Tag: People

Bravo Shifting Tack To California: With New Crop Rules, He’s Now ‘Jersey No’

Jockey Joe Bravo, a vocal opponent of the strict riding crop rules imposed at Monmouth Park this year by the New Jersey Racing Commission, is heading to Southern California.

The news was first reported on Saturday by HorseRacingNation.com.

Bravo plans to ride the final three days of the Santa Anita meet, which ends on June 20, return to New Jersey to pack up for his westward migration, then arrive at Del Mar about a week before the July 16 opening day at the seaside track.

Bravo will be represented by Matt Nakatani, son of retired jockey Corey Nakatani. Nakatani is also agent for Mario Gutierrez.

“Nick Cosato (of Slam Dunk Racing) mentioned a few things to Joe about me, and the next thing I know we're in business,” Nakatani said. “I told Joe I could use a rider of his caliber and that Del Mar is a great opportunity for us. I think he can compete with any of the top guys here.

“Joe is a world-class turf rider,” he said. “He loves to save ground and split horses. That's turf racing for you. Trainers will appreciate his abilities.”

A third-generation jockey (his father, George, and grandfather, Bartolo, also rode), Bravo, 49, was born in Long Branch, N.J., just a few miles from Monmouth Park, where he's 13 riding titles. Known as “Jersey Joe” to his fans, Bravo opted not to return to Monmouth Park this year when the New Jersey Racing Commission adopted the most stringent riding crop rules in the country, restricting use of the whip to safety purposes only. California's current rule allows six “underhand” strikes with the crop during a race, with no more than two in succession.

First licensed in 1987, Bravo has won 5,488 races and has mount earnings of $188.9 million. Among his 30 Grade 1 victories is the 2019 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita aboard Blue Prize.

Nakatani said Bravo intends to stay through this year's Breeders' Cup at Del Mar Nov. 5-6 and which point they will “reassess to see where we stand.” Nakatani added, “I wouldn't tell him to come out here if I didn't believe he had a big chance to do well.”

The post Bravo Shifting Tack To California: With New Crop Rules, He’s Now ‘Jersey No’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

After Recent Personal Challenges, Desormeaux Resurgent At 51

Kahuna Magic appeared to be running for second in last Sunday's second race, a maiden allowance event for three-year-olds and up at six furlongs on the main track.

Brutto, the 1-2 favorite, had a clear lead passing the eighth pole and seemed on his way to victory.

But here came Kahuna Magic, fourth entering the stretch, with Kent Desormeaux riding like he was pursuing his fourth Kentucky Derby triumph, even though he was next to last in a field of five at the half-mile marker, and, at 13-1, aboard the second-longest shot in the race.

Desormeaux would have none of it, ultimately winning by a neck in a three-horse photo finish. As the Equibase chart notes, “Kahuna Magic drew alongside Brutto with a sixteenth remaining and overhauled that rival for the score.”

It was the 17th of 18 victories this meet for Desormeaux, who has overcome life-changing familial issues and substance abuse challenges that required rehabilitation to resurrect a Hall of Fame career which had ebbed to near-nothingness.

“I'm very happy to work for him again,” said veteran agent Tony Matos, who represented the Louisiana native two decades ago when Desormeaux won the Kentucky Derby twice, with Real Quiet in 1998 and Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000.

Desormeaux would go on to win a third Run for the Roses on Big Brown in 2008, when Matos did not have his book.

“Kent's riding as good as ever, maybe better,” said Matos, who also handles business for Edwin Maldonado.

“It's definitely nice to have clarity and the support of horsemen on the backside,” Desormeaux said. “Tony has the respect of several clients who have given me their trust, so it's working out.

“It's nice to be the talk of the town again.”

The post After Recent Personal Challenges, Desormeaux Resurgent At 51 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Meadowlands Championship Meet Honors Joe DeFrank

Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, NJ – Harness racing Hall of Famer Joe DeFrank left an unforgettable legacy at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

Together with the Hambletonian Society, the Meadowlands made the decision to name the 2021 Championship Meet in honor of Joe DeFrank, who died in December at the age of 87.

“The Meadowlands owes its tremendous success to Mr. Joe DeFrank,” said Jason Settlemoir, COO & GM of the Meadowlands Racetrack. “Honoring him on the biggest stage in harness racing is a fitting tribute.”

Joe DeFrank was recruited by the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority management team tasked with opening the Meadowlands Racetrack in 1976 and GM Bob Quigley went on the hunt for a rising star rather than cull from the ranks of existing talent.

He found DeFrank at Windsor Raceway, recognized his keen abilities to assess both horse and driver talent along with his fresh approach to racing, and convinced DeFrank to come east to the Meadowlands. DeFrank was the first and only race secretary at the flagship racetrack for 25 years. He created many popular winter series along with races such as the Meadowlands Pace and Woodrow Wilson, both of which offered purses of more than $1 million. The Woodrow Wilson purse also reached as high as $2 million, the most ever offered in the sport. The Meadowlands Pace, an instant classic, remains one of the most sought victories 40 years later.

