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Double Thunder Rallies Late To Take Sapling At Monmouth

In a field of 2-year-olds going a mile for the first time, favorite Double Thunder grabbed his third win in four starts with a late rally to win the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the Super Saver colt had to go three-wide on the far turn to find running room, giving Monmouth's leading jockey Paco Lopez another win at the track's summer meet.

Breaking from post one, Lopez took Double Thunder back early, sitting fifth on the rail behind leaders Under the Gun and Midnight Worker. After fractions of :23.87 for the first quarter and :47.54 for the half mile, Double Thunder was boxed in on the rail and shuffled back to sixth entering the far turn as Midnight Worker caught Under the Gun and moved to the lead, Chancellor Bay tracking him.

On the turn, Lopez moved his colt to the outside, going three-wide to find racing room as the field entered the stretch. Into the Monmouth straight, Chancellor Bay took over the lead from Midnight Worker as both American Sanctuary and Double Thunder rallied to his outside, both catching Chancellor Bay in the last sixteenth of a mile. Double Thunder was fastest to the wire, sprinting by American Sanctuary to win the Sapling by a half-length.

The race's final time for the mile over a fast track was 1:38.76. Find this race's chart here.

Double Thunder paid $4.20, $2.60, and $2.40. American Sanctuary paid $4.80 and $3.40. Midnight Worker paid $3.60.

“In the mornings it took him a little while to figure things out but his gate works showed he was probably going to be okay. I don't think there was any concern about going two turns for the first time. If you look at all of his races it seems like he breaks a little slow, a step slow, but he always seems to come running. So I didn't think that would be an issue. We were actually waiting for him to go longer. I'm pleased with the way he ran. He took dirt, he got in trouble by coming in and going out, so it wasn't the best of trips and he still won,” Anthony Sciametta, assistant to Todd Pletcher, said after the Sapling.

“It was a tough trip for sure. They didn't make it easy for him. The horse broke well today. I was surprised he broke that well – maybe because he was on the rail. I don't know. I didn't want him that close early so I tried to get him to settle but it was a very rough trip,” Paco Lopez told the Monmouth Press Office after the race. “For a while a had nowhere to go. (American Sanctuary) had me pinned in. Finally, he made his move at the eighth pole and I was able to get some room to get my horse running. I think (American Sanctuary) moved a little too early, which was good for me. I had nowhere to go for a while. I was waiting on that horse and he finally went and that helped me.”

Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm and out of the Tapit mare Rattataptap, Double Thunder is owned by Phoenix Thoroughbred III. He was purchased by agent Gerard Butler from Taylor Made Sales Agency for $60,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase

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Heavily Favored The Critical Way Noses Out Battle Station In Parx Dash

The Critical Way held off a late rally from Battle Station, to prevail by a nose as the short-priced favorite in Tuesday's Grade 3, $200,000 Parx Dash at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa. Ridden by Paco Lopez, the 7-year-old gelding by Tizway, recorded his 10^th lifetime victory from 27 starts.

Trained by Jose Delgado and owned by Randal Gindi's Monster Racing Stables, the Pennsylvania-bred ran the five furlongs in :58.55 on firm turf. Battle Station was a hard charging second, with Francatelli a head back in third in the field of seven.

The Parx Dash serves as the prep for the $300,000 Turf Monster (G3), to be run on Saturday, Sept. 25, at Parx Racing. Today's race was rescheduled from last Tuesday, after steady rain forced turf races to be run on the main track.

The Critical Way broke smoothly, then sat in third while Francatelli showed the way through an opening quarter mile in :23.03. Amblin Man, a 99-1 longshot, chased in second and grabbed the lead at the top of the stretch after a half mile in :46.44.

The Critical Way rallied wide into the stretch and wore down Amblin Man in the final sixteenth, then barely held off a late charge from Battle Station and jockey Angel Cruz. Francatelli fought back late to overtake Amblin Man for the third spot.

The Critical Way, sent off at 3-10, paid $2.60 for the win. He was claimed for $30,000 at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 15, 2020, by Monster Racing Stable and its former trainer Jorge Navarro, who recently pleaded guilty in a federal criminal case involving adulterated, misbranded drugs and faces up to five years in jail.

