Woodbine Jockeys and Their Winter Racing Plans

With the 2010 Woodbine meet now in the books, most trainers and their horses will head south to Florida to rest, continue training and race in select spots at racetracks like Gulfstream and Tampa Bay Downs. Jockeys, on the other hand, have more limited options due to the fact that most tracks already have well established jockey colonies. However, a few Woodbine jockeys will take their talents south of the border to race this winter before returning to Woodbine for the start of the 2011 season. Here's the list as I know it so far:

Eurico Rosa Da Silva - Woodbine's top rider in 2010 is already beginning to make noise at Aqueduct in just his second day riding there. Da Silva escaped a spill on Wednesday, which was supposed to be his first day in New York. Da Silva's first mount at Aqueduct was supposed to be Reading Group in Wednesday's eighth race but he did not ride any races on Wednesday. According to DRF Inside Post's Dave Liften, entrymates Reading Group and Aheadofthejoneses were involved in a spill. Neither horse was seriously injured but Da Silva's replacement Eddie Castro was taken to hospital complaining of wrist and back pain. Da Silva rode one race on Thursday and finished outside of the money but picked up his first win on just his second mount in today's fourth race on Economic Swoon. He followed that up with a second place finish on Pewter in the fifth race. It seems as if Da Silva will have no trouble fitting in at Aqueduct.

Emma-Jayne Wilson - All indications are that Wilson will begin racing at Parx in Philadelphia soon. She was supposed to be making her debut on Sunday in the second race for trainer Scott Fairlie, but she does not appear on the entries sheet. I believe what I've read would be true, the sources like Jennifer Morrison and her Thoroughblog are right on more often than not, so it should just be a matter of time before we see Wilson riding horses in Philadelphia.

Chantal Sutherland - I've tried to find the answer to this question for the last couple of days but I finally have it. Thanks to this video on the Woodbine Entertainment website, it's fairly certain that Sutherland will return to Southern California and Santa Anita very soon for a third straight season. She also has many other things she'll be doing while she's in Los Angeles. Sutherland says she'll be appearing in the new horse racing television series, Luck on HBO, which is filming at Santa Anita. She will also appear on HRTV over Woodbine's offseason. I'm looking forward to the premiere of the Luck series, which Sutherland says will be on television in February, and I'm not anticipating it even more knowing she will have a role in it.

This is all the news we have for now but I will be sure to keep an eye out on entry boards around the United States to find Woodbine riders, especially with Gulfstream and Tampa Bay starting their meets in the next few days. Do you know of a Woodbine jockey riding elsewhere this offseason that I haven't listed? Please post it in the comments section below!

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