Contact Information:
Bob Roberts (216-662-8600)
October 27, 2008
www.thistledown.com
STOKES BOUNCES BACK IN BIG WAY; CLAIMS THISTLEDOWN RIDING TITLE
The comeback kid is Thistledown's 2008 riding champion. Louis Stokes, who was seriously injured in a riding spill at the North Randall oval last season (a punctured lung and four cracked ribs), had a flawless saddle campaign this year, winning with 102 of his 541 mounts to easily claim the jockeys' title. Runner-up Luis Gonzalez, the runner-up last season, was again second, this time with 89 winners. Stokes swept both meetings, winning the opening Summit-Thistledown session with 38 winners, and the closing Randall-Cranwood meeting with 64 winners.
"It was a good year, a real good year," said Stokes, who'll celebrate his 30th birthday on Dec. 17. "The titles are the first of my career, and I'm going to take a little vacation time until after Thanksgiving when I'll go to Turfway Park (in northern Kentucky) to ride for trainer Rodney Faulkner."
Stokes says he will spend Thanksgiving with his family in his hometown of Breaux Bridge, La.
TOP TRAINER (AGAIN) --- Jeff Radosevich continued his dominance of Thistledown's winner's circle by claiming his fourth consecutive training championship. The 47-year-old horseman, who saddled his 1,000th career winner in the countdown to closing day, won 70 races. Rodney Faulkner, who finished second to Radosevich last year, did so again this season, winning 56 races. Faulkner's R and P Racing Stables did claim the winningest barn title with 38 scores to Bridget Sipp's 32 wins.
Radosevich, Thistledown's champion jockey in 1988, is now within two titles of record holders Gary Johnson and Shirley Girten-Drake. He said he will split his stable over the winter, racing at both Mountaineer Park and Tampa Bay Downs.
HITTING HER TARGET -- As the Thistledown season raced for the finish line, veteran jockey Jane Magrell looked at the overall rider standings and determined that she would climb over a few fellow jockeys and finish fifth in the table. And she did. Magrell, whose 24 winners ranked her 16th last year, rode 53 winners this year to finish in the middle of the Top 10. "That was my goal and I made it," said Magrell. "I really hated to see the season end. It was a really good year for me." Magrell said she will ride mainly at Mountaineer Park this winter.
TRIPLE PLAY --- A trio of horses --- Robert Van Worp's Wanna Try Me, Miguel Coll's One Dixie, and Frank Regalbuto's Marco Regs Winner -- ended in a tie for honors as Thistledown's Winningest Horse of 2008. Each scored five times. Adolfo Exposito trains the sophomore filly Wanna Try Me, Nabu Morales tutored One Dixie, and Richard Genovese trained Marco Regs Winner, who closed the season with a rush by winning his last four starts. Both One Dixie and Marco Regs Winner are five-year-old geldings. Eight other horses won four times this season at Thistledown.
CRUISIN' WITH CHRISTIAN --- Saturday's one tank trip started on a disappointing note for veteran Thistledown jockey Christian Pilares but ended on a winning note. Pilares, the regular rider for the stable of Joe Shuman, began his day riding the Shuman-trained You Yeti Yet in the Ohio Freshman Stakes at Beulah Park in suburban Columbus. You Yeti Yet started quickly but tired to finish third. The race was run at 12:31 p.m. Three hours later, Pilares was at Thistledown to ride in three of the last four races of the season. After second and sixth place finishes, Pilares won the season finale, booting home the Shuman-trainee, Dinkers Valentine.
DERBY WINNERS AT CUP --- Delightful Kiss (2007) and Smooth Air (2008), the last two winners of Thistledown's Grade II $300,000 Ohio Derby, turned in creditable performances on Saturday's Breeders' Cup program. Delightful Kiss, running in the first ever $500,000 Breeders' Cup Marathon, finished fourth, beaten just two lengths by Muhannak. Ridden by Calvin Borel, the Hobeau Farm colorbearer earned $28,815. While he didn't earn a dime, Smooth Air ran forwardly in finishing seventh in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic. He was just six lengths behind champion Raven's Pass and was beaten only a half-length for fifth, which paid $125,000.
OLD MAN RIVER --- It's been nearly 30 years (June of 1969) when an oil slick on the Cuyahoga River caught fire, but for some, it's a memory that remains vivid. A horse bred by Harold Queen and racing for Thistledown owner Gerald Silver won for the first time Sunday night at Mountaineer Park. Her name? Cuyahoga River. Her sire is Burning Roma and her dam is Light the River. Jeff Radosevich, Thistledown's leading trainer the past four years, conditions the juvenile filly.
FEED BAG --- Magna Graduate, the six-year-old son of Honor Grades who races for Elisabeth Alexander of Hunting Valley and finished second in the Grade II $300,000 2005 Ohio Derby, notched his first victory of the season in Saturday's $100,000 Grade III Ack Ack Handicap. Under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, Magna Graduate rallied to win off by 2 1/4 lengths, running a mile in 1:36 to post his 10th victory in 34 career starts. The triumph, worth $66,416, lifts Magna Graduate's lifetime bankroll over $2.5 million . . . Rosewood Stable's Cherokee Artist, runner-up in this year's Ohio Derby, won a $75,000 allowance race at Santa Anita on Friday's Breeders' Cup program . . . The all-sources Breeders' Cup handle of $155.4 million is 5.5 percent higher than last year's total of $147.3 at Monmouth Park. Next year's Breeders' Cup, like this year's, will be run at Santa Anita, on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7 . . .Thistledown is open four nights this week for late-evening full-card simulcast wagering -- Tuesday through Thursday (Oct. 28-30), and again on Sunday, Nov. 1.