Jose Sanchez, a 51-year-old native of Chihuahua, Mexico, was the groom for Skip Away. (EQUI-PHOTO)
The trainer has horses entered in both stakes Sunday at Monmouth
Tom Luicci/Monmouth Park
OCEANPORT, N.J. – At the end of the best meet of his training career, one highlighted by his first stakes win two weeks ago, Jose Sanchez will be looking to put an exclamation point on a summer he called “overwhelming in a good way” during Monmouth Park’s closing day card on Sunday.
Sanchez will send out Bingo’s Birkin in the $85,000 Pinot Grigio for fillies and mares, 3 and up, at five furlongs on the turf, with the 3-year-old filly entering the race off two straight turf sprint victories.
Two races later he has Bingo’s Boy going in the $85,000 Joey P Handicap for 3-year-olds and up, also at five furlongs on the grass. Both races are restricted to Jersey-breds.
Regardless of what happens Sunday, though, the 51-year-old native of Chihuahua, Mexico, has had a meet he says he will never forget. His eight-horse stable has produced nine wins, three seconds and three thirds from just 25 starts (a 36 percent win rate), numbers that include J J Zo Zo’s 8½-length romp in The Smoke Glacken Stakes two weeks ago at Monmouth Park.
J J Zo Zo, he said, might go next in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes in New York on Oct. 5.
All of it has made for quite a “comeback” year for Sanchez.
“I took a break last year and decided to come back this year and it’s working out better than I could have dreamed,” said Sanchez. “I have a good group of horses and they’re all running for me. This is by far the best meet I have ever had.”
Sanchez, who came to the United States in 1991, worked for Hall of Fame trainer Hubert “Sonny” Hine from 1994-98, when he was the groom for 1998 Horse of the Year Skip Away, who is also in the Hall of Fame.
“He was a special horse,” said Sanchez. “When he first came to the barn, he didn’t look like much,” said Sanchez. “No one wanted him. That’s how I got him – he was small and skinny and did not even look like a race horse.”
Sanchez, who enters Monmouth Park’s closing weekend with 59 career winners, went out on his own in 2016. He spent part of last year based in Ocala, Fla., but started just seven horses (without a win) before landing a job as an assistant to Phil Antonucci in New York.
“It wasn’t what I wanted to do, so I decided to come back to training horses on my own again,” he said.
Bingo’s Birkin, a daughter of prominent New Jersey sire Sea Wizard, has won her first two starts sprinting on the grass for Sanchez after Jose Delgado had the filly as a 2-year-old last year.
“She ran a couple of times last year and showed promise,” he said. “We figured we’d try her on the grass, and it has worked out. She really likes the grass. It has made a big difference for her.
“The first time we tried her on the grass we didn’t know what to expect. I knew she was ready to run but I didn’t know if she would like the grass. I have been a little surprised by her.”
Bingo’s Boy, meanwhile, will be on the turf for the first time after trying both sprints and routes on the dirt. The gelded son of Sea Wizard has two wins from five career starts.
“I really like him. I think he’s a nice horse,” said Sanchez, who said he is still undecided between going to Tampa Downs or New York after the all-turf Monmouth-at-Meadowlands meet that runs from Sept. 20 through Oct. 18. “I just can figure out what he wants and what he likes. Five furlongs might be a little short for him. I’d prefer 5½ to a mile. But I think he is going to surprise us. I think he wants the grass.”
First race post time for the 10-race closing day card on Sunday is 12:50 p.m.
Admission and parking are free.
