Velazquez Using Del Mar as Springboard For Santa Anita

The jockey colony at Del Mar is constantly evolving. New riders come in every year, while some leave for other circuits. But it’s not every year a Hall of Fame jockey joins the ranks. This fall the number of inductees in the jockeys’ room at Del Mar increased by one with the addition of John Velazquez, longtime riding star in New York.

The 50-year-old Velazquez joins fellow inductees Mike Smith, Victor Espinoza, and Kent Desormeaux, though he is not exactly a stranger to Del Mar. Velazquez, who’s been riding since 1990, has won 17 races at the seaside oval. His biggest wins at Del Mar came in 2017 when he won the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) aboard Forever Unbridled  and the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) with World Approval .

This winter, Velazquez plans to ride full-time at Santa Anita Park, and he’s hoping to use the fall meet at Del Mar as a sort of springboard.

“I wanted to get it started here so the trainers and owners know I’m going to be here for the winter,” Velazquez says. “Hopefully I’ll get the opportunities to ride some real nice horses here and keep me going for the winter.”

Velazquez has been on some of the best. He’s ridden three Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) winners: Authentic   (2020), Always Dreaming   (2017), and Animal Kingdom  (2011). (Another one in the Derby he guided to a first-place finish in 2021, Medina Spirit , was disqualified later for a post-race positive test.)

He added his 19th Breeders’ Cup win this year when he got Malathaat  up at the wire to win the Distaff this year at Keeneland. He’s second to Mike Smith’s 27 Breeders’ Cup victories. In all, Velazquez has won over 6,400 races, nearly 700 of them stakes and more than 200 grade 1s.

So it comes as no surprise that the two-time Eclipse Award champion would start the Bing Crosby meet with back-to-back winners on opening day, but Velazquez insists there is a learning curve at every track.

“It’s like everything, you have to adjust to wherever you go,” Velazquez says. “Every racetrack has different turns and where the poles are. You have to get used to it and do your homework, and hopefully you get some nice horses and they respond to what you like to do. I got lucky (on opening day); the horses ran really well.”

His experience with horses dates back to his days as a kid growing up in Puerto Rico.

“I grew up around horses,” Velazquez says, “and I met Julio Garcia when I was 14 years old. He was the leading rider in Puerto Rico. That got me interested in racing.”

Velazquez arrived in New York in 1990, where another Hall of Fame rider, Angel Cordero Jr., took him under his wing and long served as his agent. It wasn’t long before “Johnny V” was winning graded stakes races and making a name for himself. But don’t ask him who his favorite horse is. There’s been too many.

“I’ve been so blessed to ride so many good horses,” Velazquez says. “That’s what keeps me here and gives me the career that I have so far.”