1/12/2019:
Race 1 on the card was won by ‘Horses to Watch’ horse, Boot Scootin Kid. She was kept in the clear on the outside by Juan Hernandez and was able to get up in time in the stretch– she paid $6.40 to win.
Jockeys Juan Hernandez, Abel Cedillo, and Francisco Duran each won two races on the card.
Hernandez and Cedillo have both pulled away to a sizeable lead in the jockey standings, and it has been great to see them go back and forth at such a high level– they both have 19 wins so far this meet. Cedillo, who won this meet last year, has won with 19 of his 89 mounts, for a win percentage of 21%. He’s also a very strong 50% ITM. Hernandez has been a top rider on this circuit for many years, and has continued that trend so far this meet. While having 21 fewer starts than Cedillo, he has still continued to produce– winning an impressive 19 races from 68 starts (28%).
Sherrie Monroe had a very nice day, winning race 3 with Cherlynn and race 6 with No Spin Zone. Also, Steve Specht was able to run 1-2 in the 8th with Heavenly Holiday and Priest Lake respectively.
1/13/2019:
The Jonathan Wong trained Bronzino was very gritty and game as he wired the field of 16k claimers in race 5. Luis Ocasio was very patient on the lead and was able to slow down the tempo, leaving him enough in the tank to hold on. Not only did Wong win this race, but he also had the exacta– Aotearoa ran a strong race to lose by a head.
In the 7th race, the Andy Mathis trained Pulpit’s Dirty Red broke his maiden and stopped the clock in a solid 1:03.30 for 5 1/2f. This 8k maiden claiming race was a half a second faster than the 20k claiming fillies and mares in the previous race. Also, runner up Wasco ran a very solid race off the long layoff for trainer Steve Sherman.
Trainer Jonathan Wong and jockey Luis Ocasio had a huge day, as they teamed up to win 3 races on Sunday. They took the 5th with Bronzino, the 6th with I Love Romance, and the 9th with Mo Dinero. The Fall Meet winning trainer, has now claimed the outright lead in the trainer standings. Wong has 11 wins from 46 starters and has a win percentage of 24%. He is going to be very tough to catch with his high win percentage and high volume of horses in the barn. Ocasio is a very solid 8/38 and is winning at a 21% clip.
Not to go unnoticed was Alejandro Gomez winning races 3 and 7 on the card. He has had a very nice start to the meet (8-51; 16%), and is tied for the 3rd spot in the jockey standings with Luis Ocasio.
Jockeys:
T-1. Cedillo, Hernandez *19* T-3. Ocasio, Gomez *8*
Trainers:
- Wong *11* T-2. Wright, Delia *7*
A new ‘Horses to Watch’ list will be dropping sometime on Wednesday, so be on the lookout for that.
Live racing at Golden Gate Fields will return on Thursday with a 7-race program. First post is at 12:45pm.
NorCal Horse Racing News 