News & Barn notes
Amatteroftime Faces Major Test In Quest For Second Straight Stakes Win In Sunday’s Joey P. Handicap
September 17, 2021
Three weeks after he won his first stakes race as a trainer, Silvino Ramirez is looking for his second one, but with a couple of challenging twists.
Amatteroftime, a handy 4¾-length winner of the $125,000 Charles Hesse III Handicap in his last start on Aug. 29 at Monmouth Park, will not only shorten up from a mile and a sixteenth to just five furlongs in Sunday’s $85,000 Joey P Handicap for Jersey-breds, he will also be trying the turf for just the second time in his career after excelling on the dirt.
The Joey P. will go as the 10th-race on Monmouth Park’s 12-race Sunday program.
“I want to give him another chance on the grass,” said Silvino, who also owns Amatteroftime. “In his last time on the grass (the one-mile Irish War Cry Handicap on July 24), that was a longer distance. He did okay (finishing fourth). He’s better on the dirt for sure. But I want to give him a second chance on the grass.”
A 6-year-old gelded son of Eskendereya, Amatteroftime has banked $326,879 during his 26-race career with six wins and eight seconds. Silvino, 5-for-26 this year as a trainer, claimed the horse for $20,000 on June 26.
“It has been a good claim,” he said.
Silvino, 40, is in just his second year of training after owning horses the previous five years. Prior to that he worked for trainer Ben Perkins, Jr.
“I was with Ben Perkins for about 12 years,” said Silvino, who hails from Guerrero, Mexico. “He taught me some things. I learned a lot from him. So I decided I wanted to try to do it myself.”
Amatteroftime has the added challenge of facing a strong field of Jersey-breds in the Joey P.
The 11-race field (not counting one alternate) is headlined by Golden Brown, who is in form and looking to boost his career earnings to more than $700,000 for trainer Pat McBurney. In addition, Quiberon Bay comes off a second-place finish in the Irish War Cry.
Amatteroftime has won at six furlongs but has never tried five furlongs.
“Honestly, it’s a tough field,” said Ramirez. “The distance won’t help him. But it’s the end of the meet so we’ll take a chance and see what happens.”
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