Contact Information:
Bob Roberts (216-662-8600)
August 19, 2008
www.thistledown.com
Making The Most Of Their Racing Stock; Thistledown Leaders By Percentage
Pass out the Racing Forms and programs, Mrs. Tweedy, it's time to pour over a few pages of rider and trainer statistics that could help Thistledown's bettors fatten their bankrolls. The North Randall oval enters the third week of August having run 79 of its 122 race cards, and while we can easily scan the trainer and jockey standings to discover the winningest horsemen, how about a reading on which of them get the most from their stock, or, in other words, who are the percentage leaders?
To qualify for the report, a trainer or jockey has to have won at least 10 races. Among the 16 riders with 10 or more victories, Weldon Cloninger (55 winners) and Luis Gonzalez (45) are the top percentage jockeys, scoring at a 22 percent clip. They are the only riders over 20 percent. As for in-the-money riders (no worse than third), top honors go to Christian Pilares (27 winners), who has hit the board with 54 percent of his 154 mounts. The only other riders over 50 percent are Gonzalez and Ernesto Oro (45 winners), both at 52 percent.
Those who love to bet favorites should put a circle around the name of Ramon Ramos (34 winners). He has scored with 14 of the 20 post time favorites that he's ridden. The only other jockey over 50 percent is Oro at 51 percent (22 for 43). If playing longshots is your game, be sure to back Lyndon Hannigan whenever he's on a bomber. At $19.50, Hannigan owns the highest average win payoff among the 16 qualified riders.
Other leaders among jockeys include Gonzalez being the best with maiden claimers (23 percent) and in sprint races (22 percent), Jane Magrell tops in allowance races (27 percent), and Cloninger is the best rider going long (24 percent).
As for trainers, the veteran Donn Rowe (13 winners) is tops, scoring at a 36 percent rate, just edging out Adolfo Exposito (11 winners), who is winning at a 35 percent clip. Exposito is easily top in-the-money trainer, as 22 of his 31 starters (71 percent) have hit the board. Richard Rettele (15 winners) is the best trainer with favorites, scoring at a 63 percent clip, while Randy Joe Faulkner is tops in payoffs, averaging $16 for a $2 win wager.
Rowe is best with maiden claimers (42 percent) as well as being tied with Tim Hamm in winning allowance races (29 percent), while Angel Feliciano tops trainers in route races (28 percent) and Exposito is best in sprints at 42 percent.
Thistledown Turns Up The Heat With Chili Cook Off On Saturday
This Saturday is the 8th Annual Regional Chili Cook Off at Thistledown. Chili cooks will compete for cash prizes and a spot in the World’s Championship Cook Off in Las Vegas! Fans can taste the chili and salsa creations will all money benefiting the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund.
Enjoy live music by Time Traveller from 12:30-4 p.m. and outdoor grilling. Visit Rebecca Wilde at the Q-104 Booth from 1-4 p.m. and spin the “Whatever Wheel” for Cleveland National Air Show tickets and more. Scan-N-Win with Chuck Collier at the WGAR Booth from 1-4 p.m. for a chance to win Brad Paisley concert tickets
YOUNG LADIES DAY --- The best juveniles fillies in the state will strut their stuff Saturday at Thistledown when the $50,000 Miss Ohio Stakes will be run for the 40th time. The six- furlong dash is the oldest continuous state-bred race at the North Randall oval. The Miss Ohio field includes Slides Choice, Holy Harem and Pyrite Score, the first three finishers in the July 27th Tah Dah Stakes at River Downs.
LEADERBOARD -- Through 24 programs of the 66-day Randall-Cranwood Meeting, Louis Stokes leads Weldon Cloninger Jr, 20 winners to 19 in the riders' derby. Ernesto Oro is third with 17 winners, followed by Luis Gonzalez at 15 and Ramon Ramos at 15 . . . The trainers' race is just as tight. Rodney Faulkner is in front with 12 winners, followed by Jeff Radosevich (10), and Randy Joe Faulkner and Jevon Crumley, both on nine winners.
IT WAS ONLY FITTING --- Bay Meadows, the San Francisco area track, ended 74 years of racing Sunday with the $63,450 Last Dance Stakes as its final feature. A filly named You Lift Me Up won with a mild rally. It was a result a Hollywood scriptwriter would have order. Jerry Hollendorfer, an Akron native, trains You Lift Me Up. He has won 37 consecutive training titles at Bay Meadows and got the honor of winning the track's final race. Hollendorfer, who has saddled 5,184 races, including King Glorious, winner of Thistledown's 1989 Ohio Derby, wasn't in attendance. Instead, he watched the race on closed-circuit television at Del Mar, where he is also racing. "I'm happy to win the last race at Bay Meadows because I spent a lot of my career there," he said. Always the trainer, Hollendorfer added, "I might have a nice filly there."
FEED BAG --- Winning Stables and its trainer, Gerald Bennett, made the most expensive claim of the season when they paid $10,000 to take Tuts Queen back to their barn following Monday's first race. The sophomore filly was bred and had been racing for Double D Farm and won the race in question, her second victory in 12 career starts . . . Ragtime Request, a seven-year-old gelding, remains the winningest horse of the season at Thistledown, scoring in four of seven starts. He had three of his last four outings for owners Bridget Sipp and Louis Martinaitis after being claimed on May 23 for $4,000 . . . Trainer Robin Schuster was disappointed with her stable's performance last season that saw her saddle 13 winners from 180 starters. Schuster has more than turned the numbers around this year. She has won 12 races from just 64 starters, including Katie Wild, winner of Monday's second race . . . When Thursday's first race was run over a track listed as sloppy, it snapped a run of 29 straight programs that started with a fast track. The last time the surface was other than fast for the opener was on July 3 when the track was sloppy . . . This week, Thistledown will be open for evening full-card simulcasting on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday . . . Starting Monday, morning training hours will begin at 6:30 a.m., a half-hour later than usual . . . Jockey Jane Magrell wasn't riding at Thistledown last Friday. Instead, she enjoyed a perfect day at Pinnacle Race Course, where, in her debut at the suburban Detroit track, rode two Gerald Bennett-trainees that both won.