CENTURY MILE Journal, Jetset handicaps usher in stakes action

A couple of stakes races for 3-year-olds and up share the spotlight Monday at Century Mile.

The $50,000 Journal Handicap goes as race 6 and will be the first stakes race to be held at the new track. The six-furlong Journal drew seven horses, with Trooper John and Born in a Breeze being the main protagonists.

The $50,000 Jetset Handicap for fillies and mares is a wideopen race that drew nine horses and goes as race 8.

Post time for the nine-race Victoria Day card is 1:45 p.m. Mountain.

Born in a Breeze had a fitness edge when he beat Trooper John in an open allowance race April 28 at Century Mile. The Tom Rycroft-trained 7-year-old had three starts at Turf Paradise prior to the race and was able to catch Trooper John in the deep stretch while winning the 5 1/2-furlong dash by threequarters of a length.

An Ontario-bred son of Leonnatus, Born in a Breeze will break from the outside post with Rigo Sarmiento riding.

Trooper John is trained by Tim Rycroft, Tom’s son, who was pleased with how the horse ran. The 5-year-old Pennsylvania-bred stalked the early pace before taking the lead in the stretch. It was his first start since he won the $50,000 Don Getty at Northlands Park on July 21.

Trooper John will race without blinkers Monday for the first time. Trooper John has earned $280,230 while compiling an 8-6-2 record from 16 starts, so it is a bit surprising to see Rycroft make an equipment change.

“We’re going to roll the dice,” Rycroft said. “He seemed to lose focus when he made the lead in his last start. He is a real pro and he doesn’t train or work with blinkers. I’ll either look like a genius or an idiot.”

Wilmer Galviz will be aboard when he breaks from post 4.

The Journal looks like a twohorse race, but there are many possibilities in the Jetset.

It might be worth taking a stab at Raider, who is almost perfect running in Alberta. Her lone loss in six starts in the province came at the hands of Escape Clause. Escape Clause is now a Grade 3 winner, and in her last start lost by a nose to Midnight Bisou in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park.

The Greg Tracy-trained Raider comes into the Jetset following a seventh-place finish in the $75,000 Neon Desert Handicap on April 21 at Sunland Park.

The 5-2 morning-line favorite is the Nancy Betts-trained Daz Lin Dawn. She finished third in the $50,000 Brighouse Belles on May 4 at Hastings. Daz Lin Dawn is looking for her first victory since she won the 2017 British Columbia Oaks.