Jockeys Guild News and Articles

The two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey has been among North America's most successful jockeys since moving to New York from his native Puerto Rico in 1990.

 

Velazquez, 36, won eight Grade 1 races last year including the Belmont Stakes (G1) aboard Rags to Riches.

 

Velazquez has enjoyed success in United States racing's richest event, the Breeders' Cup World Championships.  He has ridden seven Breeders' Cup winners.

 

Velazquez was named the Bill Shoemaker Award winner as the event's top rider in 2004 after riding eventual champions Ashado and Speightstwon to wins in the Breeders' Cup Distaff Presented by Nextel (G1) and Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), respectively.

 

After beginning his riding career in Puerto Rico in 1988, he moved to New York in 1990 and raced under the tutelage of his agent, Racing Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero, Jr.

 

Velazquez was the leading rider in New York from 2001 through '04.

 

He serves as chairman of the Jockeys' Guild Board of Directors, a position he has held since July 2006.

 

Velazquez ranks sixth among jockeys by North American earnings with $7,836,180 through July 29.  Thoroughbred Times TODAY

The game is organized by the Race Track Chaplaincy of America and will benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys' Fund.  Last year, the game won by the jockeys raised $75,000 for disabled jockey Andrew Lakeman.

 

"The organizer of the event, the Race Track Chaplaincy of America, is committed to helping the physical and spirtual needs of the people on the backside, and all the disabled jockeys definitely need our prayers, our time and our generosity," said Elliott Walden, vice president of WinStar Farm.

 

The jockeys team will feature leading riders Robby Albarado, John Velazquez, and Kent Desormeaux.  They will also be coached by University of Kentucky men's basketball caoch Billy Gillespie and champion trainer Todd Pletcher.

 

The Titans placed second in the Division 1 Amatuer Athletics Union Boys Basketball National Tournament.  WinStar Farm owners Kenny and Lisa Troutt's son Grant, plays for the Titans.

 

Owners Stonerside Stable, Circle E Racing, Padua Stables, IEAH Stables, West Point Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm, Darley Stable, James Scatuorchio, Lael Stables, Earle Mack, Courtlandt Farms, and Mike Repole have each donated $5,000 to have their colors represented in the game.  Thoroughbred Times

Bidding will close Wednesday, August 6 at 9 p.m. (EST).  The auction can be accessed from the eBay front page through the account number 310070700382 or by typing in "Dining with the Dynasties."

 

Day and Bailey are the world's two all time leading riders in purses won with a total of nearly $600 million.   The two also rank first and second in Breeders' Cup World Championship races with 12 and 15 victories, respectively, with nine coming in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).  The two have won 15 Triple Crown races.

 

Earlie Fires, inducted into the Hall of Fame on 2001, still rides regularly at Arlington Park, where at 61 he is the track's all-time leading rider.  In a 33-year career, he has amassed over 5,400 victories.  He has announced his retirement at the end of the current Arlington Park season.  The three riders have won a total of over 20,000 races.

 

Day and Fires will also autograph photos at the track from 4-5 p.m. on the same day to also benefit the Illinois RTCA and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys' Fund.  Bailey may also be available to provide autographs.

 

For more information, contact RTCA Executive Director, Dr. Enrique Torres, or development director Ed Donnally at 310-419-1687 or edonnally@sbcglobal.net

Martinez won the $50,000 Boeing Handicap aboard Shampoo, the $70,000 Mt. Rainier Handicap aboard Chhaya Dance and four other races on the ten-race card.

 

Jockey Kevin Radke rode six winners in one day on September 2, 2002.

 

Martinez ranks third among riders this year at the Auburn, Washington track with 62 wins and $661,804 in earnings.  Thoroughbred Times TODAY

"Last week, I was thinking it was just another number, but I got to dwell upon it and to think about it all last week," said Desormeaux, who had reached 4,999 here on Opening Day, July 23.  "I'm in awe of the number.  Five thousand, WOW!  It's a long way from 10,000 (Russell Baze, all-time leading rider).  Those numbers were attained in California and New York, the "A" league, so I'm proud of that."

 

Of all his victories, Desormeaux was able to select two that meant the most to him.

