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On Track For Record Year, Paco Lopez To Resume Riding Saturday At Meadowlands

A pair of Chad Brown-trained fillies, both coming off Maiden Special Weight victories on the grass, head a field of 14 for Saturday's featured $45,000 allowance when racing resumes during the all-turf Monmouth-at-Meadowlands meet.

Saturday's six-race card will also mark the return of leading rider Paco Lopez, who has been sidelined since injuring his left shoulder in a spill on Oct. 15 at the Meadowlands.

Lopez, coming off his eighth riding title at Monmouth Park, sits atop the Meadowlands rider standings with six victories, one more than Isaac Castillo. He is listed to ride in three races, including the Brown-trained Infinite Potential in the one-mile feature race.

With 281 victories on the year, Lopez is two shy of his career best set in 2019.

A 4-year-old daughter of Invincible Spirit, Infinite Potential will look to become a two-time winner at the Monmouth-at-Meadowlands meet after breaking her maiden on Oct. 1 with a neck victory at a mile and a sixteenth on the grass.

Bred in Ireland, Infinite Potential is owned by Klaravich Stables.

Brown has also entered Bleecker Street, a 3-year-old filly who won at first asking on Aug. 21 at Monmouth Park at a mile and a sixteenth on the turf. The daughter of Quality Road, owned by Peter M. Brant, has not raced since then.

Two also-eligibles are among the 14 horses entered in the feature race. Overall, 70 horses are entered for the six races.

Saturday's program is the sixth of the seven-day boutique meet, with the final live Thoroughbred card of the year in New Jersey scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 30.

First race post time is 7 p.m.

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One-Handed Teenager Chasing Horse Racing Dream In Britain

A young one-handed rider is breaking down boundaries, having successfully graduated from the British Racing School.

Harry Enright, 17, who rides with a prosthetic arm linked to the reins through a magnetic device, recently completed the 18 week foundation course that prepares young riders for a career in horse racing and is now working at trainer Lawney Hill's racing stables in Oxfordshire as a work rider.

Harry was born with one hand and has always had a love of horses and riding. Having first sat on a donkey at eight months old on holiday in Ireland, his parents turned to the British Racing School (BRS) in Newmarket when he decided he wanted to pursue a career in racing.

Harry said, “When I was younger I was quite into football and it got to the point where I thought I could either continue playing that, work in an office or try and make something of myself.

“I've always loved horses and decided I wanted to take that further and get into racing so I came to the British Racing School. There is Guy Disney who rides with a lower limb prosthetic but we weren't aware of anyone else who rode with a prosthetic arm.

“I started out at the British Racing School doing a nine-week course and then came back for the 18 week course with loads of riding and mucking out. Together with the BRS and Steve Cox and the team at Dorset Orthopaedic we have created a prosthetic which allows me to safely ride racehorses.

“The prosthetic is made of silicon which slides onto my arm and there is a magnet at the end which attaches to the reins. A power circuit keeps it in place and if I fall off the circuit is broken, releasing the magnet so that I don't get caught up in the reins dragged along.”

Andrew Braithwaite, Finance Director at the BRS who has been instrumental in developing the bespoke prosthetic said, “We've been working with Harry to create a prosthetic which has allowed him to ride racehorses so that not only has he been safe but all the other horses and riders with him have been safe as well.

“The key was to find a solution that didn't require the horses to adapt to the way Harry was riding. Thanks to Harry's determination and natural ability this has been achieved. It has been great to see him successfully complete the course and go on to full time employment.”

Michelle, Harry's mother said, “We are extremely proud of Harry. Behind all of this for him to inspire others like him to never give up on your dreams to really put yourself out there and keep trying. We're in the 21st century and he wants to show that anything is possible. We are so proud of him with his determination to fight for the dream that he wants.”

Having graduated, Harry is now working at Lawney Hill's racehorse yard in Oxfordshire.

He said, “Everyone has their bigger goal of where they want to be. The biggest goal for me is probably trying to be a jockey. For now, I'm just taking it step by step. My next goal was to get into the workplace and I've achieved that and now it's just continuing to move forwards towards my dreams.”

Lawney Hill said: “Harry is hard-working, cheeky and dedicated and he's determined not to let anything get in his way. We are so impressed with his riding ability and his manner with the horses and he has been a brilliant addition to our team since he has joined us.”

The team are continuing to develop and improve the prosthetic. If people would like to contribute to this process, please contact Andrew Braithwaite at the British Racing School.

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‘It’s Good To Be Back’: Luis Figueroa Rides First Winner Since 2017 At Gulfstream Park

Comebacking Luis Figueroa returned to the Gulfstream Park winner's circle for the first time in more than five years Thursday. The 26-year-old jockey, who quit riding in 2017, scored in his sixth mount back in Race 2 aboard Carlos Perez-trained Starship Mallomar ($7.20).

