Shadow Rock Takes overnight Handicap;
Jet Away Sue Could Be Rising Star
Jockey Miguel Mena won three races on Saturday’s Ellis Park card, including taking the featured $42,000 The Coup overnight handicap on Shadow Rock by a head over Ohio shipper Woodland Walk, with Mongol Bull another head back in third.
Also pulling off a hat trick was Francisco Torres, who last Sunday had been in a scary mishap when his mount flipped and sent him to the hospital.
Mena won the second race on the Lynn Whiting-trained Jamaica Bet and the fourth on Sayler’s Creek for trainer Wes Hawley. Torres captured the first race on Burstall (trainer Angel Montano), the fifth on Warcraft (Bernie Flint) and the seventh on the promising 2-year-old filly Jet Away Sue for trainer Randy Morse.
Shadow Rock was a $62,500 claim two races earlier at Churchill Downs by trainer Mike Maker for owner Michael Hui. Well-traveled, the son of Distorted Humor shipped from Kentucky to Gulfstream Park, finishing second in a stakes July 2, then up to Saratoga and back to Kentucky for this race. The 6-year-old gelding now is 9-4-2 in 37 starts and has two wins and two seconds in four starts over the Ellis turf.
“It was a nice day. We had a bunch of live mounts today, starting with Lynn Whiting and Wes Hawley,†Mena said after Shadow Rock covered 5 1/2 furlongs on grass in 1:02.31, paying $7.80 as the second choice. “And this horse, Shadow Rock, he’s been here before and won. He likes the track and they said he was doing well. And he was rolling for home.Â
“The race was full of speed. He had a good trip. Just in the gate, the 7 and 10 came over on him, a little sandwich with us and we had to check a little bit. After that, it was just sweet. We split horses, didn’t have to go wide. The hole opened up and he was just running hard. He was the best horse today.â€
Tom Durant’s favored Jet Away Sue, racing in blinkers for the first time, led all the way for a 2 1/4-length victory over Dynamic Union. Jet Away Sue, a daughter of Quality Road who cost $320,000 at the OBS March auction this year, ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:17.30 and paid $4.60 to win in the field of 11 two-year-old fillies.
“I was working her before she ever ran, and told Randy she probably was the best mare he’s had in a while,†Torres said. “She’s going to improve as she goes longer. She’s got that speed, that long steady pace. She’s one to keep an eye on. She’s going to go places.â€
Jet Away Sue had raced once before, coming in second by 5 3/4 lengths June 17 at Churchill Downs. Though Morse hadn’t necessarily assumed she’d win that day at 4 1/2 furlongs, he said he expected her to finish better. The next day she had a 103 temperature, he said.
“She’s shown a lot of talent,†Morse said. “We paid a lot of money for her, she’s supposed to. I think she’s sure a quality filly. She always acted to me like she wants to go two turns. Hopefully she’ll go on and do big things.â€
Of the blinkers, he said, “She’s one of those who kind of looks (around). It was more to keep her focused.â€
Morse said that Jet Away Sue could race next in Churchill Downs’ $150,000 Pocahontas Stakes Sept. 17.
Torres returning for Saturday morning fan experience
There will be two more sessions of “Making of a Racehorse,†the Saturday morning fan experience staged by Ellis Park in conjunction with the Kentucky division of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. Torres will make a return appearance (he was the featured jockey the day before he got hurt). The free event is open to all ages and starts at 7:30 a.m. Central by the starting gate positioned in the mornings near the south end of Ellis’ parking lot by the Ohio River levee. The informal program, which lasts about 1 1/2 hours, includes a barn visit with trainer John Hancock, who this Saturday delighted kids in attendance by giving them a spin around the barn on a racetrack pony.
