Belmont Park Notes 9.28.17
by NYRA Press Office
- Jockey Angel Arroyo registers his 1,000th career win
- European shippers Zhukova, The Grey Gatsby adjust well to Belmont
- 'Consistent' Sadler's Joy will look to bring 'A' game in G1 Joe Hirsch
- Special events on tap for Joe Hirsch Turf Classic weekend
Jockey Angel Arroyo recorded his 1,000th career victory when 14-1 choice Pico Chick won the opener of Thursday’s card at Belmont Park.
Arroyo piloted Pico Chick ($30.00) to a come-from-behind win, edging out Honor
Way by a nose in the six-furlong sprint on the main track to reach the personal
milestone.
The 30-year-old started his North American career in 2007, when he had his
first winner with Knockoff Firefly on July 23, 2007 at Delaware Park.
“I’m so happy. To get a thousand wins, wow, it’s special,” Arroyo said. “I’m very
thankful. It’s taken a long time. My horse was good today. He responded and
never quit.”
Arroyo has recorded at least 70 wins in nine straight years, including a
career-high 183 in 2012. He won the riding title at Parx that year with 160
winners.
“To win a thousand, that’s a lot of races,” Arroyo said. “I remember getting my
first in 2007. Now it’s ten years later, and to get it in Belmont Park, it’s
very special and I’m really happy.”
Arroyo has five career graded stakes victories to his credit, guiding Highway
Star to a win in this year’s Grade 3 Distaff Handicap and the Grade 2 Ruffian
as well as the 2016 Grade 3 Go for Wand. His first graded stakes win came with
Classic Point in the 2014 edition of the Go for Wand.
The native of Panama City, Panama earned his first New York win aboard Sax in
the City on November 9, 2007 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
* * *
After considering running Zhukova
against males in the Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, trainer Dermot
Weld said he will run the 5-year-old stakes winner in the Grade 1, $500,000
Flower Bowl for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up on October 8 at Belmont
Park.
Zhukova, a 5-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Fastnet Rock, already proved she
could beat high-caliber males, winning the Grade 1 Man o’ War by six lengths on
May 13 at Belmont. But Weld said the extra time between races – the Joe Hirsch
will be run Saturday – as well as the expected firm turf this weekend,
encouraged him to run Zhukova in the Flower Bowl, a “Win and You’re In” race
for the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on November 4
at Del Mar.
“We were pleased with her in every way, she ran a good race in the Irish
Champion Stakes,” Weld said by phone from Ireland. “This will give us a chance
to acclimatize. The travel takes a bit out of her. She’ll appreciate the extra
couple of days just to settle in.”
Zhukova finished eighth in the Irish Champion Stakes but has six wins in her
last nine starts dating to her 3-year-old campaign in 2015. She arrived at
Belmont on Tuesday with stablemate The
Grey Gatsby, who drew post 10 in the Joe Hirsch.
Both Zhukova and The Grey Gatsby cleared quarantine Thursday morning without
incident and jogged a mile over the Belmont training track shortly after 10
a.m.
“[It was] perfect, it couldn’t have been better. Everything worked out great
this time,” said groom Caroline Cashman. “He was very happy out there this
morning. He’s used to different surroundings. He was very perky, and she’s been
here before so she kind of knew the drill. [She] just followed the pony.”
Cashman said both horses are scheduled to gallop a mile over the main track
Friday morning.
The 40th running of the Flower Bowl will also mark Weld’s first starter in the
race in 14 years. In his only previous entrant, Weld won the race’s 2003
edition with Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey piloting Dimitrova to victory.
“It’s always a prestigious race and I was fortunate to have won it the only
other time I had a runner in it, so it’s good memories,” Weld said.
Weld said Zhukova’s regular jockey Patrick Smullen is a possibility to fly in
from Europe to have the call, but if those plans fall through, Hall of Famer
John Velazquez, who was in the irons for the Man o’ War victory, will ride.
* * *
Trainer Tom Albertrani said he’s confident that Woodslane Farm’s
multiple graded stakes winner Sadler’s
Joy is in top form ahead of his start on Saturday in a hotly contested
edition of the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park.
