Indiana Grand to Host Jockey Challenge
Indiana Grand Racing & Casino will take the competition between jockeys to a new level Saturday, Aug. 9 with the inaugural International Jockey Challenge. A total of eight countries will be represented by 27 riders at the facility as jockeys will accumulate points individually for their home country to win the overall title.
All Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse jockeys will ride their regularly scheduled mounts and all races on the Saturday card will be part of the Jockey Challenge. As races are contested, points will be accumulated for the countries that the jockeys represent, with first place finishers receiving five points, second place finishers receiving three points, third place finishers receiving two points and fourth place receiving one point. At the conclusion of the card, the country with the most points will be declared the winner.
Countries represented in the inaugural International Jockey Challenge include the United States, Puerto Rico, Panama, Peru, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil and Cuba. The teams will be introduced in a special ceremony following the third race on the card Saturday. Each team will make their way to the winner’s circle carrying the flag from their country.
In addition to the International Jockey Challenge, six countries will be represented with food items at the outdoor food venues at Indiana Grand. Executive Chef Bob Brody and Director of Food and Beverage John Armentrout have added options such as Churrasco, a Brazilian-marinated beef brochette, Ceviche from Peru, which is a Citrus Marinated fresh fish and Arroz con Pollo, a Panamanian dish of Chicken on Rice. All specialty food items will be sold in small portions for $2.00, giving those in attendance the opportunity to sample fare from various countries.
The evening will also include a RushShelby Energy Family Fun Night complete with a zipline, bounce house, caricature artist, Mariachi band and strolling sword fighters. All activities are free and will get underway when racing begins just after 5 p.m.
The United States will have the most representation on the 10 race card with 12 jockeys. Those jockeys are Ben Creed, Cheyanna Patrick, Jeremy Rose, Rodney Prescott, Malcolm Franklin, Octavio Vergara Jr., Aron Hunt, Harold Collins, Shanley Jackson, Troy Crissup, Julie Veltman and Jennifer Schmidt. Mexico has the second largest team with eight members, including Francisco Torres, Alejandro Contreras, Ramon Rechy, Juan Guerrero, Gerardo Garrido, Victor Olivo, Gabriel Lagunes and Christian Esqueda.
Peru will be represented by Indiana Grand’s 2014 leading jockey Fernando De La Cruz while Brazil will be solely represented by Ademar Santos. Yordanis Amaro is the only Cuban rider at Indiana Grand and Olaf Hernandez of Venezuela will be the only rider from that country. Orlando Mojica of Puerto Rico will be part of the evening’s challenge. Two riders from Panama will compete on the card, Armando Ayuso and Albin Jimenez.
A three-foot tall trophy will be presented to the winning team following the final race on the program, which includes eight Thoroughbred races and two Quarter Horse races. One of the Quarter Horse races will feature the sixth running of the $75,000 Bob Woodard Memorial Classic.