Jockey Lopez wins 1st 5 races Sunday at Monmouth Park

Jockey Paco Lopez started Sunday’s action at Monmouth Park by winning the first five races on the card.

Lopez’s first victory came aboard Free to Fly in a starter optional claiming race. He followed that with scores aboard Be Better in a maiden special weight event, R Love On the Run and Call Bros in a pair of claiming races, and then Edie Meeny Miny Mo in allowance optional claiming flight.

An all-Lopez early Pick 5 returned $14.40 for 50 cents.

Lopez's first loss of the day came in the seventh race, as he finished second in a claiming race on Like What I See. He was then seventh in the eighth race, the Smart N Classy Handicap, with mount Bramble Bay, and off the board in the nightcap, a maiden claiming event, on Le Coste.

Lopez holds the single-day Monmouth Park record of seven wins which he has done three times, most recently Aug. 28.

For the year, Lopez sports a 483: 82-71-84 record with $3.43 million earned. His 17 wins during the current Monmouth meet are six more than the 11 races won by both Samy Camacho and Isaac Castillo.