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McCarthy Rides Five Winners At Colonial Downs, Takes Lead In Jockey Standings

Jockey Trevor McCarthy reached the winner's circle five times Sunday evening at Colonial Downs and in doing so powered past Forest Boyce to take over the top spot in the New Kent, Va., track's rider standings.

The 26-year-old native of Wilmington, Del., won the jockey title at Colonial last year when the track returned to action after a six-year absence. He entered Sunday's card – a makeup from last Monday's cancellation – with five wins from 16 starts, just two days into the 2020 season. Forest Boyce was one better though, having won six times.

McCarthy connected early with Ferris Allen's No Knock Raid in the second, then won three straight beginning in the fourth. He was atop Michael Campbell's Sky Mischief, Michael Stidham's Palio and Sarah Nagle's Cark over that span.

McCarthy, leading rider leader in Maryland in 2014 and 2016, closed out his evening by guiding Wesley Ward's Sunshine City to victory in the 5 1/2 furlong eighth. “I was worried a bit in the turn but when I asked her to respond, she did. It was like pushing a button. I just tried not to overthink the ride.”

Boyce prevailed once on Sunday with Princess Grace so after three race days, McCarthy has 10 wins to Boyce's seven. On Monday, the pair have eight and six mounts respectively in Colonial's nine-race card.

McCarthy was humble when asked about his early season success. “I can't take the credit,” he said. “I give credit to the trainers and all the great staff involved behind the scenes, from exercise riders, to grooms, to hotwalkers. My agent (Scott Silver) has been picking the right horses for me to ride and the horses have been doing what they're supposed to do. I've gotten great support from my family and future wife (jockey Katie Davis).”

Colonial Downs, in its second season under ownership of the Colonial Downs Group, continues its summer meet through September 2. Racing is held every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 PM. Highlight of the season is the New Kent County Virginia Derby Night on Tuesday September 1.

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Guillaume Breaks His Maiden In Hansel Stakes; McCarthy Wins Four On Colonial’s Opening Night

Guillaume rallied on the outside and overtook Merchant of Hope in the final strides of the $40,000 Hansel Stakes for Virginia Certified 2-year-olds on the Tuesday night opening night card at Colonial Downs. The son of Hard Spun is owned by DARRS Inc., trained by Mike Stidham and was ridden by Trevor McCarthy, the same owner-trainer-jockey combination who were leaders at the 2019 Colonial meeting.

The victory was third of four on the night for McCarthy and second for Stidham. “When we saw that his race was for Virginia-certified horses, it got on our radar,” said Stidham. “He was impressive at this distance but we'll be looking to go longer in his next start.”

Named after a famous Canadian ballet dancer, Guillaume's performance impressed owner David Ross: “Mike did a great job getting the horse ready and Trevor did a phenomenal job getting out in the lane and just getting him to the wire in time. The horse was moving forwardly at the finish. He's an exciting horse to watch.”

Guillaume was making his career debut in the Hansel and banked $24,000 for the half-length victory. He covered the 5 ½ furlongs over a fast track in 1:04.38 and paid $6.40, $3.40 and $2.10. The winner was started at the Middleburg Training Center by Ballyerin Racing's Madison Meyers and Kieran Norris. The Center recently underwent a multi-million-dollar upgrade.

Merchant of Hope set the pace in the five-horse field through fractions of 22.85 seconds for the opening quarter, 46.11 seconds for a half-mile and a five-furlong split of 58.06 seconds. The son of Bayern paid $4.00 and $2.40.

It was another 1 ¾ lengths back to third-place finisher and post-time favorite Sky's Not Falling who returned $2.10 to show. Natural Attraction and Dare to Promise completed the order of finish.

Earlier in the card, Wesley Ward's Amsden went gate-to-wire in a $40,000 five-furlong maiden turf race for two-year-olds. The American Pharoah colt won by three lengths. Last year, Ward connected in a Colonial turf sprint with another two-year-old, Four Wheel Drive, who captured the Rosie's Stakes and went on to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Colonial Downs' summer meeting continues racing through September 2 on a Monday through Wednesday basis with a first post of 5:30 EDT. A special Sunday program has been added August 2 to make up for the cancellation of Monday's scheduled card.

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Colonial Downs Takes 108 Entries For Nine-Race Card On Opening Monday

Colonial Downs will usher in its second season of Thoroughbred racing under the ownership of the Colonial Downs Group on Monday July 27 with nine pari-mutuel races getting underway at 5:30 PM (EDT). There will be two non-wagering steeplechase events prior at 4:00 and 4:40 PM.

One hundred and eight horses were entered for opening night's card and $316,000 in purse money will be distributed. Seven of the nine flat races will be contested over Colonial's massive Secretariat Turf Course — the widest grass racing surface in the country at 180 feet across — and the other two will held over the 1 1/4-miles dirt track.

