Hawthorne Racecourse (3/16/11)
Contact: Jim Miller
(708) 780-3700
Perez nearing 2,000 wins
A beautiful spring day here at Hawthorne as we have an eight-race card this Wednesday afternoon. Looking back at Tuesday, we were shown that a short field can still provide some value, with runners like Orchard winning at 7-1 and Lo Me, Kettle Corn and Powerful Zen all paying double digits. I was able to catch the Late Pick 4 on the website, as the $48 ticket returned a nice $361 for the win. My tickets are posted each day and hopefully I can get another winner today.
Looking at this card, today could be the day jockey Eddie Perez wins #2,000 on his career. Perez is only one win from 2,000 with live mounts in the 1st (Lighthouse Judge), 5th (Seguro), 7th (Deputy Sreva), and 8th (Friendly Lindy).
On Tuesday, jockey Jozbin Santana rode a pair of winners on the card, extending his lead atop the rider standings by four over Tim Thornton and Florent Geroux. Santana has 19 wins on the meet to 15 for Thornton and Geroux. Trainer Joel Berndt still holds his lead in the trainer standings with 10 wins. Manny Perez continues his solid meet as he hold the second spot with 7 wins along with Jimmy DiVito.
Changes
Main Track – Fast
Race 3
Scratch #6 – Huckleberry Boy
Race 6 – No Superfecta Wagering
Scratch #1 – Bet On The Blue
Svratch #4 – Pathway
Race 7
Scratch #7 – Ship’s Cabin
Survivor Selections of the Day
Total Survivor Entrants: 1,780
Eliminated Friday: 3
Total Remaining: 76
My Survivor Selection was between two horses today. Those two horses were Champion Kid in the 3rd and Mindy Queen in the 6th. After the scratches, I went with Mindy Queen. My concerns with her come in that she hasn’t run since last summer. My confidence comes in that she has often run while off a layoff and has run well. Also, she has never lost at Hawthorne and has never run worse than second in 10 career starts at three quarters of a mile. I will be curious to see how the early pace in the race is but Mindy Queen will be very tough.
Jim’s Survivor Selection: Race 6 - #5 – Mindy Queen
Inez’ Survivor Selection: Race 1 - #1 – Lighthouse Judge
Hawthorne Race Course is in its 102nd year of racing under Carey family ownership. Hawthorne races Friday and Saturday in February, beginning February 11. In March and April, live racing will take place every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday through the end of April. First post daily is 1:30 pm. For more information on racing at Hawthorne, visit our website at www.Hawthorneracecourse.com.
