Woodbine Jockey Race Coming Down The Stretch

Sadly, today begins the final 10 racing dates of the 2010 meet at Woodbine Racetrack and the jockey race is coming towards an end. Leading the way is Eurico Rosa Da Silva, who has notched 178 wins at Woodbine this year. He is followed by defending top jockey Patrick Husbands at 159 wins, Chantal Sutherland at 129, Apprentice jockey Omar Moreno at 123 wins and Luis Contreras at 107 wins. It looks like Da Silva will take the crown this year, but this is horse racing, anything can happen. Husbands will probably have enough mounts to make up the gap but he will need to have a lot of success to catch Da Silva.

For Da Silva, the top rider crown would be the icing on the cake to his terrific season. Da Silva captured his second consecutive Queen's Plate title on Big Red Mike in July, a win that allowed him to meet the Queen as she was on hand at Woodbine during her Royal Visit to Canada. He's been the king of the main track all season long, winning on over 20% of his mounts, tops of any regular rider on the Woodbine circuit. It certainly has been a breakthrough season for Da Silva on the track but he's also been profiled off of the track as well for his "Good Luck To Everybody" catch phrase and his friendship with Alexandrea Tersigni. I loved hearing about this story and it makes me appreciate how accessible this sport is to the general public. At Woodbine, you can meet with the jockeys after every race and they're always happy to give you a little bit of their time during the race day.

Although Husbands may loose his title of top rider at Woodbine this year, he was the king of the turf course for the entire season. Husbands scored 31 wins on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course this year, topping Sutherland by eight wins. Like Da Silva, Husbands was the only regular rider on the circuit to top 20% in winning percentage on turf and had a great year overall.


Sutherland, the second ranked rider at Woodbine in 2009, sits in third place and will most likely finish third at the end of the season. If I remember correctly, they mentioned on Sunday's broadcast of Woodbine Racing that Sutherland has won more stakes races (14) this year than any other rider at Woodbine. The 14 wins is also a career high for her in one season at Woodbine. She will most likely be named top female rider for the meet and will also probably return to Santa Anita over the winter in 2011 as she has the last two seasons.

Moreno burst onto the Woodbine scene this year as an Apprentice rider and quickly established himself as the king of the longshot. More often than not this year, Moreno would get longshot horses home first this year, including last Sunday in the Bessarabian Stakes with 18-1 shot Ariana D. Moreno will be back at Woodbine in 2011 and should contend for the top five against next season.

Contreras has really turned it on in the last few weeks at Woodbine. On Sunday alone, Contreras found the winner's circle three times in a row during the 11 race program and also added three second place finishes. Contreras is only 24 years old and seems to have a bright future ahead of him at Woodbine, much like Moreno.

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