 

"Aside from my first win (aboard Miss Tavern at Evangeline Downs on July 13, 1986), my first Kentucky Derby (on Real Quiet in 1998)," said Desormeaux, 38, who is the 23rd jockey to reach the mark.  "Those are the two I hold close to my heart."

 

This year has been an eventful one for Desormeaux, who rode Big Brown to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, only to have his bid for the Triple Crown falter in the Belmont Stakes.  The Derby win was Desormeaux's third having won the Run for the Roses in 2000 aboard Fusaichi Pegasus and with Real Quiet, who, like Big Brown, was denied a Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes.

 

A three-time Eclipse Award winner, Desormeaux began his riding career in his native Louisiana in 1986.  Nine years later, at the age of 25, he became the youngest jockey to reach the 3,000-victory plateau and, at the age of 30, notched his 4,000 career win.  Along the way, Desormeaux won riding titles at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, Oak Tree, Del Mar, Laurel, Pimlico and in Tokyo.

 

The 5,000th victory proved somewhat elusive for Desormeaux, who scored win No. 4,998 on July 7 aboard Sharp Susan in the Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap at Philadelphia Park, then went 0-30 befor winning 4,999 on Wednesday.

 

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004, Desormeaux moved his tack from California to New York two years later and enjoyed a major revival in his career.  In 2006, he rode winners of more than $8.6 million and last year finished 11th nationally with $11.9 million in purses earned.

 

At Saratoga in 2007, he finished one victory behind Cornelio Velasquez, 44-43, in the race for the Saratoga title.  NYRA Communications Office

A native of Peru, Bejarano began his riding career in 1999, winning the apprentice title at Hippodromo de Monterrico in his home country. In 2002, he journeyed to the United States, racing at River Downs in Ohio.

 

Bejarano, 26, claimed the first of 82 graded stakes victories in the 2003 Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes (GIII) at Turfway Park aboard Mr. Jester.  In 2004, he led all North American riders with 455 wins.

 

Bejarano has enjoyed great success in Kentucky winning riding titles at Keeneland Race Course's spring and fall meets in 2005.  He also secured riding titles at Turfway Park and Ellis Park that year.

 

Bejarano currently ranks second in earnings for 2008, with $9,005,738, trailing only Garrett Gomez.  His most successful mounts this year include Heatseeker (Ire), El Gato Malo, Big Booster, and 2007 Breeders' Cup Distaff (GI) winner Ginger Punch.  Thoroughbred Times TODAY

"He's a very positive and happy kid; he was raised well, he's a good person," said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, for whom Garcia has won 83 races, including 14 graded stakes since 2006.  "He rides aggressively and he rides a very good race."

 

And Garcia is winning some very nice races.  In the last 19 months, Garcia won 22 graded stakes, including the Belmont Stakes on Da' Tara, the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Lahudood, and the Met Mile on Divine Park.  Through Sunday, Garcia ranked seventh nationally in purse money won with $7,804,129 and is 19th in the country in wins with 135.  His 22 stakes wins are just three shy of his total for last year, and his 11 graded stakes victories equal his output form 2007.

 

"He's got very good hands, never fights his horses, he's got a good sense of pace, plus he's a nice guy," said trainer Christophe Clement, who has Garcia named on two horses Wednesday.  "All this combined makes him great.  You just hope he has the discipline and support around him to have a successful career."

 

Garcia's 131 victories on the New York Racing Association circuit lead all riders heading into Wednesday's opening of the six-week Saratoga season.  Garcia is named to ride in nine of Wednesday's 10 races.  With no clear-cut favorite for this year's Saratoga riding title and with the backing of McLaughlin, Clement, Linda Rice, and Shug McGaughey, Garcia has to be considered a real threat to win the jockey title.

 

"I think about it, but then I forget about it," said Garcia, who added he just wants to stay focused on his day-to-day routine.

 

Garcia, the youngest of seven children, was born in Peru, where his father and grandfather were both jockeys.  His father Dagoberto, is now an excercise for Gary Contessa and even rode in a race earlier this year at Belmont.

 

At 14, Alan Garcia started attending jockey school in Peru, and he began riding in 2002. He won 48 races in Peru before coming to the United States in th fall of 2003 where he was an apprentice rider for six months.

