Update on Hawthorne meet leaders; Veterans Day weekend plans
On Wednesday, Nov. 9, three riders had riding doubles as Tim Thornton, Israel Ocampo and Julio Felix each won a pair of races. While jockey Florent Geroux continues his fine meet, the French-born jockey gap in the rider standings has closed. Entering today, Geroux has won 34 races to lead the standings with Thornton making a strong move into second with 30 wins. Jockey Julio Felix has come on strong of late as well, taking over the third spot in the standings with 22 victories.
Trainer Roger Brueggemann still holds a sizeable lead on the training end as he enters today (Nov. 10) with 22 wins, 11 better than Joel Berndt and 12 more than Chris Block. Midwest Thoroughbreds are still atop the leading owner standings with 13 wins, but Arlington Park champion owner William Stiritz has made a move into a closer second with 7 wins on the meet.
Looking ahead to the weekend, Hawthorne has a few things taking place as they salute our Veterans on Saturday, Nov. 12. On that day, all vets, or active duty military members will receive free admission, free program and free lunch at Hawthorne.
Also, on Saturday, Joe Kristufek will be on site to host a pool party and online chat through HorseplayerNow.com. Joe and Jim Miller will be covering the races from Hawthorne and give selections throughout the day as they begin their weekly chat sessions, which will take place every Saturday and Sunday.
Information for this story provided by Jim Miller, Hawthorne Race Course