Voodoo Valley Gives Trujillo First Career Training Win Saturday
Voodoo Valley Gives Trujillo First Career Training Win Saturday
Juvenile Filly Proper Attire Looks Sharp in Maiden Sprint Triumph
Sophomore Stakes Trio Among Saturday Workers at Laurel Park
LAUREL, MD – Ejetero LLC’s Voodoo Valley tracked pacesetting Chuck’s Dream into mid-stretch, surged to the lead inside the eighth pole and drew off by 2 ¼ lengths to give ex-jockey Elvis Trujillo his first career victory as a trainer in Saturday’s second race at Laurel Park.
A 5-year-old gelding racing first time for Trujillo, Voodoo Valley ($15.60) ran one mile in 1:39.36 over a fast main track to earn his second career triumph from 22 starts in the claiming event for 3-year-olds and up.
It was the fourth career starter for the 36-year-old Trujillo, who ran sixth with Mystic Times in Friday’s fifth race at Laurel. The Panama native was second with Confusion Baby Boy and fourth with Eje Gama in his training debut Aug. 9 at Monmouth Park.
Trujillo was not in the winner’s circle for Voodoo Valley’s photo, choosing to stay back at the barn with Ejetero’s Lady Rozina, who ran fifth in Saturday’s fourth race. Trujillo has eight horses stabled on the Laurel backstretch.
“It feels so good, brother. It’s amazing. Everybody is watching and everybody is jumping. I am so happy,” Trujillo said. “It’s so good. It’s good for me, it’s good for my family. It’s good for everybody.”
Breaking from the far outside, Chuck’s Dream was sent to the lead and held it through fractions of 24.10 seconds for a quarter-mile and 47.08 for the half, opening up by as many as six lengths while jockey Luis Garcia kept Voodoo Valley in the clear in second. Voodoo Valley began to gain ground midway around the turn and straightened for home with sights set on the leader, steadily grinding away through the lane to gain the advantage on Chuck’s Dream, who held second over Just Chill Out.
Voodoo Valley had not run since running fourth in a 1 1/16-mile claimer Aug. 1 over a muddy Laurel track for previous trainer Jonathaniel Badillo.
“He surprised me today,” Trujillo said. “He was training good an everything, but the last time when he finished fourth he had an issue that we had to figure out and take care of. Thank God he got it done today. He ran great and Luis gave him a great ride.”
A 2000 graduate of Panama’s Laffit Pincay Jr. jockey school, Trujillo first came to the U.S. in November 2001, landing in southern California after riding 90 winners in his home country and Mexico City. He spent time on circuits in Chicago, Florida and New Jersey, winning meet titles in 2007 at the former Calder Race Course and 2009, 2011 and 2012 and Monmouth Park.
Trujillo won 2,102 races and more than $70 in purses between 2001 and 2018. He came to Maryland to ride full-time in the fall of 2017 at the behest of his uncle, Laurel-based trainer Jose Corrales, after spending that summer riding in China. Trujillo won 28 races over the next four months, including the General George (G3) aboard Corrales-trained Something Awesome, before injuring his ribs and sternum in a three-horse spill March 10, 2018. Once healed, he considered a comeback to riding before ultimately transitioning into a new career.
In all, Trujillo won 45 career graded stakes, five of them Grade 1, including his breakthrough victory in the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint aboard Maryfield, on whom he also won the Ballerina (G1). His best horse was Presious Passion, teaming up to win six graded stakes and nearly $1.9 million in purse earnings from 2007-10.
Trujillo said he had a lot of help making the career change, including his uncle, his wife Raquel, Badillo and Abel Castellano, the brother of Hall of Famer Javier Castellano who also transitioned from jockey to trainer.
“I feel so good, man,” Trujillo said. “Everybody helped me a lot and supported me so much in making the big change.”
Juvenile Filly Proper Attire Looks Sharp in Maiden Sprint Triumph
Unlike her career debut just 14 days earlier, where she stumbled and got pinched back at the start, Jennifer ‘Bird’ Mobberley’s Proper Attire broke sharply and stayed clear of trouble on the way to a front-running five-length triumph in Saturday’s waiver maiden claimer for 2-year-old fillies.