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Jersey Joe No More, Bravo to Ride Permanently in California

When Joe Bravo decided to leave New Jersey because of new regulations banning the use of the whip, his future was unclear. Bravo, 49, needed a place to ride, but leaving the comfortable confines of Monmouth Park might be difficult. He had been riding at the Jersey Shore track since the late eighties and has been leading rider there 13 times.

But rather than struggling outside of the Garden State, Bravo is having a meet to remember at his new home, Del Mar. With a week to go in the meet, Bravo has 20 wins, good for fifth in the standings. His winning percentage (20%) trails only Flavien Prat (27%).

Having proven that he can compete against the best at a top-tier track like Del Mar, Bravo has decided to make Southern California his home base and said he will be ready to go when racing shifts to Santa Anita Sept. 29.

“The old saying is that when one door closes another one opens,” he said. “In hindsight, this has been a complete blessing. It really shook up my life completely and made me pack my bags up and come to the other coast. It was all for the better. I'm so thankful for the opportunities I have had here.”

To test the waters, Bravo shipped west to ride the final three days of the Santa Anita meet and won two races from 10 starts. He could see right away that California horsemen were willing to give him a chance.

“After I got together with my agent, Matt Nakatani, I came here for the end of the Santa Anita meet and I was overwhelmed by the welcome I got from trainers and owners,” he said. “They were saying 'Joe, it's really good to see you out here.' It's one thing to say that, it's another thing to follow up. Look at who I've been riding for. It's all the top connections. There's no better feeling than that.”

Bravo has ridden winners for eight different trainers, including top outfits like John Sadler, Richard Baltas and Phil D'Amato. He's ridden eight winners alone for Sadler. He's also had three stakes wins, capturing the GIII Rancho Bernardo H. with Edgeway (Competitive Edge), the GII Best Pal S. with Pappacap (Gun Runner) and the Osunitas S. with Ippodamia's Girl (Stormy Atlantic).

“That's what everybody works for, to ride in the higher end races,” Bravo said.

Riding for top outfits like the John Sadler barn has obviously helped, but so has a mental adjustment. Looking back, Bravo realizes he had gotten complacent in New Jersey. He stopped working hard and was content to only ride three or four a day. That was good enough for third place in the Monmouth standings last year, but he was no longer a match for Paco Lopez, a younger jockey who had surpassed Bravo as the top rider in New Jersey.

Bravo knew that he had no chance to make it in California if he didn't come out in the mornings and if he didn't agree to ride in lower-level races.

“Of course I miss it. Jersey will always be home,” he said. “That's probably why the last couple of years I was enjoying the good life. The Jersey Shore is really nice and I wasn't really striving that hard for anything. With this shake up, it's revitalized me. I'm working hard and it's been kind of fun with the way things have been shaken up. I got into a little rut [in New Jersey] and horse racing had become a job. I had an easy go of it at Monmouth for a good run, but coming here has revived my career.”

One of the ironies is that he left New Jersey because of its whip rules only to land in the state with the second strictest rules when it comes to the crop. California riders can only hit their mount underhanded and are limited to six strikes a race. Though he says the California rules are definitely better than they are in Jersey, he is no fan of them.

“They are very strict here,” he said. “If you turn your stick up and hit a horse it's an automatic suspension. It was a very big adjustment for me to make. It's almost like riding with handcuffs. You can't get really aggressive. At least you can do some kind of encouragement. It is difficult, but you have to adjust. I do believe there should be riding crop rules. I just wish they would be a little bit more lenient so you can still have competitive horse races. You have to protect the owners, trainers and gamblers. You see some guys who have already hit their horses six times and there's still an eighth of mile to go and he has to stop. It makes it look like the rider has fallen asleep. Instead, they're just trying to follow the California rules.”

