Velasquez Notches 3,000th Occupation Victory Sunday At Aqueduct Racetrack

Cornelio Velasquez, lengthy one of the vital main riders on The New York Racing Affiliation, Inc. (NYRA) circuit, reached a non-public milestone Sunday afternoon at Aqueduct Racetrack when he gained race 5 aboard Up in Smoke ($7.30) for his 3,000th North American victory.

“I think excellent,” mentioned Velasquez, who additionally gained greater than 1,000 races in his local Panama sooner than shifting his tack to the USA. “I am more than happy to have had a large occupation and that the running shoes have given me numerous probabilities. It is like circle of relatives right here at Aqueduct; there is numerous festival, however I really like New York. It is the most efficient.”

Following the landmark win, Velasquez, 43, used to be tied for 7th within the jockey standings at Aqueduct’s fall meet with 8 winners. Total, he used to be 3rd in New York with 169 winners in 2011, together with the Grade 2 Opt for Wand with Pretty Lil on Friday at Aqueduct Racetrack, the Grade 3 Westchester at Belmont Park on Caixa Eletronica, and the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational with Winchester and the Grade 3 Victory Experience aboard Scorching Summer time, each at Saratoga Race Direction.

Previous this month, Velasquez gained the Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Marathon on November 5 with Afleet Once more.

Cornelio Velasquez’ large smash got here in 2003 when he gained his first Breeders’ Cup on Cajun Beat within the Breeders’ Cup Dash.

Velasquez, who rode his first winner in Panama in 1985, has completed a number of the most sensible 10 jockeys at the NYRA circuit yearly since 2004. In 2007, he gained the coveted Saratoga using name with 44 winners.

In 2010, Velasquez completed 5th within the year-end standings with 110 winners from 757 mounts at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont, and Saratoga.

Cornelio H. Velasquez

Cornelio H. Velasquez (born September 28, 1968 in Panama Town, Panama) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He used to be presented to horse racing at age fifteen by means of instructor Carlos Salazar Guardia in his local Panama and enrolled within the nationwide jockey faculty. In his first 12 months of racing he used to be his nation’s most sensible apprentice jockey and used to be the main rider once more in 1994 and 1995.

In 1996 Cornelio Velasquez emigrated to the USA to race at Elmont, New York’s Belmont Park. All the way through the following ten years he competed at meets at tracks in Kentucky and Florida, profitable a number of using titles. His large smash got here in 2003 when he gained his first Breeders’ Cup on Cajun Beat within the Breeders’ Cup Dash. A two-time winner of Breeders’ Cup races, in 2005 Velasquez rode Final Argument to a 2nd position end within the Kentucky Derby and in 2007 is scheduled to compete at the well-regarded colt, Nobiz Like Shobiz.