Espinoza Ready for Another Standout Year
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It's shaping up to be another banner year for Victor Espinoza.
The 42-year-old jockey who guided California Chrome to wins in the first two legs of the Triple Crown is on another 3-year-old classics contender, American Pharoah, with a month remaining until the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), rode four winners—including a dominant victory aboard Stellar Wind in the Santa Anita Oaks (gr. I)—on the loaded Santa Anita Derby Day card April 4, and is a Hall of Fame finalist this year.
HAMMONDS: Stellar Wind Rolls in Santa Anita Oaks
So it was no wonder why the veteran rider from Mexico City was all smiles at Santa Anita Park's Clocker's Corner the morning of April 5.
"It was a great day," said Espinoza, who also ran—on his own two feet—in the Santa Anita Derby Day 5K before racing began Saturday.
"That was the fastest 5K I ever ran," Espinoza said of the run, where he averaged around six minutes a mile. "It was challenging and intense. The people next to me—obviously, I'm a little bit smaller—they'd try to get by me and I tried too hard.
"I almost got beat to the wire, but I reached out," the jockey said with a laugh.
A week ahead, the two-time winning jockey in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes (gr. I) will be on American Pharoah in the $1 million Arkansas Derby (gr. I) at Oaklawn Park in the colt's final classics prep. A little more than a week after that, the Hall of Fame voting results will be announced, and Espinoza is doing his best to take it all in stride.
"I never thought I would be in the Hall of Fame someday," Espinoza said. "It's just an amazing thing and the most important thing is to thank the people who vote for me."