America’s Best Racing (ABR) is launching a marketing initiative around Mario Gutierrez, the jockey for Triple Crown contender I’ll Have Another, which will include production of T-shirts, hand-held placards and cookies with the message “Uno Mas, Mario!” leading up to the Belmont Stakes on June 9. Gutierrez, a little known jockey who won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, has already been interviewed for a Univision special and has generated media requests from around the globe, said ABR VP/Communications Stephen Panus. ABR is a joint initiative between the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and The Jockey Club. ABR is producing 50,000 “Uno Mas, Mario!” placards that will be handed out at Belmont Park on June 9, as well as distributed at racetracks and select casinos around the county. Additionally, the organization is in talks with a retailer about selling the “Uno Mas, Mario!” T-shirts, which feature I’ll Have Another’s racing silk colors of purple and white, Panus said. ABR has also rented a cookie truck to hand out cookies with the message “Uno Mas, Mario!” and “I’ll Have Another” in Manhattan the week leading up to the Belmont Stakes.
