Making Of A Racehorse Fan Backstretch Program Is Back On Saturday Mornings

HENDERSON, Ky. (Wednesday, July 26, 2017) — This is how confident John Hancock is of his 2-year-old filly Amberspatriot running a big race in Thursday night’s $65,000 Prairie Gold Lassie in Iowa:

“If you see me hook up my truck and trailer and I’m going to drive nine hours when Ellis Park is running, then evidently I like my chances,” he said.

Hancock loves nothing better than to run at Ellis Park, his hometown track where he is a third-generation trainer. But the Lassie fills a need with Amberspatriot. After finishing second by a neck in the $100,000 Kentucky Juvenile on May 4 in only her second start, Amberspatriot was sixth of 12 in the slop in Churchill Downs’ Debutante on June 30. It’s still 3 1/2 weeks until the $75,000 Ellis Park Debutante, for which he also has Churchill’s Debutante third-place finisher Waki Patriot, who had another third in New York’s June 8 Astoria.

Waki Patriot also was entered in the six-furlong Prairie Meadows stakes — Waki being the 5-2 favorite and Amber the 3-1 second choice — but Hancock opted to keep her home. Hancock’s wife, Donna, owns both fillies with their long-time partner, Charles Brown. Their niece, Dana Hancock, is the groom for the fillies, both daughters of the Spendthrift Farm stallion Awesome Patriot who were acquired for the proverbial song after not selling at Keeneland as yearlings.

“I’d have had to breeze Amber this weekend,” if she didn’t run, Hancock said. “And I’d never been to Prairie Meadows. Donna and Dana wanted to try it. We figured it’s only 8 1/2, nine hours, that we’d take a shot and see how it comes out. It fits really good because Amber has run only three times, and it gives Waki a couple more weeks to get ready here at Ellis Park.”

Marlon St. Julien, who rode last year at Ellis Park and now is based at Prairie Meadows, will ride Amberspatriot.

“I don’t think Amber will have much trouble,” Hancock said. “She’s run against some of the best at Churchill. She came off that muddy race in the Debutante and just couldn’t handle the mud. Paco Lopez said she just couldn’t get a hold of the racetrack. Hopefully it doesn’t rain, and the racetrack comes up fast and we get up and get the money and get a little ‘black type’ and get home safe and sound and get her ready for Ellis Park and Kentucky Downs.”

The latter would be the $350,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies on Sept. 2. Hancock says that not only is Amberspatriot bred for the grass but that co-owner Brown lives 20 minutes away from the track in Franklin on the Tennessee border.

Though they have trained as much at Ellis Park as anywhere in their young lives, the fillies have not raced at the Pea Patch. They are among the seven horses, five trained by Hancock, who won at Keeneland’s spring meet after wintering at Henderson’s Riverside Downs training center just across the Ohio River from Ellis Park.

Torres to get GED while out another two months with broken neck

Jockey Francisco Torres met Tuesday with his surgeon in New Orleans and found out that, while he is healing nicely from what is his fourth broken neck, he will be sidelined another two months as extra precaution.

Torres, who normally splits his summer between riding at Ellis Park and Indiana Grand, suffered the neck fractures in a spill at the Fair Grounds in late March.

He was a visitor to Ellis on opening day. He said then that his check-up with his Indianapolis orthopedic specialist to get clearance to ride was being delayed from July 5 to Aug. 1 because of the surgeon’s operating schedule. Instead, Torres drove to New Orleans for an appointment with the surgeon who operated on him.

“It’s always better to go see the surgeon who did the surgery,” he said. “He can give you a better feel for what’s going on. So we came to New Orleans and saw him yesterday. He was pleased with the way my healing is coming together. He said, ‘Cisco, honestly, you’re healing up super and everything is going well. But if you want to go back to your career — which I think you do’  and I said, ‘Of course I do, I’m bouncing off the walls.’ He said, ‘Well, let’s just play it safe and give it two more months. Come back here and we’ll give you an MRI and you’ll be good to go.’

“I said, ‘It is my career. It is my life. I don’t want to end up in a wheelchair, take a shot and start back a month early.’ So I’ll give it two more months, which will give me two more months to get stronger.”

