7/14/2023

The beginning of week 11 was another Friday-Sunday schedule but the Friday night card marks the halfway point of the 2023 season. This week will be capped with a pair of 3-year-old races on Sunday with the Kent Stakes for the fillies and the Irish Stakes for all 3-year-olds.

Friday night was a 7-race card with a total of 42 starters for an average of 6 per race. The 2nd race was reduced to just 3 horses after 2 scratches and eliminated show and superfecta betting. There were 3 50-cent pick-4’s, the 50-cent pic 5 and 20-cent Jackpot pick 6 with a carry-over of about $1,200.

Coming into Friday night in the jockey’s race, Luis Negron held a 5 win lead over Alex Cruz. Cruz has won at least one race on 19 straight Friday nights and has dominated the Friday night winners circle since Friday night resumed after the pandemic.

Friday night though, Negron was ready to bounce back and doubled while Cruz didn’t win a race until the finale to extend his streak to 20 straight Friday nights with at least 1 win.

Trainer’s Preston Boyd and Scott Freeman got their 1st wins of the season and jockey Jose Ruiz got his 1st victory of the year as well. Meantime, owner John Parker the defending owner in wins and earnings scored 2 wins while his trainer Candi Cryderman was the only trainer to double.

6th Race “Feature Race”

The feature race of the night was the 6th race, a field of 7 fillies and mares going 6 1/2 furlongs for $15,000 claimers. Luis Negron was shooting for his 4th win of the night on the 1-1 favorite Olivia’s Choice. Negron let Goat Rocks with Francisco Diaz-Perez set all the fractions of 22-flat, 44.74 and waited to make his move with Olivia’s Choice. As they got to the 1/8th pole Olivia was full out but got squeezed behind a tiring Goat Rocks and had to swing to the outside and around both Goat Rocks and 9-2 Queensboro with Rocco Bowen.

The problem was Queensboro was also winding up from the back at the top of the stretch and by the time Olivia’s Choice straightened away Bowen and Queensboro were gone. She Said My Way and Alexis Valdes were also closing with a rush and just got up in the final stride to her nose on the wire at the same time as Olivia’s Choice for a deadheat for 2nd. Goat Rocks held on for 4th.

Queensboro races for Free Brook Racing LLC and is trained by Scott Freeman and ran the 6 1/2-furlongs in 1:16.80. This was Freeman’s 1st win of the season. Queensboro is now 2-1-1 from 5 lifetime starts.

Queensboro with the deadheat for 2nd created multiple exacta, trifecta and superfecta pay-offs so be sure to check your tickets and any questions run them through a SAM machine to make sure you’re not missing anything. The 9-2 Queensboro paid $11.40 on the $2 win and capped off a nice 50-cent pick 3 pay-out of $243.50.

Feature Race Replay

The other Races:

1st Race
Zeva Dee and Alex Cruz was the 9-5 favorite and the duo broke 1st from the 6-furlong mark with 3-1 Sensuous Kitty and Rocco Bowen breaking 2nd and the other 4 lined up in a row and that did not change through the 1st quarter that went in 22.53. That order held true through midway around the turn when Our Girl Ashley separated from the other 4 to take over 3rd. As they hit the 1/2-mile pole the pedestrian time of 46.53 seemed way too slow for anyone to catch Zeva Dee but Bowen and Kitty began to close and Luis Negron got Our Girl Ashley in top gear. That duo swept past the favorite at the 16th pole but Sensuous Kitty could not deny the freight train of Our Girl Ashley rolling to a 2-length win. Kitty was 5 in front of Zeva Dee and Lute’s Diamond with Alex Anaya got up for 4th.

Our Girl Ashely is owned by John Parker and trained by Candi Cryderman and ran the 6-furlongs in 1:12.32 and went off at 4-1 paying $10.40 on the $2 win or $104 on a $20 win. The 4-1 to 3-1 exacta paid a solid 20-1 of $21.60, add the 9-5 favorite for a $49.20 $1 tri and add the 2nd 3-1 in 4th and the $1 superfecta paid $73.80 and a 4-horse box of the top 4 favorites for $24 gives you a profit of nearly $50.

2nd Race

Only 3 horses in this race the start of the pick-6 after 2 late scratches. Clayton Delaney and Luis Negron were bet down to the 4-5 odds-on favorite while Stand To with Carlos Montalvo was the 2nd choice at 6-5 and March On Linch and Alex Cruz the longshot so to speak at 7-2 as they went 6 1/2-furlongs.

Stand To got the 1st call but March on Linch quickly engaged up the rail and took the lead. Montalvo was never far back of March on Linch as they went the 1st quarter in 22.49 but halfway around the turn Stand To pulled even and went on by to cruise to a 4+ length win geared down. March on Linch ran well to hold onto 2nd and Clayton Delaney finished 3rd. Stand To races for Karen Clark and Jerry Ackereman and trained by Frank Lucarelli. Stand To is a Washington bred by Harbor the Gold out of I’m Shootin High by Sons Corona and was bred by John Sneesby. The 1st daily double paid a decent 18-1 of $19.80.

