• Claiming Crown travelblog: The Jockey by Jennie Rees,Louisville Courier Journal, Thursday, 7/22•
Strike Impact will be ridden in Saturday's $150,000 Claiming Crown Jewel by Shane Sellers. It's not a very large sample, but Sellers has done well on Pat's horses. When Sellers first came to Kentucky to ride after being based in Chicago, he rode four horses for Pat, winning two and with a second.
Sellers, back after a second retirement from the saddle, was riding year-round in Louisiana but moved his tack to Arlington Park this summer. Arlington Park was where his reputation as a young rider took off before he moved on to Kentucky.
Pat originally hoped to get a Churchill rider for Strike Impact. Francisco Torres, who rode him his last three races, apparently was taking some time off after riding seven days a week between Churchill and Indiana Downs. We would have gotten Corey Lanerie, who rode Strike Impact last summer at Presque Isle, had he come up. But he rides in the stakes at Ellis the same day. Indeed, the only Kentucky jockeys to come up are Julien Leparoux, who is riding for trainer Mike Maker in the Jewel (Headache) and Emerald (heavily-favored Inca King), and apprentice Oriana Rossi.
It's quite a change from last year, when Churchill jockeys Leparoux, Robby Albarado and Jamie Theriot all won Claiming Crown races.
By waiting to see what Lanerie was doing, we were beaten to the punch to get Eddie Martin, who is having a big meet at Canterbury. Eddie rides Smarten Destiny for trainer Angel Montano. Miguel Mena was to ride Smarten Destiny but apparently decided to ride instead at Saratoga that day.
Sellers' agent called Pat as we were driving to Minnesota last Thursday. Sellers was coming up to ride several other races but was open in the Jewel. He was looking for a mount, and Pat was looking for a rider.
Sellers has had his controversies in the past. But he has always been a top rider, with more than 4,000 victories. He will be a good fit with Strike Impact, and I think the jockey will find his agent landed him on a live mount.
It's hard to know how any of these horses fit against each other. But we know the type of horses Strike Impact has been facing: Inca King, Danzon, Here Comes Ben, Saratoga Sinner. Strike Impact finished sixth in his last start, losing by less than six lengths. But he blew a hind shoe in the race and an eye was swollen shut after apparently being hit by a turf clod, so we feel it wasn't that bad a performance.