Churchill Downs: Franco out 6-8 weeks with broken wrist

Jockey Geovanni Franco is expected to miss six to eight weeks with a fractured wrist after being displaced from his mount, Marine Pilot, in Race 8 at Churchill Downs on Saturday, according to his agent James Giannone.

“It’s definitely a bummer,” Giannone said. “He’s in good spirits and we’re glad it wasn’t worse.”

Franco, a native of Mexico, rode at Oaklawn Park this winter prior to coming to Kentucky for the Spring Meet.

 

MENA AVOIDS SCARY SITUATION IN SATURDAY’S EIGHTH RACE

Jockey Miguel Mena displayed outstanding horsemanship and courage during Saturday’s eighth race at Churchill Downs while helped aid loose rival Marine Pilot on the far turn of the 1 1/8-mile turf race.

Marine Pilot dropped his rider Giovanni Franco when he appeared to clip heals with another rival as horses exited the first turn and headed into the backstretch. As a result, the reins were dangling loose in front of Marine Pilot’s front legs as he continued on rider-less in mid-pack. 

“I could see the reins dangling beneath him,” jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., rider of ninth-place finisher Dattts Our Guy, said. “I told Miguel ‘Watch out for that horse. His reins are going everywhere.’”

Mena, who was rallying on the outside under Archangel Rose, rode up along the side of Marine Pilot at the three-eighths pole and, amazingly, flipped the reins back over Marine Pilot’s head with his left hand to prevent the reins from getting tangled in the horse’s legs.

“He was a true hero,” Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Chief Steward Barbara Borden said. “It was an amazing display of horsemanship done with the safety of the horses and his fellow riders in mind.”

“Luckily everything worked out,” said Mena, who went onto finish second beaten only three-quarters of a length by Star Cross. “My horse ran a very good second and if I didn’t get the reins back on the loose horse, he could’ve tripped and fell.”

Marine Pilot was corralled after the race by Churchill Downs’ outriders and returned safely to trainer John Ortiz’s barn.

HERNANDEZ JR. PILOTS FOUR WINNERS ON SATURDAY’S CARD 

Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. added four wins to his belt Saturday at Churchill Downs, which brought his victory total to 11 through the first nine days of the 38-day Spring Meet.

“It was a great day,” Hernandez said. “It’s always fun to get on a roll like that. Hopefully we can keep the streak going.”

Hernandez piloted the first two winners on Saturday’s card: Tarpy’s Surprise ($8) and Miss Cobblestone ($15.60). In the fifth race, the Louisiana native rode Fifth Title ($12.60) to a ½-length victory on the turf and continued his winning ways in the seventh, which gave trainer Tim Glyshaw his 400th career victory with Louies Flower ($12.40).

Hernandez has three mounts on Sunday’s card. 

 

MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR TRAINER LYNN WHITING SET FOR MONDAY AT 2 P.M. 

The memorial service for late Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Lynn Whiting has been set for Monday (May 15) at 2 p.m. EDT and will be held in Churchill Downs’ Triple Crown Room in the Jockey Club Suites.

Whiting, a second-generation horseman who raced primarily at tracks in Kentucky and Arkansas best-known for his victory in the 1992 Kentucky Derby with W.C. Partee’s Lil E. Tee, died April 19 in Louisville at age 77 only days after his return to his Barn 18 at Churchill Downs following weeks of hospital and rehabilitation care.

A native of Great Falls, Mon., the soft-spoken Whiting was highly-regarded by his peers as a patient, skilled and accomplished horseman who possessed a keen eye for potential in young horses. His Kentucky Derby winner was the best-known example of the latter, as he was purchased privately by Partee during the colt’s 2-year-old season for $200,000.

Whiting, who saddled 319 winners at Churchill Downs to rank 16th all-time at the Louisville, Ky. racetrack, learned his craft from his father, Lyle Whiting, a one-time jockey and longtime trainer.

Overall, Lynn Whiting won 1,279 races and $23.9 million in prize money from 6,113 starts as trainer since he saddled his first winner in February of 1969 at the now-defunct Lincoln Downs in Rhode Island. His final victory came with Jury Wise on March 10 at Oaklawn Park.

Whiting is survived by his wife, Nell, and daughters Carrie and Lori.

 

STAKES PROBABLES – Saturday will mark the 80th running’s of the $100,000 Matron Stakes (GIII), for fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward at 1 1/16 miles, and the $100,000 Louisville Handicap (GIII), for 3-year-olds and upward at 1 ½ miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course.

Matron Stakes – Crooked Stick, Lady Fog Horn, Tiger Moth, Walkabout, Weep No More.

Louisville Handicap (with assigned handicap weights) – Bullards Alley (116 lbs.), Generous Kitten (115), Street Fashion (115), Patrick’s Day (114), Grey Wizard (113), Nessy (111).

Saturday will be the first time that the Matron Stakes will be run at Churchill Downs. It was previously run at Arlington Park.

 

WORK TAB – There were 86 horses on Churchill Downs work tab Sunday morning headlined by the speedy Whitmore, who recorded a bullet work for trainer Ron Moquett, clipping through a half-mile in :46.40. … Ben Ali (GIII) runner-up Eagle breezed four furlongs in :48.20 for trainer Neil Howard. … Southwest (GIII) runner-up Petrov worked a half-mile in :48.80. … Kentucky Oaks (GI) ninth-place finisher Ever So Clever had an easy half-mile maintenance work in :51 for trainer Steve Asmussen. … There were four horses who breezed on the Matt Winn Turf Course at 9:30 a.m. with American Oaks (GI) runner-up Sassy Little Lila working the fastest of the group with a half mile in :48.80.