Lone Star stakes race turns into a major Jazz concert

GRAND PRAIRIE -- David Flores took only two pairs of goggles with him. And he didn't even need those, he said later, after Monterey Jazz romped in Saturday's $300,000 Texas Mile at Lone Star Park.

No, Flores didn't really need his goggles or his whip, which were little more than frivolous accessories. He was, as he explained, just a passenger. Of course, like the 15,249 folks in the grandstand, the jockey was also a witness to one of the better performances seen at Lone Star Park in recent years.

Seizing control of the Texas Mile almost immediately, Monterey Jazz steadily increased his advantage, as though accelerating in an attempt to escape the gravitational pull of the pack. And then, as he approached the second turn with a six-length lead, while running so easily that he dispelled any notion anyone might have had about his tiring, he transformed the race into a showcase for his talents.

The only questions were: Would it be spectacular, and what would the margin be? And, to answer, the winning margin was eight lengths, and Monterey Jazz's performance was indeed spectacular. He simply ran away from some very good horses, completing the mile in 1:35.25, without Flores offering even a nudge of encouragement.

Zanjero, a millionaire who won last year's Indiana and West Virginia Derbies, finished second, with Beta Capo nearly four more lengths back in third. Going Ballistic rallied from last to finish fourth.

It was the fastest Texas Mile since Dixie Cot Com's 1:34.72 in 2001, and the third fastest ever. Isitingood set the track record, 1:34.44, while winning the inaugural Texas Mile in 1997.

A jockey uses goggles, sometimes as many as six pairs, to protect his eyes from the dirt that rivals kick back during a race. But Flores, who's unbeaten in three races on Monterey Jazz, didn't expect any kickback, which is to say he didn't expect to see anybody in front of him. So he had only two pairs. Just to block the wind, he said.

"He's an amazing horse," said Flores, who has won 16 stakes races at Lone Star over the years. He was on Isitingood in 1997 and on Dixie Dot Com in 2001, and Monterey Jazz, he said, is special.

"He's a freak of nature," the winner's trainer, Craig Dollase, said by telephone from California after watching the race. "He just takes a come-catch-me approach, and not too many horses can run with him."

Monterey Jazz was allowed to cruise the opening half-mile in 47.15, and he ran as if he could have kept that pace up all day, through six furlongs in 1:10.64 and then on to the finish, with Flores sitting as motionless in the saddle as an oyster on the half-shell.

With the victory, his sixth in 13 races, Monterey Jazz earned $185,000 and increased his bankroll to $532,740. In February, he won the Strub Stakes at Santa Anita. And since stretching out from sprints to longer races, he has won four of five, his only loss coming in the Santa Anita Handicap.

"He's answered all the questions now, all the questions about two turns and distance and dirt," Dollase said, alluding to the horse's history of running his best races on Santa Anita's synthetic track. "Now we know he'll handle dirt, and so we'll move on. We have big plans for him."

Monterey Jazz will probably make his next start May 26 in the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park in New York, Dollase said, adding that a return to Texas for the Lone Star Park Handicap was also possible.