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Vargas Hoping Haskell Day Success Propels Him To Big Summer At Monmouth Park

It took a little longer than jockey Jorge A. Vargas Jr. wanted it to or hoped it would, but the 25-year-old finally made the impact at Monmouth Park he expected when he moved his tack from the Maryland circuit this summer.

His timing couldn't have been better.

After an 0-for-17 start to the meet Vargas broke through with a victory aboard the Stanley Hough-trained Global Campaign in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup on TVG.com Haskell Day last Saturday. On the same card he was second with 40-1 Our Super Freak in the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher after just missing the first Grade 1 score of his career when Paret could not hold off the late-running Aquaphobia in the United Nations, finishing second by a length.

“It was a little frustrating for me early in the meet,” said Vargas, who has two mounts on Monmouth Park's six-race twilight card when live racing resumes on Friday at 5 p.m. “When you're not winning the way you think you should you are always asking `what am I doing wrong?' You start to feel pressure because you're riding good horses you think you should win with and you're just short.

“I had a second early in the meet (aboard Gravitas) and the horse that beat me was 73-1. I'm like `I can't catch a break.' Finally, it seems to be turning around.”

Despite being winless early, Vargas kept coming close – adding to the frustration for the native of Caguas, Puerto Rico.

Overall from his 23 mounts at the Monmouth Park meet he has two wins, seven seconds and four thirds.

“Whenever you win it's good. When you get that first one of the meet in a graded stakes it's even better,” he said. “Once you get that monkey off your back you feel free and confident again and you can just be yourself without the pressure.

“I got some good feedback from last Saturday. It gives me confidence. I feel like I'm very close (to a breakout streak).”

Since starting his riding career in 2013 Vargas has found solid success. In 2018 he was Maryland's leading jockey with 110 wins, capturing the Laurel winter-spring riding title that year.

His decision to ride at Monmouth Park full-time this summer was paired with an opportunity that agent Jimmy Riccio set up for him to ride Aqueduct in the winter first.

“COVID-19 kind of messed up those plans,” said Vargas, who attended Puerto Rico's famed Escuela Vocacional Hipica school for jockeys and counts Manny Franco, Victor Carrasco and Jevian Toledo among his classmates. “But I'm happy to be doing the second half of our plan now.

“I just wanted to try something different. I like to challenge myself. A good opportunity came up with Jimmy Riccio and it was time for a change.”

A multiple graded stakes winner, Vargas says he is “still trying to achieve more.”

“I've been pretty successful to this point,” he said. It's pretty amazing when I think about it. But I know I can do even more. Hopefully, I have a little momentum now.”

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‘Worth Sacrificing’: Ireland-Based Jockey Colin Keane Faces Quarantine By Partnering Siskin At Goodwood

Ireland-based jockey Colin Keane will face 14 days of quarantine after reuniting with Siskin at Glorious Goodwood – but the red-hot rider says that's a sacrifice he was willing to make in a heartbeat.

Dual Classic winner Keane piloted Ger Lyons' cracking colt to a brilliant victory in the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas last month, toppling Vatican City at the Curragh to extend Siskin's flawless record to five wins from five.

Lyons confirmed that Goodwood's Qatar Sussex Stakes will be next for the 3-year-old, as the trainer targets another Group One glory following Even So's triumph in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks this weekend.

The coronavirus restrictions mean Keane will face two weeks of quarantine upon returning to Ireland after Goodwood, however, severely jeopardizing his chances of usurping Shane Foley's lead at the summit of the Leading Jockeys table.

Keane has partnered Siskin in all five of his trips so far and while this time may all but end his chances of regaining his Champion Jockey crown of 2017, he says he simply couldn't pass the opportunity to team up with the speedster once more.

“It's definitely worth sacrificing the two weeks,” Keane told Nick Luck's Daily Podcast. “There are not too many like Siskin that I've got to sit on before, so when a horse like that comes around you want to be on him everyday – especially on the big days.

“Hopefully there'll be other championships in the future, but there might not be another Siskin for a very long time, so I want to take every opportunity.

“He's been great since the Guineas, he looks a million dollars and we couldn't be happier with him. We'll keep him wrapped up and it's about getting him there in one piece.”

The Keane-Lyons axis banged in their second Classic winner of the season on Saturday as Even So followed in Siskin's glittering footsteps in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks.

The fabulous filly reeled in Jessica Harrington's Cayenne Pepper – with Foley on board – as Keane delivered a red-hot performance of his own to make things spicy in the Leading Jockeys table.

The 25-year-old has now ridden 28 winners this season, one behind Wayne Lordan but still 11 triumphs adrift of Foley's table-topping 39 efforts.

Foley and Harrington remain without a Classic victory this campaign, however, with Aidan O'Brien landing the other two races with wins for Peaceful and Santiago in the Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas and Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby.

Keane, the 2014 Champion Apprentice, is a man for the big occasion and while both his Classic triumphs have come behind closed doors, it's done little to diminish his joy.

