CLEVELAND – Established Barbadian jockey Rocco Bowen had another successful day in the saddle on Tuesday and fortified his place in the top echelons of the jockeys’ standings at the Thistledown racetrackin in Ohio in the United States.
Bowen collected back-to-back wins on the eight-race card and carried his aggregate to 35 for the season – which opened April 22 and closes on October 10 – and he is firmly second in the standings – eight behind defending champion Luis Rivera.
Bowen had to wait until the US $29,700 allowance sixth race to notch his first win of the day when he brought back the 5-1 bet Stage Name from a six-furlong trip on the dirt course in one minute, 10.88 seconds – 2.48 off the track record.
He got Stage Name away alertly in the race for three-year-olds and upward that have never won two races other than a maiden, claiming, starter, optional or Ohio-bred, and set a pressured pace into the final straight, where the four-year-old, bay gelding shook clear late under strong handling to finish two lengths clear of the runner-up.
Bowen followed up with a half-length win aboard the 7-1 choice Lofthouse in the US $31 400 allowance optional claiming seventh race over six furlongs on the dirt for fillies and mares three years old and upward that have never won three races other than a maiden, claiming, starter, optional or Ohio-bred, or have never won four races, or claiming price of US $25,000.
He got Lofthouse to chase the pacesetters two wide and then dropped to the inside on the turn before he produced the five-year-old, bay mare again along the rail under right-handed urging to take the lead near the middle of the final straight and she proved best to finish in 1 min, 11.42 secs.
CMC
