Monmouth jockeys pick up Haskell rides because of COVID-19
Jockey Joe Bravo has an unexpected chance to win the $1 million Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on Saturday.
Bravo has been the leading rider 13 times at the New Jersey track. He gets a boost for the Haskell after the New York Racing Association decided to bar its jockeys who ride at other racetracks.
Bravo picked up the mount on Belmont Stakes runnerup Dr Post when regularrider Irad Ortiz opted off the Todd Pletcher-trained colt this week rather than miss this season’s Saratoga Race Course meet in New York.
The New York ruling came after several prominent jockeys announced they had tested positive for COVID-19 and Del Mar racetrack near San Diego canceled weekend racing after 15 jockeys tested positive.
“After all the positives in California, I think the racetracks are just trying to take the best precautions to go finish their meet without a
hitch,” said Cory Moran, Bravo’s jockey agent. “They are using protocols for the safety of their jockeys until this thing dies down. It is really getting out of hand with the positives.”
The Grade I Haskell — the showpiece race at Monmouth — seems to be a race with two very good colts and five longshots.
Dr Post is the 5-2 second choice in the 1 1/8 mile race. Trainer Bob Baffert’s Authentic is the 4- 5 favorite, having won three of four starts, with his last being a second in the Santa Anita Derby in California.
“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Bravo told The Associated Press by phone. “With all these new regulations that Irad had to follow, I was lucky Todd picked me out and I am just glad to be part of that team.”