Castellano Shows the Way Again in Penn Racing Gaming Challenge
Jockey Javier Castellano is certainly not a stranger to the top of the Penn Racing Gaming Challenge standings, as the three-time Eclipse Award winner is the only jockey to capture the series crown since it was inaugurated in 2014. This past Saturday at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, Castellano took a big step to making it three consecutive wins in the Penn Challenge when he won two races, including the featured $1,250,000 Charles Town Classic aboard Stanford for trainer Todd Pletcher and owners Stonestreet Stables LLC, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith. Castellano also won the Robert Hilton Memorial on the undercard with Colts Neck Stables’ Dig Deep and checked in third on Athena in the Sugar Maple presented by CANTER Mid-Atlantic.
The 55 points Castellano earned puts him 8 ahead of Florent Geroux, who lead the Penn Challenge Series after Houston Ladies Classic day at Sam Houston in January. Joel Rosario, Joe Bravo and Jevian Toledo round out the top 5 among the riders.
Another past winner of the Penn Challenge Series reclaimed the lead in the trainer category as Mike Maker – the top trainer in 2015 – moved past Mark Casse and into first among the series’ conditioners. Maker sent out S’maverlous and International Star to fifth and sixth place finishes respectively in the Charles Town Classic, but that was good enough to inch him past Casse and to the top of the trainer category. As a result of his victory in the 2015 Penn Challenge Series, both of Maker’s Charles Town Classic entrants received a full refund of all entry fees for the race. Maker won the John B. Connally Turf Cup (G3) on Houston Ladies Classic day withDa Big Hoss. Casse sits one point ahead of Pletcher, who sent out the aforementioned Stanford and two points ahead of Tom Amoss who saw his Quijote fall a neck short in the Robert Hilton Memorial, thus denying him a fourth consecutive win in the race. Dallas Stewart, trainer of Houston Ladies Classic and Apple Blossom champ Forever Unbridled and Mary Eppler, who saddled Page McKenney to his runner-up effort in the Classic are tied for fifth.
Stonestreet Stables LLC, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith shot to the lead amongst owners in the series on the back of Stanford’s first graded stakes score on Saturday. Midwest Thoroughbreds’ moved into second, just a point out of the lead after Quijote’s run in the Robert Hilton Memorial. Midwest Thoroughbreds had previously won the Frontier Utilities Turf Sprint on the Houston Ladies Classic undercard with Galton. Page McKenney owners Adam Staple and Jalin Stable, Forever Unbridled’s owner Charles Fipke and Skychai Racing round out the top 5, all tied with 22 points.
The Penn Gaming Racing Challenge, inaugurated by Penn National Gaming, Inc. (PNGI) in 2014, ties together 22 stakes races worth more than $5 million purse money at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course, Sam Houston Race Park, and Zia Park. The Challenge includes tie-ins between groups of races in the series, as well as bonuses and prizes that include free nominations, refund of entry and starter fees, and trips to the PNGI owned M Resort in Las Vegas.
All owners, trainers, and jockeys who participate in the unrestricted stakes on the designated event days will receive two points. Additionally, points are awarded for Top 5 finishes in varying scales, based on the value or grade of the race. The additional points range from the 25 received as a result of a win in a Grade 2, to one (1) point for a fifth place finish in an unrestricted stakes race worth between $50,000 and $75,000.
At the end of the Challenge, the owner, trainer, and jockey with the most points will each receive two round-trip airfare tickets and a three-night stay at the 390 room M Resort located on South Las Vegas Boulevard in Las Vegas. In addition to the travel rewards, the owner and trainer accumulating the most points at the end of all seven events will have their entry and starting fees refunded in any unrestricted stakes race run at a PNGI thoroughbred track in 2017, with the exception of Penn National itself. The winners of the inaugural 2014 Penn Gaming Racing Challenge were Ken and Sarah Ramsey as leading owner and Chad Brown in the trainer category while Javier Castellano took away honors as the top jockey. Last year, Fox Hill Farms edged out Ken and Sarah Ramsey as the top owner, with Maker the top trainer and Castellano once again leading jockey.
The Challenge is divided into six divisions based on race type – 3-year-old & up turf route, 3-year-old and up turf sprint, 3-year-old and up dirt sprint, 3-year-old and up filly and mare dirt sprint, 3-year-old and up dirt route, and 3-year-old and up filly and mare dirt route. Horses running in a race within one division will automatically be nominated free of charge to the following races within that same division. Also, horses that start in a Challenge race will have all entry and starter fees refunded (excluding supplemental fees) when they start in a subsequent race in the same division.
The next event in the Penn Gaming Racing Challenge takes place at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Racecourse on June 4 when the track plays host to the $500,000 Penn Mile (G3) on its biggest card of the year.
Source: Penn National Gaming