Delaware pays tribute to Dominguez on September 14
The 21st annual Owners’ Day on September 14 has been declared Ramon Dominguez
Day in Delaware. The Honorable Governor of Delaware, Jack Markell, has declared
the day in honor of the recently retired former five-time leading jockey and
record setting rider at Delaware Park.
“If there has ever been a Hall of Fame career synonymous with Delaware Park,
it is his,” Executive Director of Racing John Mooney said. “During the years he
dominated Delaware Park, he was also establishing himself on the national level
by winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Wood Memorial and Sword Dancer, just to name
a few.
“Through it all, he did it the right way, and while he was an outstanding
rider, he is a greater man. He made the Delaware Park family proud while he
rode, and I am sure he will continue to make us proud in whatever he chooses to
do.”
In celebration of the day, a limited edition Ramon Dominguez bobble head will
be available for purchase with proceeds benefiting the Permanently Disabled
Jockeys Fund, and a commemorative 8 x 10 photo of the reigning three-time
Eclipse Award-winning rider will be given away free.
The 36-year-old native of Caracas, Venezuela, will also be available for
autographs during the course of the day. A trophy race will be named in his
honor as part of the live racing card.
Before capturing 21 riding titles on the New York circuit, Dominguez
dominated Delaware Park in similar fashion. After notching his first career
Delaware Park victory aboard the Frank Passero-conditioned Nice to Know on April
18, 1998, Dominguez had a Delaware Park career record of 1,526 wins, 1,071
seconds and 860 thirds from 5,591 mounts with purses earned of $40,505,126.
His Delaware Park career victories reflect 31 percent of his 4,985 total career
wins.
At Delaware Park, he won a total of 98 stakes — 10 of which were graded,
including a Delaware Handicap victory in 2001 with Irving’s Baby and in 2007
with Unbridled Belle. He was the leading jockey at Delaware Park in 2003, 2004,
2005, 2006 and 2008. In 2003, he set the record for most wins by racking up 254
wins.
Dominguez notched his first career win aboard Solo Moondance at Hialeah in
1996. He recorded his first Grade I victory aboard A Huevo in the DeFrancis Dash
at Laurel Park in 2003. In 2012, he won the Breeders’ Cup Turf and the Arlington
Million aboard Little Mike and the Travers Stakes aboard Alpha. In 2011, he won
the Apple Blossom, Woodward and Beldame Stakes aboard the eventual Horse of the
Year Havre de Grace and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with Hansen. He rode Gio
Ponti to victories in the 2009 and 2010 Man o’War Stakes and the Arlington
Million in 2009, and he rode Better Talk Now to victories in the 2004 Breeders’
Cup Turf, the 2005 Man o’ War and the 2007 Manhattan.
The event will add to a full card of live racing featuring four Delaware
Certified Stakes, two trophy races honoring the Delaware State Senators and
Representatives and a pair of Owner’s Day Stakes. The festivities are sponsored
by Delaware Park, the Delaware Certified Thoroughbred Program and the Delaware
Thoroughbred Horsemen Association.
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