Jockey
Carlos Castro, who brought his tack to Arlington Park for the first time in his
10-year career earlier this week, celebrated a riding double Wednesday at the
Chicago oval on the same day that the heralded west-coast veteran Corey
Nakatani won aboard his first mount of the local season.
Castro,
29, who began his career in his native Puerto Rico after graduating from the
jockey school there but has been riding in the United States for nine years,
won Wednesday’s eighth race aboard Vladamir Kazakov’s Mr. Roessink for
Russian-born conditioner Gennadi Dorochenko and came back to the winner’s
circle after Wednesday’s finale astride Raut LLC’s L’Aiglon for that same
trainer.
“(Dorochenko)
is giving me a shot here at Arlington,” said Castro after completing the
jockey-trainer double, “and I’m looking forward to riding for him. I
started riding in this country in Philadelphia but I’ve also ridden a lot at
Penn National, Charles Town and Mountaineer. I met Mr. Dorochenko at
Mountaineer earlier this year and he asked me to come to Chicago.”
Nakatani,
on the other hand, has switched his tack to Arlington on a full-time basis for
the first time this season and won with his first local mount of the summer
aboard William Stiritz’s Nagys Piggy Bank for trainer Scott Becker.
“Scottie’s
just making me look good,” said Nakatani with a nod toward the trainer after
dismounting. “I always enjoy coming back to Arlington because Mr. Duchossois
and all the people at Arlington have treated me so well here over the years.”
Wednesday’s
riding star turned out to be the veteran Chicago-based reinsman Timmy Thornton,
who enjoyed a riding triple for day. Thornton won the second half of the
Daily Double aboard Mark Dedomenico’s Cam Fairfax R N and trainer Michael
Reavis, the fifth on Iron County Farms’ Stouts Creek for conditioner Frank
Kirby and the ninth astride Timothy Keeley’s The Best Option for trainer Steve
Fridley.
TRAINER SCOTT BECKER ENJOYING FAST
2011 LOCAL START
Conditioner
Scott Becker, runner-up in Arlington’s trainer standings entering Friday’s racing
program, is off to his fastest start at Chicago’s northwest oval since becoming
a solid presence at the local session since 2005.
“I
thought we might get off to a good start here this summer because we had a lot
of young horses ready to go,” said Becker, “but I honestly didn’t think we’d be
doing this well.”
Becker,
42, a native of Belleville, Illinois, who still makes his home downstate,
trains exclusively for William Stiritz, owner of Fairmount Park but also far in
front in Arlington’s leading owner standings. Stiritz had more than twice as
many wins as his nearest competitor entering Friday’s racing program while
Becker was two wins shy of current leading conditioner Larry Rivelli.
Stiritz’s
Proceed Bee won the 2009 Grade III Hawthorne Derby after taking Arlington’s
$50,000 Honor Glide Stakes in his previous start, and captured Arlington’s
$100,000 Illinois Owners Stakes as well as the $100,000 Prairie Meadows
Handicap last season for Becker.
The
owner-trainer tandem also campaigns Awesome Symmetry, undefeated in three
starts this year as well as Racing Bran, runner-up in Prairie Meadows Grade II
Cornhusker Handicap last summer.
Penciled
in for Arlington’s upcoming Prairie State Festival Day June 25 is the
Stiritz-Becker duo of My Sonny Boy, defending champion from last summer’s
$100,000 Black Tie Affair Handicap and Domain’s Rap, runner up in last year’s
$100,000 Futurity at Hawthorne.
SATURDAY KICKS OFF NORTHWESTERN DAY
AT ARLINGTON
Purple
reigns this Saturday at Arlington Park when the first annual Northwestern Day
at Arlington takes place in celebration of athletics and academics at Chicago’s
Big Ten University.
Special
Family Day activities with pony rides and a petting zoo will take place in the
Park Area Saturday as part of Northwestern University Day and there will be
Northwestern Band performances in between races.
During
the afternoon there will be trophy presentations by head football Pat
Fitzgerald, head basketball coach Bill Carmody and 10 others, and the
Northwestern Cup will be presented to the winners of the fifth race of the day.