DeFrank was also instrumental in bringing the Hambletonian from the Midwest to the Meadowlands in 1981. Always the innovative race secretary, DeFrank introduced a new concept to the Meadowlands in 1986 – a number of big-purse races for youngsters on the same night, called the Million Dollar Babies.

Joe DeFrank was inducted into the harness racing Hall of Fame in 1994, with presenter Stan Bergstein, a former race secretary himself, noting, “I realized quickly and instinctively that he was going places. I simply underestimated how far he was going, how fast he was going, and how impressively he would get there. No one in our business has mastered his craft more completely, elevated its power and stature, introduced more new ideas, commanded more respect or ruled with such absolute power as the man we now honor.”

John Campbell, Hall of Fame driver and now President and CEO of the Hambletonian Society, stated in his Facebook tribute to Mr. DeFrank, “Every driver, trainer, owner, stallion owner and breeder in our industry today is deriving benefits as a result of Joe DeFrank`s vision, innovation, and presentation of major stake races. Harness racing had never imagined purses that the Meadowlands Pace and Woodrow Wilson were going for, and, imitation being the best form of flattery, other tracks soon changed their outlook and approach to their stake programs. The Metro, North America Cup, Breeders Crown, and many others all evolved after the success of Joe's vision at the Meadowlands and he started the Final Four races at Garden State Park, as well.”

The 2021 Meadowlands Racetrack Championship Meet in honor of Joe DeFrank culminates Saturday, Aug. 7 — Hambletonian Day.

The post Meadowlands Championship Meet Honors Joe DeFrank appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Lost And Found Presented By LubriSYNHA: Martens Looks Back Fondly On 40th Anniversary Of Belmont Win

June is a special month for former jockey George Martens and his sister Cheryl: both will be celebrating 40th anniversaries of different kinds this year. For George, the sixth day of the month marks the day he guided Summing to victory in the 1981 Belmont Stakes a few days before Cheryl married Tony McNeil. It is easy to imagine the festivities surrounding those occasions with some of racing's biggest names in attendance four decades ago. Now, their lifestyles are much quieter and far from the energized atmosphere of Belmont Park in the New York City suburbs.

Martens is semi-retired and sharing a home with the McNeils near Remington Park where Tony, who closed his own race riding career in 2012, works as a racing official. Martens' 1976 Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice is on full display at the residence.

“I am pretty proud of my accomplishments,” Martens said. “I had so many great people who were behind me, from Hall of Famers to people who were just trying to make an ordinary living training horses. I remember almost every single one of them.”

While meandering down memory lane, Martens rattles off names of leading jockeys, stakes winners, famous stables, high-profile horsemen, and lesser knowns that impacted his productive but relatively brief career centered primarily in New York and the East Coast. With generations of jockeys in his pedigree, including his father Buddy, he naturally gravitated to the track.

“I was raised right outside the gate in (the town of) Elmont,” Martens said to underscore Belmont Park's influence.

He went to the barns with his father whenever time allowed to learn all he could. Not surprisingly, he was skilled enough to obtain his jockey's license when he turned the minimum age of 16. After those initial two mounts in 1974, Martens established himself within the legendary New York jockey colony that included eventual Hall of Famers Angel Cordero Jr., Jorge Velasquez, and Jacinto Vasquez.

“When I started, I was real shy,” Martens said. “I learned so much competing with them every day. They were all great help to me.”

He rode 70 winners in 1975 and another 105 while still an apprentice in his 1976 Eclipse Award season. He transitioned seamlessly when his weight allowance expired later that year and closed his championship season with a career-high 132 victories including 27 as a newly minted journeyman.

Some years were statistically far better than others and with just one win in 1988, Martens decided he was more comfortable being a morning rider. He lost 30 pounds to make a brief comeback in 1995. His record stands at 888 victories including Grade 1 scores in the aforementioned Belmont, the 1986 Selima Stakes on Collins and 1981 United Nations Handicap on his all-time favorite Key to Content.

Martens' life reached a turning point in 2008 when his father was diagnosed with a terminal illness and he relocated from Florida to the outskirts of Oklahoma City, where his parents had retired to be near the McNeils and their children. He spent about five years as an exercise rider for Steve Asmussen and then became a jockey's valet at Remington Park. The track is 1,500 miles southwest of Belmont Park where 60,000-plus watched Summing capture the third leg of the Triple Crown under a hometown celebrity. Echoes of that afternoon no doubt will be heard again this month when the Martens and McNeil families celebrate the milestone anniversaries.

“There is no better feeling that I can have in my life now than reminiscing about racing during the best times of my life,” Martens said. “I have made so many friends with people in the horse business. If it wasn't for the horses, I wouldn't know all these good people who are involved in racing. That is what I take out of what my accomplishments mean to me.”

The post Lost And Found Presented By LubriSYNHA: Martens Looks Back Fondly On 40th Anniversary Of Belmont Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights