Rohan Singh
by George
Jockey Rohan Singh did his imitation of a hobo chasing a hotdog to win three races, survive a claim of foul and make an unsuccessful foul claim of his own on Wednesday night at the Downs.
Singh won the second race aboard Lite the Cigar ($16.40) for trainer Satrohan Singh, the fourth race aboard Let Me Down Easy ($5.60) for trainer Jerry Gourneau, and the eighth and final race aboard longshot He Is ($26.70) for trainer Bev Hamilton.
Wednesday was a good night for medium-priced horses, which resulted in some excellent Pick-3, Pick-4 and Superfecta payoffs. The prices on the winners of races two, three and four were $16.40, $14.80 and $5.60 respectively, which resulted in Superfectas of $2,216.20 and $1,498 in the second and third races. The Pick-3 on races 2-4 paid $911.20 and a few other Pick-3s on the night also paid well at $406.10, $840.10 and $450.30. The 15% takeout Pick-4 paid $882.30 when Meshuguna ($7.80) won the seventh and topped a $5,421.50 Superfecta.
Jockey Robert Reeves Jr. lodged a claim of foul against Singh in the fourth race for interference when Singh came over early in the race aboard Let Me Down Easy and intimidated Reeves’ mount, favourite Northern Gold. The claim of foul by Reeves may not have been successful, but it was justified, as Singh put him in tight and forced him to steady and drop back early in the race. Northern Gold was not likely going to win, but he certainly finished well to take the place. He ended up 3 ¾-lengths behind the winner at the finish, so who knows what might have happed with a clean trip. This foul claim could have gone either way. Singh was on the lucky side of the coin toss.
In the sixth race Singh rode favourite Quaker Shaker Tony for hot trainer Blair Miller and dueled down the stretch outside Larry Munoz, who rode winner Payment Approved for trainer Don Schnell. Singh then lodged a claim of foul of his own against Munoz.
After watching the replays several times we still couldn’t figure out what the foul claim was about. The pair battled hard down the stretch, with the game Payment Approved edging away late, something that’s tough to do against a Blair Miller-trained horse these days. Munoz and Singh might have knocked elbows a little in the stretch drive, but there wasn’t much more to it than that and the winner stood.
The sight of Munoz waving his whip at Singh as soon as the stretch duel ended was interesting to watch. Any number of captions might have made it a funny moving picture, but Payment Approved simply outclassed his rival in this one, drawing out late to win by a length. The first claim of foul against Singh wasn’t frivolous. This one? Well…
Singh was hungry.
Speaking of which, you’ll be able to get a free cookie at the Downs if you’re here this Saturday to watch I’ll Have Another in the 144th Belmont Stakes, as he attempts to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. Find out more about the cookie connection (and all kinds of other good stuff!) in this Week’s Insider Newsletter.
Next Post Time for Live Racing: 7 p.m. Friday, June 8, 2012