Leading rider Juan Pulido has won the Lip Chip Jockey of the Week for the third time this spring season at Remington Park. Conditioner Dee Keener also became a multiple winner of the Lip Chip Trainer of the Week award.
It was the second time this meet that Pulido and Keener have won the award in the same race week. They also earned the commemorative Lip Chip vests on May 1 at Remington Park for being tops in their categories. Pulido, a runaway leader in this year’s jockeys’ race at Remington Park, is in the weekly discussion for the award as he continues to pile up victories with ease.
Pulido, who enters this week with 63 wins compared to Francisco Calderon’s 38 in second, has had one of the most spectacular meets of any American Quarter Horse / Paint / Appaloosa rider since the days of Hall of Fame jockey G.R. Carter. He is the only jockey at Remington Park this meet to win four races in one day, and he has done that three times. This past week Pulido made 10 trips to the winner’s circle with only 22 mounts for an incredible ratio of 45 percent. He also had three seconds and two thirds.
Keener sent out 28 starters this week and won with eight of them for 29 percent winners, including six horses on one night of racing – Saturday, May 17. That was the night of the Speedhorse Graham Paint and Appaloosa Futurity trials. Keener, who has won more mixed-breed races than any trainer in history, qualified the three fastest Paints for this final that will be run on the season’s final night, Saturday, May 31. His top three qualifiers in this order were Turbulent, JC Speeding and Old Habits New Tricks.
Keener has four total qualifiers in the Speedhorse Graham finals to five for the second all-time leading trainer for Paints and Apps, Matt Whitekiller. Only Luis Villafranco stopped it from being a clean sweep for the top two mixed-breed trainers of all-time.
Remington Park racing continues May 22-25, Thursday through Sunday. The first race nightly is at 6pm with Sunday action at 4pm. All times are Central.