 

"I was born to be a jockey," Garcia said.  "All the time I was at the racetrack; a lot of people know me around the horses.  It was my future to be a jockey."

 

At first, Garcia would spend most of the year in New Jersey while riding Aqueduct's inner track meet in the winter.  In 2005-06, Garcia hooked up with McLaughlin, one of New York's leading trainers.

 

"I give the credit to Art Magnuson," McLaughlin said, referring to his assistant.  "He started using (Garcia), really liked him, and just hit it off real well with him, and I'm a big believer when your people are happy and things are going well, don't change.

 

There have been a number of talented young riders who have had instant success in New York, but then faded away.  Norberto Arroyo, Jr., the leading rider on this circuit in 2000, and Fernando Jara, who won the Belmont and Breeders' Cup Classic for McLaughlin in 2006, are two examples.

 

Tony Micallef, Garcia's agent, has used them as motivation to keep Garcia focused.

 

"I just preach to him every day, keep your head on straight, you can go down as fast as you go up in this business," Micallef said.

 

Garcia said:  "I think that's a good example for a lot of jockeys.  I want to keep being the same Alan Garcia - working hard, be nice, smile, not making trouble."

 

Garcia enjoyed a terrific Belmont meet with 54 wins to finish second in the standings to Eibar Coa.  The highlight, of course, was his gate-to-wire upset victory aboard Da' Tara in the Belmont Stakes, the race in which Big Brown was going for the Triple Crown.

 

Garcia picked up the mount only after his original mount, Tomcito, got hurt.  Garcia said he wanted to ride in the Belmont because he wanted to be a part of history when Big Brown won the Triple Crown.  Garcia said when he got to the quarter pole and was still in front, he began to wonder where Big Brown was.

 

"When is he going to pass me?" Garcia said were his thoughts approaching the quarter pole.  "When I saw the first (infield TV screen), I said, 'Oh my God,' I was five in front.  I said, 'I can do it.'  I was riding harder the last sixteenth.

 

"I was so happy past the wire; I didn't know what to do.  I didn't know if I should cry, turn around, smile, I didn't know," Garcia added.  "There were so many emotions."

 

Garcia will ride Da' Tara in Sunday's Jim Dandy Stakes and then hopefully the $1 million Travers on August 23 as well.

 

The only downside to Garcia's success is that he can't share it up close and personal with his mother, Consuelo.  She remains in Peru, unable to obtain a visa to visit America.  The night of the Belmont, Garcia flew home to see her and his six siblings.

 

"She's been very supportive, she would drive me to jockey school and pick me up," Garcia said.  "I want her to enjoy this."  David Grening/The Daily Racing Form

The Delaware Handicap was the 191st career graded stakes victory for Gomez, who began his riding career in 1988 at the Downs at Santa Fe.

 

"Everything worked out perfectly for the trip I was hoping to get," Gomez said about the race.  "(Hystericalady) is a classy mare.  She will do whatever you want her to do, and it is a pleasure to be on her."

 

Gomez currently is the leading earner among North American jockeys with $11,118,121.  The Tucson, Arizona, native also led the nation in earnings in '06 and '07.

 

In '07, Gomez received the Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey following a year in which he won a record 71 stakes races, including Breeders' Cup scores aboard Midnight Lute in the TVG Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) and Indian Blessing in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).  Thoroughbred Times TODAY 

"Everything's starting to come together for me, now," said Karlsson at the end of the afternoon.  "I'm getting stronger every day, I'm getting a better sense of pace each time I go out there, and these guys here (other members of the Arlington jockey colony) are making me better, too.  You make a mistake against these guys and they'll get you everytime.

 

"As long as my horses keep running like this, I'll be happy," said Karlsson.  "Mr. Kirby, Mr. Block and Mr. Mitchell all put me on good hroses today."

 

Karlsson, 23, a former boxer in her native Sweden, lit up the tote board with a $62.60 win price aboard Thundering Mick's Mr. Cooley in the third for trainer Tony Mitchell; came right back in the fourth at $13 on Team Block's Death Valley, the Chris Block trainee who gave Karlsson her first career winner last September 12; returned to the winner's circle after the sixth on Gary and Beth Leverton's Stanley G. at $31 straight for trainer Frank Kirby; and got her fourth win in the finale astride Sweet Darlene, giving the Levertons and Kirby an owner-trainer double.

