Normally, Gabriel Lagunes would ride in Mountaineer Casino Resort & Racetrack in West Virginia.
These are not ordinary days.
Lagunes 45 years old, from El Crucero, Mexico, in Racecourse Saratoga come to RED TR- Racing’s Rich Strike who is preparing for Runhappy Travers (G1) $1.25 million on August 27. And Rich Strike, son of Keen Ice cannot prepare without Lagunes.
When Rich Strike was ready to run, Lagunes was right there with him. Eric Reed, coach of Rich Strike, said Lagunes dropped everything to work with Rich Strike.
Reed said Lagunes has been working with his horses for “years.
“Gabriel was with me long before this horse,” Reed said on Saratoga’s horse August 18. “Whenever we were ready to travel, he was ready to come. He knew the horse. this.”
Lagunes was in Rich Strike before he won the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and was on Long Island before the Belmont Stakes game presented by NYRA Bets (G1).
Lagunes says he’s getting the same vibe he got from the pony he got before Rich Strike won the Derby at 80-1 odds.
“He loves it here,” Lagunes said. “He’s happy. He’s galloping here just like before the Derby. In Belmont it’s different. He doesn’t like it, isn’t confident. He feels good here.”
Lagunes won 19 races at the Mountaineer from 117 starts.
“He’s been one of the most important parts of our travel team, that’s for sure,” Reed said.