The featured race is a $42,000 turf allowance for 2-year-olds at 5½ furlongs. A field of nine will battle in the eighth race including seven last-time-out winners. The only two that did not prevail most recently were Sunshine City and Crown and Coke, who raced in stakes at Royal Ascot and Churchill Downs, respectively.

A jockey colony of some 30 riders will be based in New Kent for the six-week meet including Trevor McCarthy, last year's top jock with 15 wins. Through July 22 this year, McCarthy is ranked 30th in the country by purse earnings with $2,576,300. Daniel Centeno, who tied for second with 13 victories, is back as is Forest Boyce, who finished fourth in the standings. The trio will be busy on opening night. McCarthy and Boyce have nine mounts each while Centeno has eight.

Veteran jockeys Chuck Lopez and Alberto Delgado are part of the group. Lopez competed at Colonial in 2019 and collected seven wins. The 59-year-old has 4,301 wins from over 30,000 starts. Delgado will be riding for the first time since 2017. The 56-year-old, who has 2,932 victories from over 25,000 starts, rode California Chrome to his first two wins in 2013. Lopez has six mounts Monday while Delgado has two.

Mike Stidham and Jamie Ness, co-leading trainers at the 2019 meet with 10 wins each, have horses entered Monday. The former, who won the 2019 Virginia Oaks with Carnival Colors and Kitten's Joy with Doc Boy last summer, has Princess Grace in the seventh and Palio in the fifth. The latter sends Hazels Little Man out in the featured eighth.

Also supporting the opener are Graham Motion, whose English Bee captured the 2019 New Kent County Virginia Derby (G3), and Wesley Ward, whose Four Wheel Drive won the Exacta Systems Rosie's Stakes then went on the win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1). Motion's' Dance Recital appears in the seventh and Ward's Sunshine City competes in the feature. Both Ferris Allen, Colonial's all-time leading conditioner, and King Leatherbury, fifth leading all-time trainer nationally with 6,503 victories, have a pair entered.

The track will feature a nightly All-Turf Pick-5 wager that covers the program's final five races. Colonial is in a unique position because its track lights illuminate the grass course instead of the dirt oval. Three of the five legs in Monday's wager have either a 13- or 14-horse field.

The early steeplechase races will be a staple of every Monday card this summer. Opening day's pair feature 10-horse fields and seven in each raced most recently in Virginia — either at the Middleburg Spring Races or the Virginia Gold Cup at Great Meadow which both took place in June.

The 2020 race meet will be presented “spectator-free” out of an abundance of caution so Colonial Downs' personnel can focus extra care towards key operating areas, such as the jockeys' quarters, paddock supervision, racing office and the stabling area.

The season continues through September 2 with cards every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 PM. The Grade 3 Virginia Derby highlights the meet and will be contested on Tuesday September 1 along with other five stakes.

In Virginia, wagering on Colonial Downs races can be placed at any Rosie's Gaming Emporium or at any VA-Horseplay Off Track Betting location. Online betting is available through TVG.com, Xpressbet.com, Twinspires.com and NYRABets.com. All of Colonial's races will be aired on TVG. More details are at colonialdowns.com/wagering.

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Gufo Rolls To Fourth Consecutive Win In Delaware Park’s Kent Stakes

Otter Bend Stables' Gufo notched a record-setting victory Saturday in the $125,000 Grade 3 Kent Stakes at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del.

With Trevor McCarthy aboard, the 3-year-old son of Declaration of War won by a half-length and established a new track record by covering the mile and a sixteenth in 1:46.94 over a firm turf course. The previous record of 1:47.19 was set in 2016.

Gufo returned $3.20 as the favorite in the field of seven. Pixelate, with Angel Suarez, finished second. It was another 2 ½-lengths farther back to Vanzzy, with Mychel Sanchez third. Sunsation, with Joe Bravo, cut early fractions of :47.49 for the half-mile and 1:11.31 for the three-quarter miles before finishing in fifth.

The Kent Stakes is the first graded stakes victory for Gufo, who has now won four in a row. Previously, the Kentucky-bred conditioned by Christophe Clement won the $75,000 English Channel Stakes at Gulfstream Park on May 2. He raised his career mark to four wins and a third from five starts with earnings of $177,000.

“They wanted me to have him a little bit closer to the pace today, but he just was not comfortable when we I put a little pressure on him to stay up early,” said winning McCarthy, who also won the Christiana Stakes earlier on the card. “We went a little slow the first quarter but things quickened up. I felt like I was on the best horse, so I left him alone, kept him out of trouble and gave him time to get himself together.

“I saved a little bit of ground in the first turn and then I got him out down the backside and that is when he really started to gain his rhythm,” McCarthy added. “If there was any horse who could have beaten me today, I thought it was the three, Pixielate, and I just kind of tracked him the whole way. When we turned for home, I just went outside of Pixieilate, and my horse did all of the work. He was really impressive breaking the track record and he really stormed home the last eighth of a mile.”

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