7/28/13
Last updated: 7/27/13 7:54 PM
Velazquez becomes Saratoga’s all-time leading rider with
694 wins
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John Velazquez became Saratoga’s all-time leading rider on Saturday
(Keeneland/Coady Photography) |
Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez won the
4TH race at
Saratoga Race Course on Saturday to become the historic track’s all-time leading
rider with 694 victories.
Velazquez, 41, had tied retired Hall of Fame jockey Jerry
Bailey with 693 victories when he rode three winners on Thursday’s card. Winless
with three mounts on Friday, Velazquez finished sixth in the 2ND race and
then came from behind aboard the Todd Pletcher-trained Unitarian to win
the 4TH.
“I definitely want to say thank you to Todd,”
Velazquez said. “I’ve been riding for him since 1998 and we’re still going. I
want to thank my family, without whose support I wouldn’t be able to do this.
“And I have to thank the fans. The fans have been great to me. Thank you for your
support. Thank you everyone. I appreciate it, and hope to win many more.”
Velazquez was joined in the winner’s circle presentation by
his wife, Leona, children Lerina and Michael; his agent, retired Hall of Fame
jockey Angel Cordero Jr., who rode 649 winners at Saratoga; Bailey; the
Saratoga riding colony; and Christopher Kay, CEO and president of the New York
Racing Association (NYRA).
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“It was a matter of time,” Bailey said. “I looked at the
numbers; he goes by all-time money winnings either this year or next year past
myself and Pat Day, he’s going to set the standard for everybody. He’s a great
rider and he deserves every bit of this. I do hope he takes the time to enjoy
and reflect on this, because it’s major.”
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Johnny V. graciously noted that the meet is longer now than in Jerry Bailey and Angel Cordero Jr.’s heyday
(NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photography via Twitter) |
Last month at Belmont Park, Velazquez won his 5,000th
career victory, also aboard a horse trained by Pletcher.
“I’m really happy for Johnny,” said Pletcher, who has
trained 255 of Velazquez’s 694 Saratoga winners. “It’s his moment, you know?”
Velazquez won the 2007 Belmont with Rags to Riches and 2005 Travers with
Flower Alley for Pletcher. He also captured last year’s 2012 Belmont aboard
Union Rags and the 2011 Kentucky Derby with Animal Kingdom.
“It’s a big number, I have to say that,” Velazquez remarked. “Just to be
named after Jerry Bailey or Angel Cordero, who probably, in my eyes, obviously
I’m a little biased when it comes to Angel, they are two of the best riders I’ve
ever seen in my career. I’m humbled, and I’m happy.
“It’s two different categories,” he added. “When Angel was riding (the meet) was only 24
days, and now there’s more racing days. It’s great to get it done, definitely.”
“That’s a lot of winners, and he should be proud, because this is the meeting
that everyone wants to win at,” Cordero said.
Born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Velazquez began riding in
the mainland United States in 1990. A winner of 22 NYRA meet titles, including
five at Saratoga, Velazquez won the Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey in 2004
and 2005 and in 2009 was honored by his fellow riders with the George Woolf
Memorial Jockey Award. He has captured 11 Breeders’ Cup races, most recently the
2012 Mile with reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan.
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Velazquez was inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame last year
in Saratoga.
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