Jockey Katie Davis Ends Layoff with Hard-Fought Victory Friday
Jockey Katie Davis Ends Layoff with Hard-Fought Victory Friday
Telling Warrior Gives Ex-Jockey Cortez First Win as Trainer
G3-Placed Congrats Gal Romps by 14 in Return to Allowance Company
LAUREL, MD – Jockey Katie Davis made a successful return to the irons Friday, rallying Winners Circle Partners XII’s His Royal Majesty to a tenacious nose victory in the sixth race at Laurel Park, her first mount in more than 10 months.
After settling His Royal Majesty in third along the rail through a half-mile in 48.18 seconds, Davis tipped the 4-year-old gelding out once straightened for home and found room down the center of the track in mid-stretch to reel in front-running Sparty and win as the 7-5 favorite.
The winning time was 1:37.65 for one mile in the $28,000 starter-optional claimer originally scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the grass. His Royal Majesty ($4.80) is trained by Hugh McMahon.
“It was ecstatic,” Davis said. “Having all that time off and watching races and sitting back with my dad and having Trevor [McCarthy] next to me, too, showing me different things and then coming back on top of that, I’m so much more cool and collected now. It’s nice.”
The 26-year-old daughter of ex-jockey Robbie Davis, a winner of 3,382 races from 1981-2002, Katie Davis was riding in a race for the first time since finishing third aboard No Love Lost Nov. 6, 2017, also at Laurel.
Winner of her first career stakes in the 2017 Conniver at Laurel with Next Best Thing, Davis underwent shoulder surgery for the second time shortly after and began getting on horses again in the mornings earlier this summer.
“That was pretty hard. I had [surgery] before on my shoulder and they redid it and it’s not a good feeling,” Davis said. “After surgery, it’s tough trying to get it to move and get the motion back, sitting there twiddling your thumbs, wondering when it’s your turn to get back. But, you have to be 100 percent.
“I started getting on horses about a month and a half ago. I went to Saratoga for two weeks and was getting on eight a day for Wesley Ward. He helped me out a lot,” she added. “It was exciting. I got to see a lot of other trainers up there so hopefully if they come down they’ll give me a little shot.”
Davis has 127 wins and nearly $3.5 million in purse earnings from 1,194 career starts since her debut Dec. 26, 2013 at Aqueduct. She won her first race there Feb. 21, 2014 aboard Ivanova.
Telling Warrior Gives Ex-Jockey Cortez First Win as Trainer
Telling Warrior forged a short lead along the rail with a half-mile to run, turned away her challengers and sprinted clear through the stretch for a 5 ½-length win to give trainer Amy Cortez her first career victory in Friday’s third race.
A narrow second choice at 8-5 in the $22,000 waiver maiden claiming event for 3-year-olds and up originally carded for Laurel’s world-class turf course, Telling Warrior ($5.40) ran one mile in 1:39.14 over a fast main track under jockey Xavier Perez.
A Florida-bred son of Telling, a two-time Grade 1 winner on the turf, Telling Warrior is currently the only horse trained by Cortez, 49, a Vermont native who also owns the 4-year-old gelding.
“It feels good. It’s kind of been a long time coming. I’ve had this horse year and had some setbacks so I’m very happy and very grateful to get that win,” Cortez said. “It’s extra special because we do all the work ourselves. I train him and I get on him, my boyfriend rubs him and ran him for me and I have some good friends that help with little things that we do. It’s kind of a whole team effort.
“I think he prefers turf but I’m not one to scratch unless you have to, of course. The race came off but I think the key here was the distance,” she added. “There’s a lot of people that put a lot of work into this horse and he was just doing really well. I feel like he wants to go long. I’ll probably try to keep him on turf if I can.”
Cortez won in her eighth career try. She took out her trainer’s license last July and had three starts in 2017 with For the Proudnfree, whose best finish came when third in September at Timonium. Telling Warrior is her only starter this year, finishing fifth in his June 3 debut and fourth in three subsequent races.
As a jockey riding primarily on the Mid-Atlantic circuit, Cortez won 15 of 157 races and $184,316 in purse earnings from 1997 to 2001. She currently gallops horses for Laurel-based trainer Rodney Jenkins including multiple stakes winner Shimmering Aspen.
“I was riding and the opportunity arose to get a couple of my own horses, and I just preferred that aspect of the business so I got a couple of my own horses and I had to stop riding,” Cortez said. “I’ve had my own horses since around 2000. I gallop and work part-time as a vet tech so I enjoy doing all aspects of it.”
G3-Placed Congrats Gal Romps by 14 in Return to Allowance Company
Charles Biggs’ 2-year-old filly Congrats Gal, placed in back-to-back stakes including the Schuylerville (G3) July 20 at Saratoga, took advantage of the class break and rolled to an easy 14-length victory in Friday’s featured eighth race.
Ridden by J.D. Acosta for Laurel-based trainer Cal Lynch and favored at 1-9 in a field of nine, Congrats Gal ($2.10) ran six furlongs in 1:10.06 in the $42,000 entry-level optional claiming allowance for juvenile fillies.
“She’s a lovely filly,” Lynch said. “We just wanted to get her confidence back.”
Purchased for $57,000 at the OBS sale of 2-year-olds in training in April, Congrats Gal debuted with a 6 ¼-length maiden special weight victory June 10 at Laurel. She finished third at 14-1 in the six-furlong Schuylerville and was caught late to be second by 1 ½ lengths as the favorite in the 5 ½-furlong White Clay Creek Stakes last out Aug. 22 at Delaware Park.
“It’s always easy when it’s a [walkover] like that. It takes all the pressure off,” Biggs said. “We loved her confirmation, and her price was right. Hopefully we’ll just move up the ladder and she’ll stay sound. That’s the whole key.”
