Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. broke his single-season Oaklawn Park record for purse earnings during the 55-day 2018 live racing meeting that concluded Saturday.
According to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization, Santana finished with $4,240,304 in purse earnings to eclipse his previous record of $4,064,073 in 2016.
Santana, 25, capped his record-breaking meet by winning Friday's Grade 1 $700,000 Apple Blossom Handicap for older fillies and mares aboard Unbridled Mo for trainer Todd Pletcher and Saturday's Grade 3 $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap for older horses aboard Whitmore for co-owner/trainer Ron Moquett, of Hot Springs. He began the Racing Festival of the South by riding four winners Thursday, including the $150,000 Bachelor Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters aboard Mitole for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.
"I thought Ricardo did a great job with him away from the gates," Asmussen said. "I think that he handled everything really well after that. Just very fortunate to have an extremely fast horse for the Heiligbrodts (William and Corinne). He has run three tremendous (winning) races here - four starts with his second in the Gazebo being one as well. But, he has obviously run very fast times and saved his best for today."
The win in the Bachelors was Santana's 1,001st career victory. He reached the 1,000-win milestone earlier on the card aboard Westfest, also trained by Asmussen.
"I am feeling really blessed to win my 1000th race," Santana said. "This is my dream coming true and it wouldn't have happened without Steve Asmussen. He has supported me and given me a great opportunity. I also have to thank God for my 1000th race."
Unbridled Mo represented Santana's second career Grade 1 victory, the first coming aboard Creator in the $1 million Arkansas Derby in 2016.
Santana claimed his sixth consecutive Oaklawn riding title with 69 victories. He boasted the most starts with 307 and the highest winning percentage at 22 percent.
Newcomer David Cabrera, 25, was second in wins and purses at 43 and $1,974,917 in 298 starts.
Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, 55, was third in purses with $1,743,563 and sixth in wins with 26 in 154 starts after wintering at Oaklawn for the first time.
Another newcomer, David Cohen, 32, returned to horse racing after a three-year hiatus and finished third in starts with 261, third in wins with 37 and fourth in purses with $1,662,335.
Ramon Vazquez, 34, was the runner-up to Santana for the past three years, but was fourth this season in starts at 247, fourth in wins with 34 and fifth in purses at $1,361,655. Vazquez also won the Prairie Meadows title in 2017 in Iowa and has been the leading rider at Remington Park in Oklahoma City for the past five years.
Santana has 412 victories at Oaklawn since he began riding in Hot Springs in 2011. He is scheduled to ride this spring in Kentucky before moving to Saratoga for the third consecutive year, said his agent, Ruben Munoz.
Asmussen won 44 races to claim his ninth Oaklawn training title since 2007. He also led all trainers in purse earnings at $2,977,921 -- his second-highest single-season Oaklawn total. He had a record $3,448,729 in purse earnings in 2016.
Asmussen has 7,987 career North American victories for No. 2 all time, with 583 coming at Oaklawn since 1996, according to Equibase. Asmussen recorded his 7,000th career North American victory April 1, 2015, at Oaklawn.
In the race for leading owner, newcomer Mike Sisk (M & M Racing) ended Danny Caldwell's four-year hold on the title with 21 victories. Caldwell was second with 17. M & M's primary trainer was Robertino Diodoro, who won 32 races to finish second in the standings.
The 55-day meeting concluded with 452 claims totaling $7,241,500. Oaklawn was scheduled to race 57 dates this year but lost two dates in January due to winter weather.
Sports on 04/18/2018