 

Former South African-born Arlington jockey Zoe Cadman, who helped Karlsson in the initial stages of her career, sent a text-messaged note about Karlsson's record-breaking feat.

 

"I once won three races in a row on a single day at Arlington," said Cadman, "but I never had a four-win day."  Arlington Park Communications Department

The United Nations wa Castro's first Grade 1 win of the season.  Among his other wins at the highest level is the 2006 NetJets Breeders' Cup Mile (1) aboard Mieque's Approval.

 

Castro was voted the Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice jockey in 2003.

 

Through Sunday, the 23-year-old native of Panama was second in the jockey standings at Monmouth with 55 wins, one shy of leader Jose Lezcano.  Thoroughbred Times Today

If Mother Goose visited her solitary quarters in the women's jocks room at Arlington Park this summer, Karlsson's first instincts probably would be to brush the newfound feathers, then gallop her a mile or so for further assessment.  All effort would be pointed toward one goal: beating the boys in the afternoon.

 

"The best moments are the moments when you know you have accomplished something or are aworking toward something," Karlsson said.  "I care about horses.  I like horses.  I enjoy waking up before dawn, looking at the clock and knowing I am headed out to work through all of the possibilites of a new day at a racetrack."

 

She is 23, blond and sinewy.  She was born in Sweden, and arrived in Canada three years ago with a six-month permit.  A nordic lass with the same sort of people skills but a less rigorous sense of adventure might be greeting frequent flyers for SAS or working in a Swedish consulate somewhere.

 

Instead, since last September, Karlsson has been going whip-'n'-chill with the encrusted orbsmen of Chicago racing.  And her early returns are encouraging.

 

In less than 12 full months of riding, the determined apprentice has won 59 races and close to $1.2 million in purses.  Eleven of those victories have come during the opening segment of the uber-competitive Arlington meeting with agent Penny Fitch-Hayes and trainer Roger Brueggeman as critical allies.  This past Spring at Hawthorne -- a scant eight months after her first win -- Karlsson rocketed onto parimutuel vouchers in Chicago when she finished second in the jockey standings with 27 tallies.  Only Tim Thornton was better.

 

"And Inez is getting better," longtime Chicago horseman Jimmy DiVito said.  "She's getting stronger and certainly more confident as she gains experience and learns how to ride winners."

 

"Her determination is truly notable because, don't forget, she's trying to overcome two things around here:  No. 1, Chicago has not been a great town for (start-up) apprentices, unless you go all the way back to guys like Craig Perret and Carlos Marquez, Sr.  Even Steve Cauthen started someplace else.  And No. 2, what woman has ever sustained success as a rider here?"

 

The sustained standard in that meager compartment reamins Zoe Cadman.  The South African native burst onto the paths in 2000.  One year later, she won a riding championship at Hawthorne -- still the only female jockey to craft that feat in Chicago.  Shortly after, she married jockey Larry Sterling, Jr., retired and turned her attention to assorted TV assignments.

 

Last summer, while Cadman was still in the TV department at Arlington and Karlsson was galloping horses awaiting her afternoon debut, their paths crossed frequently.  Said Karlsson: "Zoe was unbelievably kind with her time and thoughts.  She told me she'd do anything she could to help and she did."

 

Help is not necessarily a commodity Karlsson is accustomed to asking for.  She grew up comfortably in a port city in southwest Sweden, along with her twin sister Karin, the middle children of four.  Father Leif was a former model and amateur boxer and a merchant seaman; mother Annika played basketball in programs associated with the Swedish national team.

 

"I was a tomboy and so was Karin, but that's the way a lot og girls in Sweden are," Karlsson said.  "You are brought up to be independent.  Karin and I started out making our own horses out of socks and grooming them and everything.  We never had dolls.

 

"We had a summer place we would stay at, and there was horse farm nearby.  Every afternoon, we know what time the horses would be out, and we'd plan it so we'd be there.  Once in a while, they let us get up and have a short ride on one."

 

Karlsson emigrated to Canada and after brief turns around harness tracks, she hooked up with Justin Nixon, a key trainer for the monied, multinational thoroughbred interests of Frand Stronach.  Karlsson's path to Arlington Park had begun.

