Monmouth Park

Because of the pandemic in 2020, six-race cards on Fridays and a run of rainy weather to start this year's meet, apples-to-apples, year-over-year handle comparisons aren't easy to come by at Monmouth. But all indications are that the Jersey Shore track has gotten off to a poor start, and that raises an important question--are bettors staying away because of the new rules that prohibit whipping? Sunday's card was the first of the meet where all the scheduled races were run on the turf and there was not an abundance of...

From a very young age, she wanted to be a jockey, maybe even one who someday got to ride in the GI Kentucky Derby. After all, she loved horses and both of her parents were exercise riders. Then there's her name. Derbe Glass is a 23-year-old 10-pound apprentice riding this meet at Monmouth, where she is trying to make a name for herself (pun intended). "I want to improve every day, get stronger, get smarter and learn the art of race riding," Glass said. "Hopefully, we will do well." Actually,...

Swilcan Stable and LC Racing's Mainstay (Astern {Aus}), the half-sister to last year's champion 2-year-old filly Vequist (Nyquist), MGISW, $1,237,500, came out running Friday to become her sire's first Northern Hemisphere winner as well as a 'TDN Rising Star'. Scratched from Thursday's Astoria S. at Belmont, the Butch Reid pupil was backed at 6-5 and made that price look like a bargain. Out-footed by Next Tuesday (Kantharos) from the gate, the bay quickly rushed up and cleared by several lengths from that foe. Next Tuesday tried to make a race...

Trainer Faith Wilson earned the first win of her career when La Luisa (Suns Out Guns Out) captured the ninth race at Monmouth Park Monday. "I'm beyond ecstatic, especially because this was a project horse that my husband and I own," the 33-year-old said. "She was a bad bleeder when we got her. We gave her six months off and since then she has been very consistent [with a win, second and third in four starts for Wilson]. I literally can't wait to get home and have cake with my...

Hall-of-Fame jockey Sam Boulmetis Sr. died May 30 in Red Bank, New Jersey, following a lengthy illness. He was 94. DRF.com first reported his death on Monday, citing confirmation from his daughter, Kim Boulmetis, who said her father died peacefully at River View Hospital shortly after being transported there earlier in the day. He had suffered from dementia in recent years. Earlier in the week, Kim Boulmetis had posted online that her father was the oldest living Hall-of-Fame jockey. He had served as president of The Jockeys' Guild from 1962...

3rd-Monmouth, $47,500, Alw, 5-31, (NW1X), 3yo, 6f, 1:10.83, ft, neck. MOMOS (c, 3, Distorted Humor--Inspeight of Us, by Speightstown), making his first start since a troubled seventh in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Keeneland in November, was there for the taking in the final sixteenth of a mile, but he called upon his class to post a gritty neck success. Sent off the 3-5 chalk in receipt of Lasix for the first time in his career and getting blinkers off, the $75,000 OBS Winter Mixed yearling turned...

Tickets for Monmouth Park's signature event, the $1-million GI TVG.com Haskell S. slated for Saturday, July 17, will go on sale Sunday, June 6 at 11:30 a.m. Once available, tickets can be purchased online at www.seatgeek.com/monmouth or by calling (732) 571-5563. Haskell tickets will also be sold at the Reserved Seats booth on the second floor of the Grandstand on live racing days. Admission on Haskell Day is $20 for the Grandstand and $30 for the Clubhouse. Self parking will be $20. A Dining Club buffet is available for $200,...

Cory Moran, the agent for top Monmouth rider Paco Lopez, informed trainers Thursday by text that his client will begin riding at the meet June 5. Lopez's status had been up in the air as he was considering his options in the face of new rules instituted at Monmouth that ban whipping. Some riders have said they would not ride at Monmouth because they felt the whip ban created unsafe racing conditions. Lopez will not be riding at Monmouth this weekend, but that is because he has prior commitments to...

The Monmouth Park racing office appeared to have no problem attracting horses and jockeys for Saturday's card when entries were taken Thursday. A 12-race card attracted 107 entries and there are 22 jockeys named to ride. There had been concerns that the track would fall short in both categories because some of the top riders have decided to sit out the opening weekend at Monmouth because they are concerned about new rules that prohibit whipping in the races, with the only exception being instances when there are safety concerns. "We...

PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo has released the following statement regarding the first races at Monmouth Park May 2 under the new whip rule: "PETA congratulates Monmouth Park and New Jersey officials for eliminating the most obvious and visible form of abuse in horse racing—whipping. Under any circumstances outside a race track, beating a horse can be prosecuted as cruelty to animals. Putting a jockey on the animal's back doesn't make it less cruel. While there is still much suffering in the horse racing industry, Monmouth Park is now...

by T.D. Thornton, Bill Finley & Sue Finley Amid concerns that jockeys would either be protesting Monmouth Park's May 28 opening-day program or not riding at all during the meet because of their concerns over a new state rule that prohibits whipping outside of emergency safety usage, it took until 5:30 p.m. Tuesday for Friday's overnight at Monmouth Park to be released, with six races drawing 45 entrants ridden by 14 jockeys. Now that Friday's opening day program appears to be a "go," the looming larger question is what will...

Not that any riders have or plan to ask him, but if anyone wants an educated opinion on the banning of the whip at Monmouth Park, retired-rider-turned-trainer Rafael Schistl will be glad to tell them what he thinks. Schistl should understand the issue better than most. During a globetrotting career as a jockey, he rode in 164 races in Norway, winning 29 of them. The list includes three runnings of the country's top race, the Norsk Derby. Norway is the only other country where a whip ban is in place....