Stanley Hough | Horse Racing Free Tips

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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No Passing Lane: Global Campaign Rerallies To Win Monmouth Cup

Passed by Bal Harbour at the top of the stretch after being pressured on the front end by another rival, Global Campaign rerallied in the final sixteenth of a mile to win the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup by 1 1/2 lengths at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., on Saturday.

Ridden by Jorge Vargas Jr. and trained by Stanley Hough, Global Campaign — a 4-year-old colt by Curlin – covered 1 1/8 miles on a fast main track in 1:50.47 after setting fractions of :23.77, :47.91, 1:11.69 and 1:37.55.

Math Wizard, winner of the G1 Pennsylvania Derby in 2019, closed from last in the field fo nine to finish second, one length ahead of Bal Harbour, who looked like a winner at the top of the stretch.

Global Campaign, who raced without blinkers for the first time in an eight-race career and was favored at 5-2, was winning for the fifth time. This was his second graded stakes win, having taken the G3 Peter Pan at Belmont Park last year.

Owned by WinStar Farm and Sagamore Farm, Global Campaign was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm. He is out of the A.P. Indy mare, Globe Trot.

“I didn't like seeing all the pressure on him all race,” Hough said. “But I can't say I'm surprised he withstood it. I had my doubts when he got headed in the stretch by Bal Harbour. But Jorge Vargas rode him good and the horse responded great. He's a very, very talented horse, so it's good to see him come back like this. Hopefully he continues to show himself. I'm very pleased with this effort. He was kind of rambunctious as a 3-year-old last and he'd look around and get distracted so I kept the blinkers on him. But I never felt he really needed them. I just thought it would let him see around a little by taking them off for this race. I've been working him without them so he was used to it again. He's shown from the start that he's a good horse. He's well-bred and gosh he has so much talent. He has kind of been his own worst enemy. But he is finally maturing and maybe we can build from here.”

“I was pretty excited when I found out I was going to ride him,” said Vargas. “I went back and watched all of his races. I knew how talented he is. If you saw him this race, even with those horses putting pressure on him all race, he kept his ears pricked and he was relaxed and off the bit. When I asked him a little bit he jumped on the bit and he had something left. He was very strong. I just moved to Monmouth Park for the summer for the first time this year and this is my first win of the meet so it's pretty special.”

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Trainer Alexander Remembered For His Role At Maryland’s Sagamore Farm

Frank Alexander passed away at the age of 82 June 26 after retiring in 2012 from a distinguished training career best known for conditioning 1994 Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Cherokee Run, the 2013 Preakness (G1) runner-up.

Long based in New York, Alexander began training on his own full-time in 1974 after spending four years as the racing manager for Sagamore Farm, the historic property in Glyndon, Md., bequeathed to Alfred G. Vanderbilt Jr. for his 21st birthday in 1933 as a gift from his mother.

Alexander's first win came with Maryland-bred Solo Jim at Pimlico Race Course in 1974. In his later years, he owned a home in upstate New York near Saratoga Race Course and wintered in South Florida.

“My family has known him for years, and I usually only saw him in Saratoga,” Sagamore Farm president Hunter Rankin said. “Stan Hough trains for us and he loved Stan. He would come by and always tell old stories about Sagamore. He loved the farm and he loved Maryland. What a nice man. What a professional.”

Vanderbilt, who died in 1999, was still very much a part of the operation during Alexander's tenure before he sold it to developer James Ward in 1986. Maryland native Kevin Plank, founder and CEO of Under Armour, purchased the farm, once home to Hall of Famer Native Dancer, in 2007.

“I had a lot of respect for him and what he accomplished here and what he accomplished throughout his career in racing. He loved the game, he loved the farm and he was a great man,” Rankin said. “Since we've been here we've tried to build on the tradition that was here starting back … with Mr. Vanderbilt. There have been a lot of people through here that have accomplished a whole lot in the sport. I think it says a lot about the place and, obviously, Mr. Vanderbilt, and Frank was a big part of that.”

Alexander won 997 races and $28.5 million in purses according to Equibase statistics, including Grade 1 winners K.J.'s Appeal, Lucky Roberto, Wallenda and Nonsuch Bay. Other stakes winners trained by Alexander included Babae, Beru, Flash Runner, Good and Tough, Killer Diller, Richmond Runner, Timmy and Windsor Castle.

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