“It's good to be back,” Figueroa said. “It feels great. I'm working for Carlos Perez – they're great people – and they'll give me a shot once in a while.”

Figueroa, who began riding in 2014, is the older brother of Heriberto Figueroa, who is currently riding in New Jersey and New York.

Later on Thursday's program, jockey Marcos Meneses won on Pretty Rachel ($2.60) for the sixth consecutive race in Race 7. Armando De La Cerda-trained Pretty Rachel, who has won for three different trainers during her six-race streak, won by eight lengths while dropping from a 6 ¾-length victory in a $12,500 claiming company into a $6250 claiming race. The 3-year-old daughter of Dominus was claimed out of her victory by trainer Kent Sweezey.

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Niarchos Family To Receive 2021 Longines And IFHA International Award Of Merit

The Niarchos family has been selected to receive the 2021 Longines and IFHA International Award of Merit, which recognizes distinguished horsemen and horsewomen for lifelong contributions to Thoroughbred racing. They will be honored during a ceremony Friday, Nov. 5, in Del Mar during Breeders' Cup World Championships weekend, and Maria Niarchos-Gouazé will accept the award on behalf of the family.

The Niarchos family breeds and races Thoroughbreds around the world and has done so with great success for decades. More than 125 Group or Grade 1 winners have been bred and/or campaigned under their banner, and they have been long-time supporters of the Breeders' Cup.

The late Stavros Niarchos served as a Greek naval officer in World War II and made his fortune in the shipping business. He first became involved with Thoroughbred racing in the 1950s, took a break, and returned in full force in the 1970s. His first major winner was Pipe of Peace, who won the 1956 Middle Park Stakes.

At the 1978 Keeneland July sale, Niarchos paid the second-highest amount ever, at the time, for a yearling colt. Named Nureyev, he went on to be an extremely influential sire. Among Nureyev's most well-known progeny is Miesque, who raced as a homebred for the Niarchos family and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame of the United States in 1999.

Miesque, who won the Breeders' Cup Mile in both 1987 and 1988, was a champion in England, France, and the United States during her racing career. As a broodmare, she went on to produce elite runner and stallion Kingmambo as well as three-time Group 1 winner East Of The Moon. A multiple Group 1 winner in Europe, Kingmambo became one of the leading stallions in Kentucky, siring classic winners and champions in North America, Europe, and Japan. East Of The Moon, meanwhile, is the granddam of three Group 1-winning sisters in Alpha Centauri, Alpine Star, and Discoveries.

Niarchos was the leading owner in France in 1983 and 1984 as well as the leading breeder in 1989, 1993, and 1994. His daughter Maria took over the family's Thoroughbred business after his death in 1996, and Alan Cooper serves as the family's racing manager.

The Niarchos family has won seven Breeders' Cup races with six homebred colts and fillies. Six of those victories have come in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1): Miesque (1987, 1988), Spinning World (1997), Domedriver (2002), Six Perfections (2003), and Karakontie (2014). Additionally, Main Sequence won the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) in 2014. The six Mile winners were trained in Europe, while Main Sequence began his career in Europe before being transferred to the United States. This record as an owner-breeder at the Breeders' Cup makes the Niarchos family one of the event's most successful participants.

A sampling of other notable international wins for the family as owner or breeder also includes Bago (2004 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe), Divine Proportions (2005 Prix de Diane), Light Shift (2007 English Oaks), Ulysses (2017 Eclipse Stakes and International Stakes, son of Light Shift), Alpha Centauri (2018 Irish Horse of the Year), Study of Man (2018 Prix du Jockey Club), War of Will (2019 Preakness Stakes), and Circus Maximus (2019 St James's Palace Stakes and 2020 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot).

Representatives from both Longines and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), as well as the Breeders' Cup and The Jockey Club, will be in California to celebrate the Niarchos family. As the Official Partner and Official Watch of the IFHA, Swiss watchmaker Longines and the IFHA conjointly created the Award of Merit in 2013. Longines is also an Official Partner, the Official Timekeeper, and the Official Watch of the Breeders' Cup, as well as the title sponsor for the Breeders' Cup Classic, Turf, and Distaff.

Previous winners of this award include John Messara, the owner and chairman of Arrowfield Stud in Australia; the Magnier family and trainer Aidan O'Brien, the driving forces behind Coolmore and the Ballydoyle Racing Stable in Ireland; Yutaka Take, legendary Japanese jockey; the Romanet family, long renowned leaders in both the French and international world of horseracing; Jim Bolger, leading Irish trainer, owner and breeder; Alec Head, past champion trainer and patriarch of prominent stud farm Haras du Quesnay; Seth Hancock of historic Claiborne Farm in America; and the late Marcel Zarour Atanacio, former chairman of the South American organization for the promotion of Thoroughbreds (OSAF).

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