With Angel Cruz up for trainer John Salzman Jr., Proper Attire ($6.60) ran five furlongs in 57.76 seconds over a fast main track. Purchased for $26,000 by Mobberley out of Fasig-Tipton’s Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling Sale at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium last October, the chestnut daughter of Imagining out of the Two Punch mare Inspired Say Eye was bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman.
“My owners, thank God, they let me buy horses for them now and they deserve it,” Salzman said. “She called me after and she was so excited, she could hardly talk. It’s great for somebody like her that’s grown up in this business to finally maybe have a decent horse.
“She’s a great owner,” he added. “You’re not going to find a better owner anywhere. You can pretty much do whatever you want to do and they go with the flow. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about them.”
Breaking outside all but one horse in the field of eight, Proper Attire burst from the gate and cleared soon after the break, then was angled inside by Cruz where they set a sharp but measured pace of 22.84 and 45.64 seconds. Race favorite Betcha By Golly raced in second but was never able to gain ground as Proper Attire opened up through the stretch under a hand ride.
It was a marked different from her unveiling, when Proper Attire stumbled badly and got squeezed back early, then made a bold move down the backstretch and on the turn to be second before tiring to fourth behind runaway winner Tiz Ferguson.
“She got slammed, she stumbled, they came in, they came out. Then she rushed up into contention but they weren’t running slow, either. They went 22, 45, 57 flat in that race so it just took too much out of her,” Salzman said. “Today was a good break. I told the kid in the paddock, if she breaks they won’t beat her. He just kept reaching and getting her and she ran like I know she can run. She’s a nice filly.”
Sophomore Stakes Trio Among Saturday Workers at Laurel Park
Sophomore stakes winners Lebda, Princess Cadey and Hello Beautiful each turned in strong works Saturday at Laurel Park.
Euro Stable’s Lebda, winner of the Miracle Wood and Private Terms over the winter at Laurel to open his 3-year-old campaign, was timed in 47.60 seconds for a half-mile over the main track, fastest of 53 horses.
It was the third work and second bullet for Lebda since his most recent effort, where he ran sixth in the 1 1/8-mile Haskell (G1) July 18 at Monmouth Park. Prior to that, he was sixth in the June 27 Ohio Derby (G3) at Thistledown, also at nine furlongs.
Among the races being considered for Lebda are the $100,000 Robert Hilton Memorial Aug. 28 at Charles Town, contested at seven furlongs, and Laurel’s $100,000 Federico Tesio Sept. 7, a 1 1/8-mile ‘Win and In’ qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the Oct. 3 Preakness (G1). Lebda is Triple Crown nominated.
Claudio Gonzalez-trained stablemate Princess Cadey, winner of the Beyond the Wire for 3-year-old fillies March 14 at Laurel, breezed four furlongs in 48.20 seconds Saturday, ranking 10th of 53 horses. Following the 2 ½-month break in live racing amid the coronavirus pandemic, Princess Cadey finished third in the Delaware Oaks (G3) July 4 and eighth in the Monmouth Oaks (G3) Aug. 1.
Races on the horizon for Princess Cadey include the $200,000 Charles Town Oaks (G3) at seven furlongs Aug. 28 and the $100,000 Weber City Miss Sept. 7 at Laurel. Contested at about 1 1/16 miles, the Weber City Miss is a ‘Win and In’ qualifier to the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2), held this year on the Preakness undercard.
Also working a half in 48.20 seconds Saturday was 3-year-old filly Hello Beautiful for trainer Brittany Russell. It was her first breeze since getting wiped out at the starting gate and finishing 11th in the Audubon Oaks Aug. 9 at Ellis Park. Russell said the Charles Town Oaks and $200,000 Prioress (G2) going six furlongs Sept. 5 at Saratoga are possible options.
Notes: Jockey Luis Garcia visited the winner’s circle twice Saturday, with Voodoo Valley ($15.60) in Race 2 and Blue Sky Venezuela ($10.20) in Race 4 … No one selected all six winners in Saturday’s 20-cent Rainbow 6, creating a carryover jackpot of $1,995.51 for the return of live racing Thursday, Aug. 27. Tickets with five of six winners were each worth $1,064.84.
