Page 140 - Speedhorse June 2020

RACING NEWS
Heritage Place Derby-G2
INAUGURATOR
by John Moorehouse
The 2020 campaign could not be going any better for Inaugurator. The sophomore gelding remained undefeated this year, also securing his first-ever stakes win, with a 1-length victory in the $232,000 Heritage Place Derby-G2 held at Remington Park on May 30.
Making his stakes debut, Inaugurator extended a four-race win streak that began with a Jan. 3 maiden at Los Alamitos and continued all the way through the Heritage Place Derby trials, where he posted a :19.605 victory over the 400-yard course that stood fifth on the qualifying ladder.
“He’s just been getting better every trip,” trainer Monty Arrossa said in a video interview with Greg Thompson of stallionesearch follow- ing the race win.
Breaking from the inside starting gate, Inaugurator left little doubt in this one. He was out of the gates in third, led by a head at the first call and got faster with every stride, lead- ing by a full length as he entered the stretch and crossing the finish line in front by that same margin. The trip took :19.545, registering a 94 speed index.
“The horse ran lights out,” Arrossa stated, noting that the sorrel gelding “stumbled away
from there a little, but ran hard all the way. This horse, early on, he got good. He was getting more aggressive, maturing a lot, and he hasn’t run a bad race this year.”
Valeriano Racing Stables LLC, owns Inaugurator, who actually was winless as a two year old before finding his sophomore stride.
The gelding’s lifetime
bankroll now stands at
$126,634, with the $97,440 sum from this derby win representing the vast majority of that amount. Inaugurator has made 11 career starts.
Ricky Ramirez rode Inaugurator for this Grade 2 victory. Ramirez has won the past four runnings of the Heritage Place Derby, all for different trainers. He rode Apollitical Pence for Trey Wood last year, had Hold Air Hostage in 2017 for Judd Kearl, and started the streak in 2016 aboard PYC Fun N Fancy for Amanda Tongay.
Ramirez described Inaugurator’s derby- winning run as follows:
“Just a perfect break; he got away super. Halfway down the track, he just kicked it in
another gear and pulled away from them. Just an awesome performance. I want to thank the connections for letting me ride them.”
“They don’t come much better than Ricky,” Arrossa noted after the race.
The Heritage Place Derby and Futurity highlight the final day of each year’s meet at Remington Park, and it marked a successful debut at
the track for Arrossa.
The Idaho native finished the meet
with $810,984 in winnings, second in the Remington trainer standings behind Eddie Willis, who finished with $1,131,137.
Arrossa took over training Inaugurator when the gelding got to Oklahoma, tak-
ing over the reins from Jaime Gomez, who prepped him for his maiden-breaking run in Los Alamitos.
“I watched him [Inaugurator] last year at Los Alamitos when he was with Jaime and I knew then he was going to be something spe- cial,” Arrossa said following the race.
Cynthia Dick bred Inaugurator out of
Remington Park $232,000 • 400 yards :19.545 • si 94
Mr Jess Perry
Apollitical Jess
Apollitical Time
INAUGURATOR, ‘17-g.
Dash Ta Fame
Famous Phoebe
Fresh Approach
138 SPEEDHORSE June 2020
Inaugurator and jockey Ricky Ramirez winning the $232,000 Heritage Place Derby-G2 by 1-length.
Dustin Orona Photography