Velazquez & Gomez Reach Milestones, Evening Attire Retires

This weekend saw milestones for two of the best jockeys in the game, and perhaps in the history of thoroughbred racing. Garrett Gomez recorded victory number 3,000 aboard Hyperbaric in the Oak Tree Mile, while John Velazquez reached 4,000 wins after winning the opener at Belmont on Sunday. Both of these jockeys have many years left to race and I fully expect both to win over 5,000 when all is said and done.

Gomez learned to ride from his father, Louie, who rode all over the country. Convinced he could compete, he dropped out of high school in 1988 to ride at Sante Fe Downs in Next Mexico. He would record 182 wins a year later as the second leading apprentice rider. His career really took off in the mid 1990’s when he won back to back runnings of the Arkansas Derby.  Thus far in his career he has won races such as the Pacific Classic, Kentucky Oaks, along with several Breeders Cup races. In 2007 he broke Jerry Bailey’s earnings record, grabbing $22.8 million in purses.

Velazquez learned to ride in Puerto Rico under the tutelage of the legendary Angel Cordero, Jr. who became his agent once he came to ride in New York. Since coming to the U.S. in 1990 he has won races such as the Metropolitan Mile, Dubai World Cup, Travers Stakes, and the Bluegrass Stakes. He has won 6 Breeders Cup races. His first Triple Crown win came aboard Rags to Riches in the Belmont Stakes.

10 year old gelding Evening Attire has been retired due to a suspensory injury. This is especially unfortunate as he seemed to have regained some swagger when he won the Greenwood Cup by 8 ¼ lengths, earning him entry to the inaugural running of the Breeders Cup Marathon. Throughout his racing career Evening Attire won races such as the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, and the Red Smith Handicap on his way to amassing $2,977,130 in earnings.  I’ll always remember him for the way he came out of the gate. He literally walked out, which I found a bit humorous.