The 4-year-old colt by Kitten’s Joy has put in three local breezes since
registering a half-length victory in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer on August 26 at
Saratoga Race Course, his second stakes win of 2017. Sadler’s Joy hasn’t
finished worse than third in six starts this year, with his worst result coming
over a yielding turf course in the Grade 1 Man o’ War, where he was nosed out
for second and checked in six lengths behind the Irish heroine Zhukova.
“The horse has been training extremely well since he ran in the Sword Dancer,”
Albertrani said Thursday morning. “It looks like it’s a pretty competitive
field, but this horse has done very well. He’s very consistent; he’s always
within a length of winning and losing. I think a good clean trip could
certainly get us there again. I feel pretty confident about him going into the
race.”
Installed as the third choice on the morning line at odds of 4-1 in the 1
½-mile grass route, Sadler’s Joy drew post 4 in the Joe Hirsch and will be
ridden again by Julien Leparoux, who utilized the colt’s late kick to edge out
Money Multiplier in the Sword Dancer.
“I think the mile and a half distance just suits this horse really well,” he
said. “I think maybe that’s the biggest factor for him. The distance certainly
helps him and if he can get a good trip, he’s got a tremendous turn of foot
turning for home. As long as he gets himself clear, he’s going to make his
presence felt right there at the end.”
With his Sword Dancer victory, Sadler’s Joy already owns an all-fees-paid berth
into the Grade 1, $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf on November 4 at Del
Mar, which ostensibly relieves some of the pressure ahead of the Joe Hirsch,
also a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup.
“The Breeders’ Cup is obviously the next target, depending on a good outcome,”
said Albertrani. “It’s not like we have to win but if we come with a good
effort and we’re right there, it brings us to the next one. As consistent as
he’s been in the past, I don’t see why he shouldn’t come with his ‘A’ game again.
“He’s definitely looked great in his last couple of races,” he added. “I
couldn’t be happier with a horse going into a race. I don’t think he’s lost
anything since he ran and I just think he seems like he’s staying consistent in
his races, which is what I like to see. It’s just a matter of getting there.”
* * *
With a special first post time of 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 30,
Belmont Park will host a number of events for Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Day on
Saturday and on Sunday, October 1.
The Breakfast at Belmont program returns for the weekend, from 7:30-9:30 a.m.,
where fans and patrons can enjoy a breakfast buffet while watching
thoroughbreds train over historic ‘Big Sandy.’ The Breakfast at Belmont program
also includes a free paddock show and starting gate demonstration. A barn area
tour will also be offered, weather permitting.
When gates open for entry at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, Belmont Park’s spacious
backyard will feature a special “Family Fun Day.” A number of activities for
families and children will take place including a reptile show, animal kingdom
activity center, face painting, a bounce house and rock wall climbing. Family
Fun Day will also return for its usual offering on Sunday and include events
such as a petting zoo, pony rides, firetruck slide and carnival games.
On Sunday, October 1, the third annual National Stair Climb for Fallen
Firefighters will take place at Belmont Park. Expected to draw over 1,000
firefighters from in and around the New York Metropolitan area, patrons
visiting Belmont Park can also participate in the stair climb in honor of the
sacrifices of firefighters made on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center
Towers.
Registration will open at 8:30 a.m. in the Red Parking Lot on the 1st floor
located at the far end of the Grandstand by the Belmont Long Island Railroad
Station. The climb will begin at 10 a.m. and participants will climb the
equivalent of 110 stories, covering both stairwells and most of the third-floor
Grandstand and Clubhouse to symbolize the steps of the Twin Towers. Following
the climb, participants will be treated to an afternoon barbecue buffet at the
Top of the Stretch.
Registrations costs for the third annual National Stair Climb are as follows:
$35 for only the climb; $50 for the climb and barbecue buffet after party; $50
for supporters and after party; $35 for the after party only for ages 16 and
up, and $25 for the after party for children ages 4-15. Children 3 and under
are free.