SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Oct. 2, 2019) – It was a great day for the Cipriano Contreras barn as the stable swept both stakes races on the card, adding Operation Stevie as the winner of the 19th running of the $100,000 Gus Grissom Stakes Wednesday, Oct. 2. Like his stablemate Expect Indy, who defended her title in the $100,000 Richmond Stakes one race before, Operation Stevie scored his second title in the Grissom and recorded his 15th career win overall in the effort.
As expected, Mystery Unbridled and Sammy Bermudez showed early speed from the inside while Huckleberry Hill and Kendal Sterritt joined them on the front end. Solitaire Game and DeShawn Parker also got involved in the early pace as the trio separated themselves from the rest of the field. Operation Stevie emerged as the leader of the second group and had a lot of ground to make up for the second half of the race.
As Jockey Emmanuel Esquivel began to inch up on the top three, it wasn’t until the middle of the final turn that a burst of speed erupted from Operation Stevie. He began to swallow up the field with every stride and at the top of the stretch, he was on the lead, ready to take over from Mystery Unbridled. However, Mystery Unbridled was not through and he countered with a big stretch drive trying to fend off Operation Stevie. The two battled all the way to the wire with Operation Stevie getting the last surge to take the race by a head over Mystery Unbridled. Here Comes Doc and Orlando Mojica saved ground along the inside to move into third.
“We wanted a good break and I wanted to get a good early position so we would have no excuses,” said Esquivel. “I thought there would be speed on the front. When he got in the stretch, he went with the other horse (Mystery Unbridled) and that scared me a little. But when he put his head in front his ears went up. He was pretty competitive when he got his head out in front and he was like that all the way to the wire.”
Operation Stevie recorded his 12th win at Indiana Grand in the Grissom Stakes. Owned by Earl Trostrud Jr. and Contreras Stables, the seven-year-old Lantana Mob gelding now has nearly$650,000 on his card and has found a spot among the state’s top five all-time leading money earners.
“I’d like to thank my uncle (Cipriano Contreras) because he has always believed in me, even back when I was in Chicago,” said Esquivel. “I’d also like to thank Earl (Trostrud Jr.) because I’ve known him since I was eight. I am very thankful for the opportunity.”
Esquivel is currently among the top 10 jockeys at PARX. He has formed a routine to come in and ride stakes races for his uncle the past two seasons and has had a lot of success. It was his fifth stakes win in the past two years at Indiana Grand. Esquivel, who has been riding since 2013, is nearing 750 career wins.
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