Joel Rosario

Jockey Joel Rosario's huge 2021 saw his mounts rack up $32,944,478—more than $3.6 million more than 2018, 2019 and 2020 Eclipse Award winner Irad Ortiz, Jr.—and the 37-year-old from the Dominican Republic celebrated his first Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey Thursday evening. Among Rosario's noteworthy wins last year were the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic aboard Knicks Go and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on Echo Zulu. He was also the regular rider of Jackie's Warrior.  California-based Jessica Pyfer was named outstanding apprentice jockey. She booted home 59 winners with...

HALLANDALE, FL--Heading into Saturday's Pegasus World Cup card at Gulfstream, it wasn't much of a stretch to think that trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. could walk away the winners of both Pegasus features of the afternoon. However, considering the obstacles facing them, one had to concede that it might be a bit too tall of an order. The GI Pegasus World Cup Turf contender Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) was coming off a massive layoff, 239 days to be exact, and Life Is Good (Into Mischief), while freakishly...

The favorite to land an Eclipse Award as the country's outstanding jockey of 2021 will begin his 2022 push at Oaklawn. Joel Rosario is named on seven horses Friday, which will mark his first day as a regular in Hot Springs and first action since suffering a hairline fracture of a rib when he was unseated shortly after the finish of a Dec. 2 race at Aqueduct. Rosario ($32,944,478) was eyeing a single-season North American record for purse earnings before the injury. Now healthy, Rosario's return to the saddle will...

With 84 winners from 479 North American starts, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Godolphin LLC amassed earnings of $17,403,204, to establish a new single-season record, according to statistics released Monday by Equibase Company LLC. The previous mark of $12.2 million was set in 2012 by Ken and Sarah Ramsey. Additionally, runners sent out by trainer Brad Cox earned a record $31,832,345 in 2021, narrowly surpassing the $31.1 set in 2019 by trainer Chad Brown. Leading the charge for Godolphin in 2021 was 'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit), a...

Joel Rosario suffered a hairline fracture of a rib in a spill Thursday at Aqueduct. The news was first reported by the Daily Racing Form's Dave Grening. Rosario's agent, Ron Anderson, predicted that his rider would be out for about three weeks and could be ready for the Dec. 26 opening day card at Santa Anita. "I haven't spoken to a doctor yet, so we're just waiting to find out," he said. "It's going t be two, three weeks before he can ride again, so we're going to have to...

DEL MAR, CA - During an interview in these pages earlier this week, Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen described returning to Del Mar--the site of Gun Runner's 2017 GI Breeders' Cup Classic victory--with a member of his first crop favored for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies as "dreaming." The dream run certainly continued for L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds' Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) Friday, capping a perfect four-for-four championship season with a powerhouse, 5 1/4-length, wire-to-wire performance in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Juju's Map (Liam's Map),...

Four-time Grade I winner and one of the favorites for 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter--Kosmo's Buddy, by Outflanker) will retire to Taylor Made Stallions at the conclusion of his racing career, the farm announced Monday. Campaigned by Korea Racing Authority, Knicks Go is currently the top-ranked older horse on the NTRA Thoroughbred Poll as he prepares for his next start in the $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6. A stud fee will be announced after the Breeders' Cup. "The KRA's goal was to...

Warrant earned the first graded victory of his career with a gritty performance in the GIII Oklahoma Derby Sunday night at Remington Park. Settling in fifth behind a contested :23.68 quarter, the chestnut crept closer down the backstretch and Joel Rosario decided to step on the gas as frontrunner Flash of Mischief drifted off the rail nearing the far turn. Taking over from that rival into the lane, Warrant faced a resurgent foe before asserting himself once and for all outside the sixteenth pole and edging clear. "It was a...

Leading sprinter Jackie's Warrior, who defeated Life is Good (Into Mischief) to win the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. Aug. 28 at Saratoga, followed up that rival's win in the GII Kelso H. at Belmont Saturday afternoon with an effortless victory of his own at Parx. Displaying his normal early dash, Jackie's Warrior clicked off an opening quarter in :21.97, though he did have some token 'pressure' from the rail-drawn Real Talk. Dispatching  that rival with consummate ease at the three-furlong pole, Jackie's Warrior was past the half-mile in :44.13,...

The FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs wrapped up Sunday with a nearly 24% rise in handle from the same period last year. A total of $74,088,532 was wagered via all-sources handle, up $14,260,088 (or 23.8%) from last year's total of $59,828,444, which was also a record at the time. Sunday's card of 10 races saw a handle of $13,899,277, third-highest at the all-turf track. Saturday's wagering of $20,849,967 on 11 races set a new mark for one day of racing at Kentucky Downs. The big story of the six-day meet...

Sunday, Saratoga AMSTERDAM S.-GII, $200,000, Saratoga, 8-1, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 1:15.46, sy. 1--JACKIE'S WARRIOR, 124, c, 3, by Maclean's Music 1st Dam: Unicorn Girl, by A. P. Five Hundred 2nd Dam: Horah for Bailey, by Doneraile Court 3rd Dam: Horah for the Lady, by Rahy ($95,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-J. Kirk & Judy Robison; B-J & J Stables (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Joel Rosario. $110,000. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 9-6-1-1, $1,058,964. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree 2--Drain the Clock, 124, c, 3, Maclean's Music--Manki,...

3rd-Belmont, $78,300, Msw, 6-10, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:06.47, ft, 9 3/4 lengths. VELVET SISTER (f, 2, Bernardini--Backslash, by Sharp Humor), bought for $500,000 after breezing a :10 1/5 furlong at Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream, debuted a sharp maiden winner Thursday at Belmont for Stonestreet Stables and Steve Asmussen. Showing a quartet of half-mile works at Keeneland, highlighted by a :47 2/5 (5/99) spin from the gate May 8, and a pair of maintenance spins over the local training track, the New York-bred was made a distant 12-5 second choice in a three-horse...