Page 12 - December 2021

TRACK CHATTER
THE MONTH IN REVIEW
by Jennifer K. Hancock
Los Alamitos
RAMON SANCHEZ REACHES MILESTONE
Jockey Ramon Sanchez became Los Alamitos’ all-time leading stakes winning Quarter Horse jockey after piloting Jess Lyndes Reason to a wire-to-wire dead-heat for the win with Go To Girl in the $17,000 Las Chiquitas Handicap for 3-year-old fillies on Nov. 20. Sanchez earned his 154th stakes win at Los Alamitos to break the tie with jockey Eddie Garcia, who held the record since 2007.
“I’ve been trying to get this win for a long time,” Sanchez said. “This is such a nice win. I’m very grateful for this moment and for all the people who have helped me along this road that I’ve traveled to get here.”
Sanchez started riding at Los Alamitos
in the late 1990s. He’s piloted Champion
of Champions winners Wave Carver, Rylees Boy and The Down Side; Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity winners Good Reason SA and I Like The Odds; Los Alamitos Super Derby winners Apollitical Time, Little Bit Of Baja and Matabari; plus Grade 1 winners One Dashing Eagle, Runnning Brook Gal, Foose, Eye For Corona, KVN Corona, Separate Fire and many more. In his entire career, Sanchez has won 1,956 races, 105 graded stakes, 194 total stakes and more than $44 million dollars from 11,216 mounts. Ramon was elected
by his fellow jockeys to receive the 2016
Sam Thompson Memorial Jockey Award, sponsored by SPEEDHORSE and the Jockeys’ Guild. Congratulations to Ramon!
SUNLAND’S 2022 SEASON BEGINS
Sunland Park Racetrack will open its 55-day season Dec. 31. The southeastern New Mexico track will conduct races on a Friday-through-Sunday and Tuesday schedule through April 3.
According to Sunland Park officials, daily purses will average more than $250,000.
The track’s Quarter Horse stakes schedule is topped by the 20th running of the 440-yard $350,000 Championship at Sunland Park-G1 on Jan. 2. Sunland Park’s Quarter Horse stakes also includes the 300-yard $250,000- est. New Mexican Spring Futurity-RG2 for state-bred 2 year olds, and the 300-yard $250,000-est. West Texas Futurity-G2 for 2 year olds, which will both be contested April 3. Visit www.sunland-park.com for more information on the 2022 Sunland Park meet.
LOUISIANA DOWNS BEGINS 2022 MEET UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP
Louisiana Downs’ 2022 Quarter Horse racing meet begins Jan. 10, and the 46-day season continues until April 7.
The Bossier City, Louisiana track is under new ownership as of Nov. 1. Rubico Acquisition Corporation purchased the racetrack for $22 million with approval from both the Louisiana Gaming Control Board and Louisiana State Racing Commission.
Three Quarter Horse stakes will be contested in 2022, highlighted by the March 27 Mardi Gras Futurity-RG2. The $100,000- added stakes is the first official futurity of the year. The 15th running of the $50,000 Mardi Gras Derby will also be run that day. Both are restricted to Louisiana-bred Quarter Horses. On April 3, the $75,000-added Louisiana Downs Futurity-G3 will be run.
Live Quarter Horse racing will
be conducted Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday through March 2. Beginning Sunday, March 6, the schedule changes to Sunday through Wednesday.
INDIANA GRAND CONCLUDES WITH RECORD NUMBERS
Indiana Grand’s 19th season of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing ended Nov. 11, completing 123 days of racing. Both breeds brought in record numbers for the year, showing a 47% increase in overall handle compared to similar dates in 2019.
With the shortened season in 2020 due to COVID-19, handle figures are compared to 2019 when a full schedule was conducted at Indiana Grand. Total handle for 2021 came in at $223,204,265 compared to handle in 2019 at $151,791,334. The highlight of the meet was another record-setting day for Indiana Derby with total handle reaching $6,292,388. The 2021 running of the Indiana Derby marked the third consecutive year for an all-sources handle track record for a single program.
“Coming off a strong, but abbreviated 2020 season, we entered the 2021 meet with high expectations in terms of handle,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing.
Four days during the season topped $3 million in handle, including the closing day program on Veteran’s Day Nov. 11 featuring a seeded $50,000 Pick 5 and Charity Challenge with 20 handicappers submitting $250 tickets into the wager to raise funding for Homeless Veterans and Families of Indiana. Total handle for the day was $3,150,488, the highest handle ever recorded on a Thursday program in the history of Indiana Grand.
Quarter Horse racing also showed major increases in 2021. Handle for the sprinters topped $1 million twice with the July
3 program setting a new Quarter Horse handle record of $1,201,604. A total of six all Quarter Horse racing days were offered in 2021.
Purse money also set new records.
Both breeds combined included purses of $36,439,755 over the 123-day meet. A
new record for daily purse distribution
was also set offering an average of $298,686 per day.
The 20th season of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing is set to resume April 19 and run through Nov. 23. For more information on events and racing, go to www.indianagrand.com.
Got Good News to Share? Do you have a positive story that you’d like to share?
Send photos and news items to jennifer_k_hancock@hotmail.com.
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SPEEDHORSE December 2021