I know I have an Arrogate filly that may be a late one.

“But it's also not a bad time of the year to get them started if you think you have a good one.”

Duarte's last try at the Champagne came in 2019, when Big City Bob finished third to Tiz the Law after breaking his maiden at Monmouth Park and winning the Sapling Stakes at the track.

He's also having the type of meet at Monmouth Park that suggests trying the Champagne may not be overly ambitious.

Duarte, Colts Neck Stables' private trainer, is 12-for-27 at Monmouth Park this year, having won with 10 of his past 19 starters. As a result, Colts Neck Stables tops the owner standings with 12 winners, five more than anyone else.

He has the added hope that Affable Monarch – who made his debut without Lasix — will be a good one because of the colt's dam, Social Queen. He's a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Force the Pass (Speightstown-Social Queen), who earned more than $1.3 million for Duarte and Colts Neck Stable.

He's also a half-brother to a Speightstown-Social Queen yearling who goes as Hip 154 in the first book of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale that starts on Sept. 13.

“We raced the mare (Social Queen), too,” said Duarte. “She has been very good to us.”

She may not be done returning dividends if Affable Monarch can live up to expectations.

“He's such a big colt. It just took him a little time to get into a rhythm,” said Duarte. “He was always well-regarded by us. We always thought the way he was training he had a chance to be a good one. We were very excited to bring him to the races because they don't come along all the time, horses like him.”

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Jersey Derby Winner Vanzzy Returns To Monmouth For Red Bank Stakes

After seeing Vanzzy run one of the better races of his career in winning last year's Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park, trainer Michael Pino is hoping to recapture some of that magic when he sends the colt out in Saturday's $150,000 Red Bank Stakes.

Now a 4-year-old, Vanzzy heads into the one-mile grass race that serves as the feature on Monmouth Park's 12-race card off two solid efforts to start his 2021 campaign.

“He was a little unlucky in his first start of the year (a third-place finish at Pimlico on July 11),” said Pino. “He threw a shoe in the paddock and got a little too keyed up. After he broke he wanted to run off with the rider and never settled at all.

“But he ran well all things considered and then came back and won his second time out (at Delaware Park on July 31) despite some trouble.”

Pino said the son of Verrazano “is a stronger horse this year.”

He will have to be Saturday, despite the short field. Among the six entered for the turf are the Mark Casse-trained Proven Strategies, who comes off a strong third-place finish in the Grade 2 Connaught Cup at Woodbine on July 18, and the Chad Brown-trained Value Proposition, listed as the 4-5 morning line favorite. Value Proposition ships in from New York for the race, with Paco Lopez listed to ride.

“Mark Casse's horse has speed but Vanzzy should be forwardly placed,” said Pino. “Obviously, Chad Brown's horse off the numbers looks like the horse to beat in the race. But you've got to run against that kind every now and then.

“Vanzzy is definitely a more mature horse this year and a stronger horse. I know we're going to see some strong races out of him. I'm planning and hoping that happens.”

Vanzzy, owned by Smart Angle LLP, has generally held his own through his 14-race career, with five wins, a second and a third and career earnings of $280,364. He shows two wins and two thirds in seven turf tries, the most notable being at a mile and a sixteenth in the 2020 Jersey Derby last year.

Pino has also entered Bird King in the race, with the 4-year-old gelding looking to make his turf debut after 16 dirt races.

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NYRA Partners With Three Tracks For Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5

The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 featuring action from historic Saratoga Race Course, Monmouth Park, Ellis Park and Woodbine on Saturday.

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.

The four-track wager will kick off at Monmouth with a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden contest for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up in Race 8 at 3:33 p.m. Eastern. Trainer Chad Brown will send out a pair of entrants, including the British-bred Capital Allocation, who will be making her career debut. The $384,392 purchase at the 2019 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale will face a field that includes stablemate Autostrada, who finished on the board in her third career start last out when third on August 8 at Monmouth. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will send out Endless Front and Candy Lua for the race at the Oceanport, New Jersey-based track.

Woodbine will get in on the action with a 6 1/2-furlong allowance contest for fillies and mares 3-and-up competing over the Tapeta track in Race 7 at 4:13 p.m. Imagery has posted back-to-back runner-up finishes for trainer Michael Trombetta with both efforts coming at the Rexdale, Ontario track, while the Kevin Attard-trained Hard Street will look for class relief after finishing sixth in the Alywow on July 31 at Woodbine.

Alternating back to Monmouth, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for 3-year-olds and up in a claiming contest in Race 10 at 4:33 p.m. will comprise the third leg. Trainer Wayne Potts will send out Duncastle, a last-out winner on July 23 at Monmouth.

Ellis Park, located in Henderson, Kentucky, will join the sequence with a one-mile turf maiden turf contest for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up in Race 8 at 5:10 p.m. Closet Shopper, trained by Gregory Foley, finished third at the track last out on July 18 and will be looking to break through in her ninth career start while listed at 3-1 on the morning line. The Dale Romans-trained Temper Time, 9-2, also ran second in her previous start at Ellis Park, finishing as the runner-up on July 30.

Saratoga will conclude the wager with a 6 1/2-furlong main track sprint for 3-year-olds and up in Race 10 at 5:37 p.m. Brown, who is looking to secure his fourth Saratoga training title for the meet that concludes on Monday, will look to bolster his win total by sending out Crowded Trade and Hometown. Crowded Trade, the runner-up in the Grade 3 Gotham in March at Aqueduct Racetrack, competed on the Triple Crown trail this, running third in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino in April at the Big A before running fifth in the Grade 1 Preakness in May at Pimlico. He finished third last out in the Grade 2 Amsterdam on August 1 at the Spa. Hometown, a chestnut son of Constitution, finished second to eventual graded-stakes winner First Captain last out in a May 29 allowance tilt at Belmont traveling a one-turn mile.

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 4:
Leg A: Monmouth – Race 8 (3:33 p.m.)
Leg B: Woodbine – Race 7 (4:13 p.m.)
Leg C: Monmouth – Race 10 (4:33 p.m.)
Leg D: Ellis Park – Race 8 (5:10 p.m.)
Leg E: Saratoga– Race 10 (5:37 p.m.)

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