Bizarre Circumstances for Trainer’s First Win

[Wandering Eyes]

A touch of the bizarre descended upon Mountaineer Park’s second race Monday night when a trainer won his first career race with a 10-year-old maiden that hadn’t started in nearly five years.

But wait, there’s more: The race winner, 27-1 Hero’s Wager (Partner’s Hero), was the beneficiary of a huge but unintentional assist when the three-length leader in upper stretch, Viritzi (Corfu), had the saddle slip badly, causing the jockey to fall off sideways.

The fallen jockey, Kevin Gonzalez, lost his helmet upon hitting the ground but walked off the turf course after the five-furlong MSW turf sprint. Jim Colvin, Mountaineer’s manager of racing operations, confirmed via phone to TDN on Tuesday that Gonzalez did not need to go to the hospital.

Viritzi continued to run along with the saddle hanging off his flank, gamely crossing the finish wire just behind the wide-and-driving Hero’s Wager and galloping out with the pack. He appeared unhurt.

Hero’s Wager–trained by Ted Randolph, owned by A La Carte Thoroughbreds, and ridden by Ricardo Barrios–hadn’t started in a race since Oct. 20, 2013, at Keeneland, when he ran sixth in a $15,000 maiden-claimer. The gelding had a 17-0-1-1 record entering Monday’s start.

The start was Randolph’s fifth as a licensed trainer according to Equibase, but he’s not a total newcomer to racing. Colvin described him as an owner who has competed at Mountaineer in the past.

Randolph could not be reached to discuss the story behind Hero’s Wager’s extended layoff. The TDN could not locate a working phone number for him, and messages that Mountaineer backstretch officials agreed to pass along did not yield a callback prior to deadline for this story.

 

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