HENDERSON, KY. (WFIE) – Monday was the final day of the summer meet at Ellis Park. Going into today’s finale, Jaime Torres held a one-win lead over Luan Machado in the jockey standings, while trainers Steve Asmussen and Brendan Walsh were tied with 13 wins each.
So the stakes are high, and today also saw the final high-stakes race of the meet – the $150,000 Ellis Turf Stakes over 1 1/16 miles on grass for mares and foals ages 3 and older.
They break out of the gate for their only lap and it’s the 7, ‘Callie’s Grit’, who goes straight to the front as expected, setting a gentle pace as she leads them into the first turn and then around the second turn too, with ‘Beach Walkn’ right there.
A tightly packed group and the race is still wide open in the home stretch. The 2, Take a Stand, is closing in strongly. Watch for the 4, Quality Star. She closes quickly, closes in next to Callie’s Grit and it’s those three that are left waiting for a photo finish until the end! It’s close, but the 4, Quality Star, wins by a head over Callie’s Grit! Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. rode the winner for trainer Paulo Lobo.
Hernandez Jr. had a good race, but the title of leading jockey went to Machado and Torres, and Jaime Torres kept his lead and won, riding 21 winners and finishing about 40% of his rides.
“I flew everywhere, rode in Indiana, Saratoga and here and just tried to do business everywhere, just followed instructions and was grateful for everything. I think that was the key,” said Ellis’ champion jockey Jaime Torres. “I followed Joe Sharp’s advice. He deserves a lot of my success. He taught me and helped me in my career. So I’m very grateful for his advice. Everyone wants someone who’s good at it and wins a lot of races. That’s what happened after the Preakness; I got a lot of calls.”
As for the title of Ellis Park’s leading trainer, it was a tie as the stables of Steve Asmussen and Brendan Walsh each had 14 winners!
“We had a great meet and are super excited to be here. It was a lot of fun to be able to compete with Brendan’s team, especially with it just coming down to the last two days,” said Marissa Short-Lopez, Steve Asmussen’s assistant trainer. “A lot of that is thanks to our team behind us, the jockeys that ride for us like Erik (Asmussen), Cristian (Torres) and Edgar (Morales) and all the guys that have stepped in for us this year.”
“A lot of hard work goes into these horses and it’s great to see it pay off,” said Frank Meehan, assistant trainer to Brendan Walsh. “We have great support from a lot of good owners and I know Brendan is very grateful for all their support. We’ve had some beautiful horses over the last year.”
The Kentucky tour now moves south to Kentucky Downs in Franklin, KY for the next few weeks.
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