“It was a brilliant weekend – it's still surreal, and one we'll remember for a while I think,” he added.

“Anytime I've ridden a Group One winner there's been nobody there, so it's strange but we're not going to complain.

“There was a lot of pressure for Siskin, but not so much on the filly, so we were just hoping for black type. To go and do what she did was surreal, she was very good.”

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Lesson Horses: Chad Schumer On Worldly

You never forget the name of your first lesson horse – that horse who taught you what you need to know to work with every one that follows.

In this series, participants throughout the Thoroughbred industry share the names and stories of the horses that have taught them the most about life, revealing the limitless ways that horses can impact the people around them. Some came early on in their careers and helped them set a course for the rest of their lives, while others brought valuable lessons to veterans of the business.

Question: Which horse has taught you the most about life?

Chad Schumer

Chad Schumer of Schumer Bloodstock: Worldly. He taught me about treacherous agents, the actual joy of having a horse in training because he took me to the Breeders' Cup, and how sometimes things happen for a reason, and you don't realize it at the time. More than any other horse, he taught me that.

At the time we bought him, it looked like it was a terrible disaster, and then just a few months later, he took me to the Breeders' Cup. It was an incredible story. I bought this horse for clients, and one agent lied to the people and talked them out of it, so I got stuck with him and it was very scary.

The funny thing was, in January of that year, we went to Santa Anita, and it was Beholder's first start of the year. We were sitting there at Santa Anita and we were kind of fuming. We weren't going to get to go to the Breeders' Cup this year because the timing was so close [with the November sales in Kentucky], and it's hard to come back and still be able to work the sale.

We were sitting having lunch at Santa Anita having this conversation about how bummed we were that we weren't going to go to the Breeders' Cup, and just a few months later, we actually have a horse in the Breeders' Cup and we are there. It was an incredible situation.

About Worldly
(2007, A.P. Indy x Urbane, by Citidancer)

Worldly showed flashes of his talent early on, with a third in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, then he spent some time on the Louisiana branch of the Kentucky Derby trail. He came back in the summer of his 3-year- old season to finish second in the G3 Northern Dancer Stakes and Ohio Derby. He won the listed Prairie Meadows Handicap at four.

Schumer came into possession of the horse in the summer of 2013, and sent him to trainer Brendan Walsh. Worldly finished second in a pair of listed stakes at Prairie Meadows and Remington Park, then he ran third in the Homecoming Classic Stakes at Churchill Downs en route to a start in the Breeders' Cup Marathon at Santa Anita, where he finished third to London Bridge.

Worldly was then sold to race in Saudi Arabia, where he became a stakes winner and successful stallion. His son Alzahzaah is a three-time Group 1 winner in Saudi Arabia, including the vaunted Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup.

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Gary Barber Joins WHOA: ‘We Need To Be United In Our Quest For Uniformity’

Hollywood mogul Gary Barber, a leading international Thoroughbred owner for the last three decades, is the latest major player in Thoroughbred racing to become a supporter of the Water Hay Oats Alliance (WHOA).

International equine stars to carry Barber's distinctive pink silks include Canadian Champions Wonder Gadot and Lexi Lou, 2019 Preakness hero War of Will, 2019 Breeders' Cup Turf winning mare Belvoir Bay, 2016 Breeders' Cup Mile winner Tourist, 2015 Breeders Cup Juvenille Fillies Turf winner Catch a Glimpse, GR1 Fourstardave Handicap winner Got Stormy, GR1 Santa Anita Derby winner The Deputy, and GR1 Woodbine Mile hero Becrux.

Gary Barber and other members of WHOA back efforts for clean sport in U.S. racing. Since its founding in 2012, the grassroots organization has continued to grow support for federal legislation to bring uniformity in drug and medication rules across state lines and in sync with international standards. The Horseracing Integrity Act (HR1754/S1820) is now moving forward in the 116th Congress.

In a statement to WHOA, Barber commented: “This is a critical time in our industry where we need to be united in our quest for uniformity and ensure a level playing field for all. I stand in solidarity with the Water Hay Oats Alliance in leading the charge for the passage of the Horseracing Integrity Act. It is vitally important for the health and safety of the horses and jockeys that we vocally show our collective support toward this urgent effort.”

Barber is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Spyglass Media Group, LLC (“Spyglass,”), an independent premium content company focused on developing and producing motion pictures and television series across all platforms for worldwide audiences. Spyglass owns and controls a library of more than 250 Academy Award winning films, box office hits and television series including The King's Speech, The Artist, The Upside, Silver Linings Playbook, Paddington, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, Hellraiser, Scream and Project Runway.

Barber is renowned in the entertainment industry for taking the reins of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. in 2010 as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and leading its impressive transformational turn-around out of bankruptcy and into successive years of profitability. Previously, Barber co-founded Spyglass Entertainment and served as the Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Creek Productions.

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