Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
QE II winner Cambier Parc to be rested
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Cambier Parc is finished racing for the year after ending her 3-year-old season with a second straight Grade 1 victory for her highprofile connections.
Owned by the OXO Equine of Larry Best and trained by Chad Brown, Cambier Parc dominated the final Grade 1 race of the Keeneland fall meet, leading throughout Saturday in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. The daughter of Medaglia d’Oro earned a career-high 91 Beyer Speed Figure in prevailing by a length over Castle Lady. In her previous start, Cambier Parc rallied from well off the pace to win the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks.
Brown said in the immediate aftermath of the QE II that he was inclined to stop on Cambier Parc and send her to Florida over the winter ahead of a 4-year-old campaign that will begin at Gulfstream Park or next April at Keeneland in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley. Brown’s assistant Whit Beckman confirmed that plan Sunday.
“They’ll all get a break,” said Beckman, also referring to the stable’s two other QE II runners, Cafe Americano (fourth) and Regal Glory (sixth).
Brown, the Eclipse Awardwinning trainer the last three years, tops the Keeneland standings with six wins as the 17-day meet reaches its midpoint Wednesday. He has Focus Group as one of the top contenders here Thursday in the Grade 3 Sycamore and another trio of 3-year-old fillies Friday in the Grade 3 Valley View – Blowout, Catch a Bid, and Turf War – as well as Royal Charlotte in the Grade 2 Raven Run on Saturday.
The stakes schedule ends with the Grade 3 Dowager on Sunday and the Grade 2 Fayette on closing day, Oct. 26.
Lady Prancealot, the lone scratch from the QE II, is among an oversubscribed field of 15 entered in the Valley View.
Geroux out for several months
Jockey Florent Geroux has been sidelined indefinitely after being diagnosed with a broken sternum suffered in a Sunday morning training accident at Keeneland.
Geroux was breezing Air Strike on the main track when the 4-year-old colt suddenly fell nearing the wire. Geroux was thrown hard to the ground and was subsequently transported to the nearby University of Kentucky Medical Center. Air Strike was not seriously injured.
“I had a bad fall working a horse this morning,” Geroux posted Sunday night on his Twitter account. “Thank god it wasn’t worse and the horse is ok too.”
The exact duration of Geroux’s layoff is not yet known, although it could be two to three months, depending on the severity of the injury. Geroux typically winters at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.
Geroux, 33, has become a top rider in North America, competing mostly in Kentucky, with more than $91 million in mount earnings since he began riding in the United States in 2007. In 2018, his mounts earned more than $21 million, a career high.
◗ Javier Castellano missed the last eight days of the 2019 Keeneland spring meet, yet nearly won the riding title after building a big lead. That scenario is repeating itself as Castellano will miss five of the last six Keeneland cards while riding back in New York.
The last three days at Keeneland for Castellano will be this Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, according to his agent, John Panagot. He tops the standings with 12 wins, two more than Jose Ortiz, who will ride here through Friday before also returning to New York.
◗ Morticia bumped past the seven-figure earnings mark by finishing second in her final career start here Friday, the Grade 3 Franklin County. The 5-year-old mare retires with earnings of $1,019,669 from 26 starts.
Morticia was co-bred by her trainer, Rusty Arnold, with longtime client G. Watts Humphrey, her owner.
◗ Steve Penrod, the retired trainer now working as a racing official at Keeneland and Churchill Downs, was wearing a checked plaid suitcoat Saturday on the 35th anniversary of his victory in the inaugural QE II in 1984 with Sintra.
“I’m pretty sure it’s the same coat I wore that day,” said a smiling Penrod.
◗ Jockey Chantal Sutherland has hired Alex Foley, the son of trainer Greg Foley, as her new agent.