Claudio Gonzalez and Jevian Toledo both enjoyed career highs as they defended their titles as the Maryland Jockey Club's leading trainer and jockey, respectively, in 2022.
Gonzalez, a 46-year-old cancer survivor from Chile, finished with 74 wins at Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course to edge Brittany Russell and Jamie Ness, who tied for second with 73 wins apiece.
It marked the sixth consecutive year that Gonzalez has led the Maryland standings, averaging 101 wins per season. He captured Laurel's winter stand to open 2022, his 19th individual meet title in Maryland.
“It feels very good. Like I always say, it's not easy and now six years in a row, it's even tougher. I never thought we'd be able do something like that,” Gonzalez said. “When we won the first year, I was happy for myself and all my people, all my workers, and every year they continue. They're very consistent, working very hard, everybody.”
Horses trained by Gonzalez bankrolled $5,626,781 in 2022, the sixth straight year he has seen an increase in seasonal purse earnings. He finished with 162 wins overall, second only to the 174 he won in 2019.
Gonzalez branched out in 2022 with a string at Monmouth Park during the summer as well as a year-round presence at Gulfstream Park in South Florida. He won the Monmouth title with 32 wins and was second with $1.3 million in purses earned, and went 31-for-167 (19%) at Gulfstream.
“My goal is to try and do the same this year, but it gets tougher and tougher every year,” Gonzalez said. “The competition is so hard everywhere, but we're going to continue working hard and see what happens.”
Toledo, 28, won 145 races at Laurel and Pimlico for his fourth overall Maryland championship following 2015, 2017 and 2021, also banking a state-high $5,668,927. Jeiron Barbosa, a leading contender for the Eclipse Award as champion apprentice of 2022, was second with 107 wins.
Over the final three days of Laurel's calendar year-ending fall meet, Toledo registered seven wins, including a four-win day Dec. 30 and a double Dec. 31 that enabled him to finish with a career-best 188 wins. He also reached a personal high with more than $7.7 million in purse earnings.
“It was a fabulous year, the best year of my career, for sure,” Toledo said. “Amazing, man. I have to thank God. He's the one that keeps us here, and I'm just very grateful for all the opportunities I get from all the owners and trainers and all the staff, the grooms and exercise riders, and the horses, as well. They do all the work.”
Toledo led Laurel's 2022 winter meet standings in wins and tied for first at Laurel summer, and earned his first Pimlico crown during the spring Preakness Meet, giving him 10 individual meet titles in Maryland.
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