LATE PICK 5 CARRYOVER HIGHLIGHTS THURSDAY CARD
A Late Pick 5 carryover of $40,132 begins the new racing week at Golden Gate Fields. The Late Pick 5, a 50 Cent wager, will go as races 3-7 on the Thursday afternoon card. Track officials predict that $150,000 new-money will be added into the Late Pick 5 pool.
39 horses have been entered to compete in the Late Pick 5 sequence, which averages out to 7.8 horses per race. 2 of the 5 races are turf events while the other trio of races will be run on the Tapeta. The seventh race has 10 horses slated to run, which is the largest field size of the day.
“The Late Pick 5 sequence is definitely competitive,” said track announcer and on-air analyst Matt Dinerman. “Horseplayers always want to play good, contentious races. We’ve got that in this sequence.”
Post time for the first leg of the Late Pick 5, Race 3, is 1:15 PM Pacific Time.
STAKES WINS COME OFTEN THIS MEET FOR COUTON
Jockey Julien Couton has made a positive impact in the jockey colony at Golden Gate Fields for the past 5 years. This Winter/Spring season, Couton has continued his consistent good numbers with 29 wins. Three of those victories came in stakes’, leading all jockeys in stakes wins this meet.
On February 10, Consolida won The California Oaks by a length and a quarter. Julien guided the 3-year-old filly to her first stakes win that day. It was also the first stakes win of the meet for the 37-year-old native of France.
“She gave me everything she had,” said Couton after the race. “[The pacesetters] went at a good clip early and we were able to get the right trip sitting off the speed.”
Five weeks later, Couton navigated 4-year-old filly Mother of Dragons to victory in The Camilla Urso Stakes for trainer Andy Psarras. Couton and Mother of Dragons were able to out finish two other rivals in a 3-horse blanket finish.
“Mother of Dragons was working absolutely terrific [before the race],” said Couton.
Most recently, Couton tallied his first San Francisco Mile win with Flamboyant, a 7-year-old who became racing’s newest millionaire last week. Flamboyant is trained by Paddy Gallagher, who also trains Consolida.
“[Flamboyant] showed us he has something left in the tank,” said Couton in a post-race interview. “He’s a good horse.”
David “Marbles” Singer, who was Couton’s agent for the first half of the meet, has left the Bay Area to work at Emerald Downs this summer. Agent Don August will take over Couton’s book until the end of the Winter/Spring meet.
FINISH LINES: Good luck to jockeys Rocco Bowen, Lucas Gutierrez and Kevin Orozco. All three riders’ ship their tacks to Emerald Downs this week…William Antongeorgi III has taken the lead in the jockey standings. The journeyman rider has 49 wins, one more than Abel Cedillo and three better than Juan Hernandez…Trainer John Martin holds a 32-30 lead in the trainer standings over Jerry Hollendorfer. Jonathan Wong sits in third place with 29 victories…Along with Thursday’s Late Pick 5 carryover of $40,132, there is a Golden Pick 6 carryover of over $4,100… Paved, who won The El Camino Real Derby in February, makes her first start since the aforementioned stakes win in The $200,000 Providencia Stakes on turf at Santa Anita this Saturday…Noble Nick is scheduled to run in The $100,000 Tokyo City Cup at Santa Anita on Sunday for trainer Ari Herbertson…Best of luck to Northern California jockeys Hugo Herrera and Pedro Terrero, both who ride Arabian horses in the $100,000 HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Stakes, a Grade 1 stake for Arabian’s at Santa Anita Park this Saturday.