Food Truck Festival
After one of the quietest Buck Nights of the summer and an equally uneventful Friday of racing, Saturday was rather lively thanks to the Food Truck Festival. Despite the rain, food fans, more than 6,200, flocked to sample a variety of tasty morsels. The assortment of trucks served a diverse array of cuisine, including classic burgers, cupcakes, tater tots, and unique platters like mac and cheese sandwiches. One cannot bet well if you have not dined well first.
One Horse Race
A card of eight races turned into nine when Great Exuma took off on a joy run prior to race four. Dumping his rider Chamisa Goodwin and breaking prematurely from the starting gates, Great Exuma tore around the track solo to the delight of applauding spectators who hooted and hollered as he crossed the finish line. The six year old horse seemed quite pleased with himself, turning and cantering cheerfully to the winner’s circle where he was caught and removed from the track. This is not the first time the lively bay has eluded his rider, as he dumped Ms. Goodwin in a claiming race on July 24th and ran the race on his own. Race four, a $12,500 claiming race, was eventually won by Laope, owned by Charles Garvey, trained by Robertino Diodoro and piloted by Geovanni Franco.
Double Wins
Jockeys Geovanni Franco and Israel Hernandez both had successful nights, piloting two winners each. Franco navigated Sheaparoux in race two and Laope in race four. Hernandez won on Rainier Missile in the sixth race and Crimsonexpectation in the eighth.
Jockey Standings
The battle for the jockey title rolls on as Alex Canchari returns from a seven day suspension to win one race. That ties him up with Dean Butler who also won a race on the Saturday card. The two have 53 wins each and are nipping at the heels of Ry Eickleberry who continues to lead the jockey standings with 55 wins. He heads off to Albuquerque, New Mexico to ride on Sunday, but will return for the Labor Day card at Canterbury.
