Hialeah Wraps Up Successful Seventh Quarter Horse Meet
Hialeah Park’s 2015-16 live Quarter Horse racing season, the 7th since racing returned to this iconic South Florida landmark in 2019-10, ended Monday February 29 with record-breaking wagering numbers both on-track and through all-sources simulcast wagering.
Over 39 actual days of competition, with races from the cancelled card on Monday February 1 added to cards late in the season, the all-sources handle totaled out at $15,587,616. That figure topped the previous season high of $13,913,073 –set over 40 days of the 2014-15 meet– by $1,674,543.
On track, local horseplayers and visitors from around the world wagered a total of $1,548,190 through the wickets at Hialeah Park, topping last season’s $1,412,733 sum by $135,457.
JOCKEY OMAR REYES, TRAINER JUDD JEARL, OWNERS DENIS & JULIE SCHOENHOFER CLINCH SEASON CROWNS
For the second straight season, jockey Omar Reyes and trainer Judd Kearl topped their respective standings, while owners Denis and Julie Schoenhofer took season honors as the meet’s leading owners.
Reyes dominated the riding colony with 43 victories, 5 better than closest competitor Rodrigo Vallejo. Kearl was a runaway winner of the training title with 39 wins, 17 more than Kalah Welch. Denis and Julie Schoenhofer recorded 11 victories, including one on the closing day Monday card, to claim the leading owner title.
BIG GRAY MOONIN THE EAGLE WINS TWO MAJOR STAKES RACES TO CLAIM “HORSE OF THE MEET” HONORS
Gregorio Garcia Garza’s talented four-year-old Moonin the Eagle won both the $204,310 Hialeah Maturity and the $150,000 Sam Abbey Memorial Invitational Championship to clinch “Horse of the Meet” honors for 2015-16.
The gray son of One Famous Eagle-Your First Moon, saddled in the Maturity by trainer Rolando Almanza and in the Sam Abbey by conditioner Yoani Abreu, owns six lifetime victories, all at Hialeah Park.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEB PRESENCE BOLSTER HIALEAH PARK’S IMAGE, PUSH WILL CONTINUE IN OFF SEASON
Hialeah Park established a heightened presence on social media and the web during the 2015-16 live Quarter Horse season, using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, You Tube, Sound Cloud, and its company web site to keep patrons “in the know” about racing and entertainment news at the venue.
Source: Hialeah Park