A special milestone was achieved by jockey Catalino Martinez in race 1. He was able to get win number 1,000! He started riding in 2004 and has had a lot of ups and downs in terms of wins. 2016, 2017, and 2018 have been the 3 best years of his career in terms of money earned (2016- $1,568,797 2017- $2,144,523 2018- $1,868,441). Martinez has gotten off to a solid start in 2019, and is curently 3rd in the jockey standings with 34 wins. It was really great to see all his hard work pay off, and his fellow jockeys knew how big of an accomplishment this was. After the win, many of them dumped champagne and water on the newly crowned 1000 win jockey.
In just her 2nd career start, California Canter was able to break the maiden in Race 8. She was coming off a nice 3rd at this 39k State-bred MSW level and was looking to rebound today with a cozier post position. Today, the daughter of Fullbridled broke well and sat in between many others stalking the pace. She was in-tight a bit, but jockey Francisco Monroy did a great job getting her to relax. She made an easy move along the inside on the turn, and then was wheeled out into the 3-path in the stretch where she held on gamely to win by a neck. Trainer Holly Evans gave California Canter a 7f drill leading into this race, and it appeared to have given her a lot more finish in the lane today. Running a close 2nd was Tamaraandtheboys, and finishing 3rd was the first-time starter Rebalation. The final time for the 5.5f race was 1:04.18.
The 7th race on the card was a 6250 claimer for 3yos, and it was won by Brilliant Richie. He was coming off a maiden win sprinting at the 8k level, and now he was stretching out to a mile and facing winners for the first time. Also, today was his first start for the Jonathan Wong barn. He sat off the leader in 2nd, and then made a move to the lead at the top of the stretch. Jockey Heriberto Figueroa had a lot left in the tank, and once he asked the son of Brilliant Speed, he kicked clear to win by a dominant 7 lengths. Brilliant Richie ran the mile in 1:39.96.
In the finale, Builder got up just in time to score a 50k Starter Allowance win. He was stepping up from the 12.5k claiming level, and was also a first-off the claim win for trainer Isidro Tamayo. There was a lot of speed on paper, and it ended up playing out that way (1/2 went in 46.46, 3/4 went in 1:10.94). Builder had to check a bit in the stretch but was able to re-rally strongly and get up on the line by a neck over Katie’s Cowboy. Mr Gees Journey managed to hold on for 3rd after pressing the quick pace. The final time was 1:37.05 for the mile.
Jockeys: Julien Couton had a huge day with a riding triple. Francisco Monroy had a nice 2-win day.
- Cedillo *67* 2. Hernandez *52* 3. Martinez *34*
Trainers: Steve Sherman had a double on the day. He won races 5 and 9.
- Wong *49* 2. Hollendorfer *16* T-3. Morey, Rivelli *15*
Live racing resumes Sunday with a strong 10-race Dollar Day card. First post is at 12:45pm.
NorCal Horse Racing News 