 

After working for Bruce Levine at Monmouth and Dickie Small in Maryland, Karlsson went to the Fair Grounds in New Orleans eventually winding up at Keeneland where she met ex-jockey Randy Romero.  He knew she wanted to be a jockey and suggested Karlsson go to Arlington.

 

Karlsson's first mount didn't happend until late summer.  In her second try, aboard Chris Block's Death Valley in September, she won.

 

"Everything about me right now is focused on becoming the best jockey I can be," said Karlsson.

 

And the future?

 

"I guess the one I keep thinking about is Julie Krone," Karlsson said.  "... to think of what she accomplished and what it must have taken, when I am done, my deepest wish would be that people speak of me as a rider the way they speak of her.  Maybe I'm dreaming, but why can't I?"

 

Why not indeed, when in a world of whips and snails and insider tales, a lone Nordic lass has begun to beat the boys in the afternoon. by Jim O'Donnell/suntimes.com

The 33-year-old Valdivia is a native of Lima, Peru, coming to the United States with his family at the age of 14.  He won his first race aboard Thor Thors when he was 19, on July 17, 1994, in only his third ride at Belmont Park.  He moved his tack to Southern California in 1995, where he continued his apprenticeship.  After a brief period in Northern California and Kentucky, Valdivia settled in Southern California on a year-round basis in 1997.

 

His milestone win came aboard a son of Maria's Mon who was making his second start for trainer Ron Ellis and Jay Em Ess Stable.

 

I've got what, about 9,000 and change to catch Laffit (Pincay)?" Valdivia quipped. "It's a milestone.  I'm very proud to have done it at a major racetrack.  Since I started riding, I've had the pleasure and honor to share the starting gate with some great riders.  To do it in Southern California and not only that, to end up doing it for Ron Ellis and the Siegels means a lot.  They've stuck with me ever since I had the bug here in Southern California."

 

Valdivia, the nephew of retired Southern California rider Fernando Toro, captured the Breeders' Cup Mile (G 1T) in 2001 aboard Val Royal.  He was also the regular rider of top sprinter Big Jag, winning eight stakes with him in 1998-99.

 

His first grade 1 win was aboard Tali'sluckybusride in 2001 Oak Leaf.  Other grade 1 wins came with Meteor Storm (2003 Manhattan Handiap), Heat Haze (2003 Beverly D), Aldebaran (2003 San Carlos), Castledale (2004 Santa Anita Derby) and Arravale (2006 Del Mar Oaks and 2007 E. P. Taylor).

 

Valdivia lives in Monrovia, California with his wife Renee and daughter Siena, born in 2006. The Blood-Horse Staff

Albarado, 34, ended the meet with 73 victories.  The highlight was clearly his victory aboard reigning "Horse of the Year" Curlin in the $1 million Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) on June 14, but Albarado said earning his first "leading rider" crown since his arrival at Churchill Downs in 1996 was special.

 

"It means alot," Albarado said.  "I know I am at a point in my career where 'leading rider' titles probably won't make a difference in my business that I've established, but it was one of my own personal goals, and I'm glad I got it accomplished here at Churchill."

 

Albarado won his meet-leading 73 races from 287 mounts, a significantly smaller total than those of runner-up Miguel Mena, who won 65 races from 364 mounts.  He is generally considered to be more selective in regard to the quality of the mounts he selects, but Albarado said his first championship meet belies that assumption.

 

"I've been injured quite a few times, so I've got to be a little more selective," he said.  "A lot of trainers think I don't give 100 percent on all of the horses, but I do.  I've won $5,000 claiming races here this meet - I've won them all in all different areas of it.  So it kind of instills a little confidence in the trainers also that I can ride seven or eight a day and make it happen."

 

Albarado now has 753 career victories at Churchill Downs.  Julien Leparoux, the riding leader in the 2007 Spring Meet, finished third with 56 victories and was followed by Calvin Borel (52), Jamie Theriot (48) and Shaun Bridgmohan (44).  Six of Albarado's victories came in stakes competition, including a victory aboard Einstein in the $500,000-added Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI) on Kentucky Derby Day.  Churchill Downs Communications Department