Mensa Heat takes On Trust; Hess and Gomez record milestone wins

Mensa Heat takes On Trust; Hess and Gomez record milestone
wins

Mensa Heat proved himself well worth the claim with yet another stakes win (Benoit Photos) Mensa Heat rebounded from a poor effort in the October 29 California Cup Sprint on Sunday, rallying to take the $84,500 On Trust Handicap, the closing day feature of the Autumn meet at Hollywood Park. The 1 1/2-length victory over 18-1 longshot Legal Separation and five other fellow California-breds was the sixth of 2011 for the five-year-old gelded son of Unusual Heat. Five of those wins have come in eight races since Mensa Heat was claimed for $25,000 on April 15 at Santa Anita by trainer Ted West for owner Peter Redekop. Now owning a 9-7-6 mark from 41 starts, Mensa Heat, who was ridden by Joe Talamo, increased his earnings to $418,758. He has banked $258,622 since the claim. Following the race, West revealed the likely reason for Mensa Heat’s lackluster performance in the Cal Cup Sprint. “He had some very bad ulcers two months ago and you just don’t know how fast they’re going to heal,” West said. “His appetite is great and his coat looks great, but you always wonder if maybe they’re still there and not completely healed. But I think he answered that question.

“He colicked a bit about five days before his last race then cleaned up (his
feed) after that, but I think it was a little warning that something deeper was
going on. He didn’t eat at all the night of the race (California Cup Sprint) and
the days after, so we scoped his stomach and found the ulcers.”

Mensa Heat ran 7 1/2 furlongs over the Cushion
Track in 1:28 3/5 on Sunday, paying $7.40, $4.80 and $3.40 as the 5-2 second choice.

“He tipped his hand in the paddock,” West said. “He just looked great and his attitude was
really good. We have a lot of options with him because he likes turf, dirt and
synthetic.”

The final day of the meet featured a record-shattering Player’s Pick 5 pool.
Chasing a record carryover of $183,594 generated during the CashCall Futurity
program Saturday, bettors wagered an additional $1,226,324 Sunday, creating a
total pool of $1,409,917. The previous high total Pick 5 pool was $907,117,
recording on May 12. This followed a
carryover of $107,487 on May 8.

There were 635 winning tickets in the Player’s Pick 5 Sunday. Each was worth
$1,948.25

The Pick 5 wasn’t the only record set on closing day as jockey Garrett Gomez and trainer Bob Hess Jr. both reached personal
milestones when they teamed with So Tempted to win the 1ST race. The victory was the 1,000th for Hess, 46, in his career and the 500th win at
Hollywood Park for Gomez.

Hess closed out the Hollywood meet by earning his 1,000th career victory (Benoit Photos) Hess, who has won 335 races at Hollywood Park, collected his first as a trainer in 1987. Gomez, who will turn 40 on January 1, is the 21st jockey to win at least 500 races at Hollywood Park. Laffit Pincay, Jr. is the all-time leader with 3,049. Three races later, English-born trainer Dan Blacker earned the first win of his young career when Hameildaeme got up to defeat Entabeni by a head in a $25,000 claimer for fillies and mares going one mile on turf. Before recently going out on his own, Blacker, 29, had spent the past 2 1/2 years as an assistant to trainer Tom Albertrani. While Blacker was just beginning his career Sunday, Mike Mitchell had already clinched the training title for Hollywood’s Autumn meet on Saturday when saddling two winners. “It was just a great way to wrap up things,” Mitchell said Sunday as he took an insurmountable 18-15 lead over Doug O’Neill and Bob Baffert into the final program of the 26-day session. “It’s been such a terrific year, I wouldn’t have been sad if I didn’t win the meet,” admitted Mitchell, who has won more than 100 races while clicking at a better than .333 winning average. “I’ve gotten clients I wouldn’t have because of those numbers. You get those calls the more you win. If you run horses where they belong, you have a chance for those numbers. “New clients and old clients,” said Mitchell, not overlooking those who have remained faithful through the years. “Give credit to the old clients who got us here.”

Mitchell won his third Autumn meet crown but first since 1996. He has also
led the Spring/Summer meet standings four times.

O’Neill sent out one winner on Sunday to conclude the meet, giving him sole
ownership of second-place with 16 wins over Baffert’s 15.

Jockeys Joel Rosario and Rafael Bejarano battled it out on the final day for
the jockey title, with each piloting home two winners. That was good enough for
Rosario to claim the crown with 37 wins to Bejarano’s 33.

Rosario, a 26-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, earned his third
straight Autumn crown and sixth in a row at Hollywood Park, including the last
three Spring/Summer titles. The marks are the best since retired Hall of Famer Chris McCarron won five
straight Autumn championships from 1981-85 and nine Hollywood Park titles
overall from 1980-84.

Rosario wrapped up his fourth victory in five stops on the major Southern
California circuit this year and 10th in 14 during the past three years.

“It means a lot to my career,” Rosario said Sunday. “I’m just happy to be
working every day and to be here at Hollywood Park, one of the greatest tracks
in America.”

Rosario credited agent Ron Ebanks for putting him on winners that have
generated more than $15-million in purse earnings for the year.

“We’re riding for everybody and especially John Sadler,” said Rosario, giving
special thanks to the trainer who has put him on many of his winners.