3rd Race
A field of 6 3-yesr-olds and up went 6 furlongs for a claiming tag of 8k. The favorite 8-5 Gold Rush Junior with Silvio Amador took over the lead of a well packed field on the far turn. 5-2 2nd choice Gypsy Gun was threatening to make a move but was on the outside and jockey Jose Ruiz tried to keep him in tight but drifted wide costing him important distance and Gold Rush Junior extended his lead and drew off for a clear victory in a time of 1:10.09.

11-1 The Third Ring made a nice run to get 2nd, never far and Neptali Ortiz stuck on the rail to grab 2nd from Gypsy Gun who was 3rd and 4-1 Hollywood as Usual with Rigo Sarmiento took 4th. Owner John Parker got his 2nd win of the night with Gold Rush Junior and trainer Candi Cryderman also doubled. The Third Ring paid a nice $8.20 to place and $5.50 to show but the $1 exacta of 8-5 to 11-1 only paid $16.40. Looks like some heavy Gold Rush Junior on top of the field in the exacta. The 4-1 to 6-5 to 8-5 John Parker and Candi Cryderman bookended 50-cent pick 3 paid $24.65.

4th Race

Boxcars in the 4th and throws all the horizontal bets into chaos when 18-1 Distinctive Deb found space on the rail in the final 16th and corralled the 9-1 leader Sandy Harbor in the final stride to give both jockey Jose Ruiz and trainer Preston Boyd their 1st wins of the season. Sandy Harbor looked like she was clear and Aex Cruz would continue his Friday night win streak going when Deb stunned them with the rail run and ran the 6-furlongs in 1:11.60. Odds-on choice Secret Hottie at 3-5 with Rocco Bowen took 3rd and late closing Eva Maxie with Kevon Radke at 9-1 grabbed 4th.

Distinctive Deb is owned by Carl and Debbi Seymour and trained by Boyd. The 3-year-old filly is a Washingt0n bred by Nationhood out of Val de Saire by Harbor the Gold and was bred by Pat and Mullan Chinn. Deb paid $38.60, $14.80 and $6.60 for an even $60 bucks on the $2 green combo ticket or $600 on the $20 combo. The 11-1 to 9-1 exacta paid $180 or in the Longacres 10th race old days, $900 on the $5 minimum exacta, the 50-cent tri adding the 3-5 shot 3rd paid $260.45 and the $1 superfecta blew up at $3,381.30. The 1st 50-cent pick 4 paid $546.25 frankly and the 4-4-4 pick 3 paid $95.

5th Race

The field of 6 going 5 1/2-furlongs lost one of the starters in a late scratch but it still set up to be a very interesting race. Zaccheus went to the lead and set a sizzling fraction of 21.27 1/4 mile time. 5-2 2nd favorite Asian Rain with Neptali Ortiz hung inside and surged ahead of Zaccheus who was finished by the top of the stretch. As they ran the 1/2 in 44.16 even though it was quick it looked like the blazing hot Ortiz would get to the winners circle and drew away. However, all the dueling on the front end to its toll and Asian Rain began stopping as Luis Negron on Miso Fast was winding up and closing with a rush blew past everyone to give Negron his 3rd win of the night.

Miso Fast is owned and trained by Justin Evans adding to both his trainer and owner leads in both standings. Miso Fast went off as the 9-5 favorite and ran the 5 1/2 in 1:03.79. The 2nd 50-cent pick 4 returned $279.65 and paid less than originally because of the late scratch to 1 which means all those tickets to the 1 went to the betting favorite which was Miso Fast and drop the pay-off about $40.

7th Race

In  the finale Alex Cruz’s Friday night streak was on the line and looked like it was going to come to an end as the field of 7 went the 1-mile. Cruz was on the 2nd choice 7-2 Benny the Jet while Luis Negron was aboard the 1-2 odds-on fav Anna’s Iron Man. Negron and Anna went to the front where Benny the Jet normally occupies but Cruz let the favorite take the lead and set the fractions of 23.42 and 46.63. 9-1 Dyf with Kevin Orozco remained in striking distance as well.

As they rolled inside the quarter pole at the top of the stretch both Benny the Jet and Dyf came rolling up on Anna’s Iron Man. Benny and Cruz looked like they were going to slip through on the rail when they suddenly had to check as Anna’s Iron Man came down on the rail. Cruz took hold and normally that would have ended that threat but Cruz had a ton of horse got him straight and unleashed a furious rally as the rail did open up and Benny with Cruz jetted through for a convincing win. Anna’s Iron Man held 2nd and Dyf flattened out a bit in the drive to get 3rd, 21-1 Poppy’s C Note with new rider at Emerald Welfin Orantes got 4th and Alpine Hypnosis with Rigo Sarmiento completed the 50-cent super hi-5.

Benny the Jet ran the 1-mile in 1:36.51 and owned by Dawn Spillman and trained by Jorge Rosales and paid $9.60 on the $2 win. The final pick 4 paid $887.75, the pick 5 paid more $3,000 for the 4th time in a row with a $3,137.40. No one had all 6 in the pick 6 and 5 of 6 paid $277.42. There will be a carryover of $3,745 to Saturday.

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