Bejarano to Ride in Kentucky Beginning in April

Jockey Rafael Bejarano, a riding fixture in Southern California for much of the past 15 years, plans to relocate to Kentucky this spring to begin riding full time at Keeneland in April, according to his longtime friend and eventual Kentucky agent, Julio Espinoza.

The rider's departure follows those of other jockeys in Southern California in recent months. Tyler Baze, Martin Garcia, and Joe Talamo shifted their bases to Oaklawn Park this winter before planning to go to Kentucky this spring, and Hall of Famer Kent Desormeaux initially rode at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots this winter before moving to Golden Gate Fields in Northern California to ride.

Their exodus followed slowing business in Southern California, where field sizes and racing dates have been further reduced over the past year after a spike in equine fatalities at Santa Anita Park last winter. Santa Anita now races three days per week.

"We don’t have enough races to run. Three days a week is not good enough for a lot of jocks," Bejarano said. 

Racing in Kentucky has seen vast growth in purses, supplemented by revenue generated from slot-like historical horse racing terminals. The major meets at Keeneland and Churchill Downs race five days a week.

Bejarano said his current agent at Santa Anita, Tora Yamaguchi, has family obligations that would make a move to Kentucky difficult. So he decided to be represented by the Kentucky-based Espinoza, who he said is like "a dad to me."

Bejarano, a 37-year-old native of Peru, was a leading jockey in Kentucky in the early 2000s when he competed regularly at Turfway Park, Keeneland, and Churchill Downs.

He changed circuits to California in the winter of 2007-08 and had immediate success. He swept all the Southern California riding titles in 2008 and added many more over the next decade. His mounts earned more than $10 million every year from 2004-16 before opportunities stalled.

He rode Arrogate  to his first three victories in 2016 for trainer Bob Baffert before Mike Smith took over as the eventual champion's regular rider. The horse went on to win the Travers Stakes (G1) and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) that year and the 2017 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) under Smith.

Bejarano has ridden sparingly for Baffert since, though he did guide Azul Coast to a victory in the El Camino Real Derby last month at Golden Gate while making an out-of-town trip for the Hall of Fame trainer.

Over the past few years, trainer Doug O'Neill has been among the rider's primary backers in California.

Bejarano celebrated his 4,000th victory last year at Santa Anita but has been in limited action at the track recently. He has three mounts on the 12-race March 7 card that features the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) but none in any of the day's four graded stakes races.

He won 97 races from 638 rides in 2019 with earnings of more than $6.5 million. Entering the March 6 card at Santa Anita, he was 5-for-61 this year with earnings of $395,474.

His change in circuits was first reported by Daily Racing Form.