Apprentice Jockey Gutierrez Begins New Phase of Career at Laurel
Apprentice Jockey Gutierrez Begins New Phase of Career at Laurel
Schoenthal Hoping to Parlay Timonium Title into Strong Laurel Fall Meet
Multiple Stakes Winner John Jones Makes Return to Dirt Saturday
LAUREL, MD – Five-pound apprentice jockey Reylu Gutierrez, a 22-year-old native of Rochester, N.Y., has moved his tack to the Mid-Atlantic and is named to ride Donald Barr-trained Holiday Hopes in Friday’s ninth race at Laurel.
Holiday Hopes, a 4-year-old Harlan’s Holiday filly owned by Walter Vieser II, is coming off an 8 ½-length victory in a one-mile, off-the-turf maiden special weight Aug. 2 at Laurel. She drew Post 2 in a field of 13.
Gutierrez has won 65 races and more than $1.6 million in purse earnings from 593 starters since launching his career last fall at Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack in Farmington, N.Y., about a half-hour drive from his hometown.
He delayed his riding career to attend Cortland State University in Cortland, N.Y., two hours from Rochester, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology. The son of trainer Luis Gutierrez and nephew of jockey Jose Gutierrez, he won his first race Nov. 2, 2017 at Finger Lakes aboard Occhio Della Tigre, trained by his father.
Gutierrez ranked sixth in wins (35) and purses earned ($788,528) at Gulfstream Park’s spring meet that ran April 4 to June 30 and was tied for sixth with 23 wins, ranking in the top 10 with $644,404 in purse earnings at Gulfstream’s summer stand which began July 1 and runs through Sept. 30.
On April 28, Gutierrez won his first career stakes race with Calumet Farm’s $32 longshot Susie Bee in the Power Break over the Gulfstream turf for trainer Mike Maker.
“Just growing up around horses my whole life, I learned to work hard. My parents always instilled that in me,” Gutierrez said. “I would drive home weekends from college and told them I wanted to be a jockey. They said, ‘You’ve got to bring us your four-year degree, then we’ll push you to reach your dreams.’ I’m very thankful for that.”
Gutierrez is named in two races both Saturday and Sunday at Delaware Park.
Schoenthal Hoping to Parlay Timonium Title into Strong Laurel Fall Meet
Having shared the training title at the recently concluded Maryland State Fair meet in Timonium, Phil Schoenthal is looking to carry that momentum into Laurel Park’s calendar year-ending 61-day fall stand that opens Friday.
Schoenthal, 41, has two horses entered on Friday’s 10-race program and three more for Saturday’s 12-race card, both of which begin with a 1:10 p.m. first post. He and Gerald Brooks, also based at Laurel, tied atop the standings with five wins during Timonium’s seven-day meet which ended Labor Day, Sept. 3.
“It just kind of happened that we had a bunch of horses that had the right conditions and liked the bullring oval and it worked out really well for us,” Schoenthal said. “Sometimes you go into a meet where it seems the horses don’t seem to fit the races real well and sometimes they do, and it we had that this year over at Timonium.”
Schoenthal won with three of his last four starters over the final two days at Timonium including stakes-placed gelding Expedited Vision. Stakes winners River Deep and Sonny Inspired finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Maryland Coalition Stakes Sept. 1.
“With the middle to smaller-sized outfits, to have a seven-day meet it gives you a chance to actually be competitive,” Schoenthal said. “These longer meets, the major meets in Maryland, it’s hard to compete with the guys that have 60, 70 horses and are running tons of races. Pimlico and Timonium kind of give the smaller guys a chance to get their name in the headlines a little bit.”
Schoenthal’s first starter of the meet is Colonel Stable’s Astrea, a 4-year-old Astrology filly that is 4-1 in the program for Race 3, a maiden claiming event set for 5 ½ furlongs on Laurel’s world-class turf course. He will also send out multiple stakes-placed Maryland homebred Caught Dream’n in Race 9, an open $42,000 entry-level allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. A rallying third in her most recent effort, the six-furlong Miss Disco Stakes Aug. 18 at Laurel, the 3-year-old Blame filly will be making her grass debut.
River Gal, a half-sister to stakes-winning stablemate River Deep, is among Schoenthal’s Saturday horses. The juvenile daughter of Blame will be making her second career start in the opener, a $40,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies going a mile on the grass.
Laurel’s September to remember features 18 stakes, two graded, worth $1.8 million in purses to kick off an overall program of 34 stakes worth $3.425 million on the fall schedule, in addition to the 33rd annual Jim McKay Maryland Million Oct. 20.
River Deep won the Hansel Stakes Aug. 4 and was fourth in the Edward Evans Stakes June 23, the first two of three days showcasing Virginia-bred/sired horses at Laurel which concludes with five $75,000 turf stakes Sept. 22. Stablemate Determined Vision won the White Oak Farm June 23 and was second in the Meadow Stable Aug. 4.
“I’m kind of focusing on some of the Maryland-bred races on the schedule. Those are more of the kind of horses we have,” Schoenthal said. “I’ve got a strong hand in the Virginia-bred stakes on the 22nd. I’ve got some horses that will have a presence in the Maryland-bred stakes and I’m hoping to have two or three or four starters in the Maryland Million.
“The wonderful thing about racing is that there’s always something to look forward to,” he added. “In the fall we have all these Maryland-bred stakes and everyone looks forward to the Timonium yearling sale in October. It just kind of brings about the season of wrapping up the year, and it’s exciting.”
Multiple Stakes Winner John Jones Makes Return to Dirt Saturday
Matt Schera’s multiple stakes winner John Jones was entered for a tag in his return to the dirt in Saturday’s ninth race, a $45,000 second-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up set for 1 1/16 miles.
One of four horses to run for a claiming price of $35,000 in the seven-horse field, John Jones has not run for a tag since he was haltered for $25,000 by trainer Lacey Gaudet July 17, 2016. The 6-year-old Smarty Jones gelding won the first four races for his new connections, including Laurel’s Mister Diz Stakes over the late Mid-Atlantic legend Ben’s Cat, marking the first career stakes win for both horse and trainer.
John Jones also won the Jennings Stakes in 2016 and 2017 and was third in the 2016 Claiming Crown Jewel and 2018 Native Dancer Stakes, the latter Jan. 27 at Laurel. He is winless in four starts this year, the last two of them on turf, most recently finishing sixth in the Ben’s Cat Stakes Aug. 18.
Overall John Jones has nine wins and $396,291 in purse earnings from 28 career starts. He drew outside Post 7 under apprentice Johan Rosado.
Also in for a tag are 8-year-old Stolen Love, a 13-time career winner with $458,646 in earnings who will race with blinkers off; multiple graded-stakes placed Illinois-bred Whateverybodywants and Paddington Express.