After Santa Anita, Bravo can look forward to the Breeders' Cup, which will be run at Del Mar. He's only won one Breeders' Cup race, with Blue Prize (Arg) (Pure Prize) in the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, but his success on the circuit should put him in line for some decent Breeders' Cup mounts. In a normal year, after the Breeders' Cup, Bravo would be on his way to Gulfstream. Instead, he will gear up for the long Santa Anita meet that begins Dec. 26. He's not going anywhere.

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Lopez Wins With Amatteroftime, Alta Velocita On New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival Day

It only seemed fitting that a day celebrating New Jersey-bred horses belonged to jockey Paco Lopez, trainer Kelly Breen, and breeder-owner John Bowers.

Lopez, who tied his own Monmouth Park record by riding seven winners on Saturday, captured two of the three stakes races during Sunday's New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., while Breen won the $100,000 New Jersey Breeders' Handicap with Pickin' Time, last year's champion New Jersey-bred 2-year-old.

Pickin' Time, who held off Golden Brown to win by 1¾ lengths in the six-furlong New Jersey Breeders' Handicap for 3-year-olds and up, is owned and was bred by John Bowers.

Bowers was honored during the day as the 2020 New Jersey Breeder of the Year.

“It's great that Pickin' Time and Mr. (John) Bowers would win this race on Jersey-bred day,” said Breen. “He's a top breeder. It's difficult when you have a top 2-year-old and you have to transition to 3. Then at 3, having to run against older horses in a race like this like Golden Brown, who is a top older horse, one of the best Jersey-breds ever.

“We knew we had our work cut out for us. Our horse was training well and doing well. I'm just glad he showed up. We talked a lot about the cut back (to six furlongs from a mile and an eighth in the TVG.com Haskell Invitational in his last start). We sharpened him up with the breezes. We did all I thought we needed him to do to get him ready for a top effort off the shelf. He showed up. They went fast. But he's a fast horse too.”

Ridden by Nik Juarez, Pickin' Time looped three-wide coming out of the final turn while Golden Brown, ridden by Lopez, shot the rail.

“It was for the best that I had to go wide coming out of the final turn,” said Juarez. “The favorite (Golden Brown) was down on the rail so I wanted to get the jump before he got through and make sure I was clear and kick some dirt. We were able to get the jump on him and that made a difference.”

Pickin' Time, making his first start since being elevated to fourth in the Grade 1 Haskell, returned $8.60 to win.

The winning time for the son of Stay Thirsty was 1:09.58, with Dr. Doyle getting third.

The other two stakes races on the 12-race card for state-breds belonged to Lopez.

The track's leading rider guided Amatteroftime to a 4¾-length victory over Prendimi in the $125,000 Charles Hesse III Handicap at a mile and a sixteenth and also captured the $100,000 Eleven North Handicap, doing so with a rousing stretch run that saw Alta Velocita get up to win by a nose over Jersey Jewel.

Amatteroftime, trained by Silvino Ramirez, earned his first stakes win since capturing the 2018 New Jersey Breeders' Handicap. The 6-year-old gelding is now 5-for-13 at Monmouth Park during his career.

Amatteroftime paid $5.40 to win, covering the mile and a sixteenth in 1:44.49. Optic Way finished third, another two lengths back.

Lopez's victory in the six-furlong Eleven North aboard Alta Velocita wasn't nearly as easy, with the filly rallying from eighth, seven lengths back, at the quarter pole, finally catching Jersey Jewel on the wire. The winning time was 1:10.45.

Though Alta Velocita has won four of her last five starts, the Eleven North marked the first stakes victory in her 15-race career.

“At the top of the stretch, I was hoping we'd get fourth because of how far back she was. Maybe fifth and then a long drive home,” said winning trainer Andrew Simoff. “As it got closer my hopes picked up. I still didn't she was going to get there inside the sixteenth pole. She had that late surge and switched to that right lead and took off and that was it.”

Alta Velocita returned $6.20 in the field of 11 fillies and mares, three and up.

“At the five-eighths and then the half-mile pole I was thinking `she is dead last,' ” said Lopez, who is virtually assured of his eighth Monmouth Park riding title. “I let her go very wide and let her do her thing. She was flying. I think she made up 10 lengths in the stretch.”

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