Barbadian Joseph remains out front with brace
HALLANDALE BEACH, Florida, ( CMC) — Jockey Leonel Reyes delivered two wins for embattled trainer Saffie Joseph Jr here Friday, to keep the Barbadian narrowly ahead in the race for the summer title at Gulfstream Park.
Joseph won with favourite Face the Music
in race six over five furlongs before also capturing race eight over a mile with 3-10 chance Imonra.
The brace took him to 22 wins for the campaign and two clear of nearest challenger Jose Francisco D’angelo, in the near four-and-a-half month season which winds up August 27.
The 34-year-old is the defending champion, having won last summer’s campaign in a blowout.
In spite of the swirling controversy following his recent suspension by Churchill Downs, Joseph continued to make strides at his familiar stomping grounds in the United States south-east.
He opened his account on the nine-race card when Reyes produced a front-running effort with three-year-old bay filly Face to the Music to beat the three-year-old and upward maiden fillies and mares by 1-¼ lengths.
Face the Music was through the quarter in 21.83 seconds with 3-1 bet Love Rhapsody and 5-1 chance Preemption in pursuit, but Reyes kept the filly focused to reach the finish strongly.
Joseph’s second win was a dominant one, Reyes carrying the bay filly Imonra
to a 2 ¾-length score over the three-yearold fillies.
Favourite Flakes carved out the early splits, posting 23.74 seconds for the quarter and 46.31 for the half, with 12-1 choice Kikilove stalking from second and Imonra
also stalking from third, two lengths back. Reyes then got Imonra to the front leaving the eighth pole and pulled clear to leave Flakes and Kikilove battling for the runners-up position