The fractures were repaired with titanium replacement vertebrae, which the jockey said the doctor told him will not break. After all his neck fractures, Torres pretty much has a bionic neck.

He hopes to return for Keeneland’s October meet and views it as giving up the short term to think of the long term, saying, “I’ve been through this four times; two more months is not going to kill me.”

Torres said he will spend the additional two months to work on his GED, commonly referred to as a general equivalency degree.

“Yeah, going back to school,” he said. “Maybe down the line I’ll study to be a steward or something. That’s what I’m striving for, if there is any possible shot down the road. I’m trying to knock out two birds with one stone while I’m out, take advantage of it.”

Torres said he also wants to set an example for his kids. “That plays a big role,” he said, “You know, ‘Dad’s going back and getting his GED.’ That’s one stipulation with my kids. I want to make sure they graduate. It’s a big step in your life to do something with your life.”

Upcoming promotions

Friday: Meet the Announcer – Sign up for a chance to meet announcer Jimmy McNerney and hang out in his booth while he calls a race. Contact Brianna Vitt at bvitt@ellisparkracing.com for more information or to sign up. Food Truck Day — July 28 only. Food trucks featuring an array of original food items will be positioned in the parking lot just outside the track.

Saturday: “Making of a Racehorse: Let’s Get Started” – The weekly fan-education program returns every Saturday through August with the goal of showing the public what goes on in the mornings to get horses ready for the afternoon. The free, family-friendly event begins at 7:30 a.m. Central by the starting gate positioned for schooling in the mile chute, with plenty of parking in the south end of the lot. Learn how horses are taught to break from the gate, with kids getting the chance to stand in the gate. From there we go to the backside for a visit with a changing menu of horsemen and racing officials. Sponsored by Ellis Park and the Kentucky HBPA. Contact Jennie Rees at tracksidejennie@gmail.com for more information.

“Inside Track with Joey K. and Jimmy Mac” — Join analyst Joe Kristufek and announcer Jimmy McNerney every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Central in the clubhouse’s second-floor Gardenia Room as they handicap the afternoon’s races. Free with programs, coffee and donuts available to participants.

Junior Jockey Club — Kids between 5 and 12 can sign up to be the week’s designated Junior Jockey, serving one race as the honorary paddock judge and telling the jockeys “Riders up!” and watching a race from the winner’s circle. Contact Brianna Vitt at bvitt@ellisparkracing.com for more information or to sign up.

Sunday: Furniture Day, July 30 only. Register for a chance to win a cool piece of furniture after every race. Sponsored by Utley Distributors, Aaron’s Henderson, Business Equipment and Pat Morgan Insurance.

Value Day: Every Sunday enjoy substantial savings on draft beer ($2 for 16 ounces), hotdogs and 12-ounce Coke products ($1.25) and chips and peanuts ($1).

Kids on the Track: Kids 12 and under square off in heats by age group for foot races on the racetrack, the winners getting a pair of jockey goggles and all the fame they can stand. Simply meet in the winner’s circle after the last race every Sunday during the live meet.

Aug. 20 live-money Bluegrass Tournament: Ellis Park is back with a handicapping tournament, this a live-money event presented by AmWager. Entry fee is $500 ($200 to prize money and $300 bankroll), betting minimum of $20 on each of 10 races from Ellis Park’s card and optional races to be announced. Top four finishers get trip to 2018 National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas, plus hotel and airfare up to $500. Top 10 finishers earn prize money. Register at www.amwager.com/bluegrasstournament.

                                                          

Photos: Top left: Amberspatriot (foreground) and Waki Patriot training at Ellis Park in May. Jennie Rees photo. Top right: Amberspatriot winner her debut in April at Keeneland under Paco Lopez. Coady Photography.

Bottom left: Injured jockey Francisco Torres visited Ellis Park on opening day. Bottom right: Francisco Torres, when riding at Ellis Park last summer, was a popular guest at Making of a Racehorse, the track’s Saturday morning fan-education program. Jennie Rees photos