Double Talker Brings Flores Back to Winner's Circle

Having notched 3,616 victories, jockey David Flores is accustomed to trips to the winner's circle—though his win April 10 in the first race at Keeneland marked his first riding victory anywhere since 2021.

Flores, 57, has spent a lifetime in horse racing. The son of a jockey, he began riding match races in Tijuana, Mexico, as a child.

Later, based in Southern California, he became one the top leading riders in North America, riding the winners of 44 grade 1 races before stepping away from riding full-time in 2017. A year later, he had his first start as a trainer. He continued to train through 2021, winning six races with 52 starters while racing mostly in Florida. He also rode some of his trainees to victory.

Known for his horsemanship, Flores has ridden sparingly in recent years but is still a trusted part of trainer Wesley Ward's operation. Ward has Flores give his young horses their early lessons, and trainer said he wanted to give reward Flores with a mount Thursday on Ice Wine Stable's first-time starter Double Talker .

Riding in the afternoon for the first time since December, Flores left his mount well placed in third and powering past the leaders on the outside down the stretch in the $90,000 maiden race. Double Talker raced 4 1/2 furlongs in :52.29, paying $11.12 to win as the less supported of two Ward-trained horses. Ward's other starter, Ashkenazi , faded to fourth as the heavy favorite under Joel Rosario.

Interviewed by Scott Hazelton of FanDuel Racing alongside Ward in the winner's circle, he patted the shoulder of Ward in appreciation, "My friend here, Wesley ... Last year, we rode a few; (we) were in the money. But today, he said I had a good chance."

"I was very happy for David," added Ward. "He was the very first one on this horse's back as a yearling. He puts in a lot of time and hard work from the onset when we start breaking them in October, and he's been down in Florida with all my 2-year-olds and babies, so I attribute a lot of the success to David. So I'm happy I could pay him back with a winner."

A homebred 2-year-old son of Hootenanny  for Ice Wine Stable, Double Talker is a product of Ward's success with juveniles. The Ward-trained Hootenanny won the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T). While Double Talker's dam, Valentine's Nay, never competed, her sire, No Nay Never , was a group 1 winner overseas for the trainer.

Ice Wine Stable owned No Nay Never with the Coolmore-affiliated partnership of Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith. The latter three partners also raced Hootenanny.

Hootenanny has stood in recent years at Ward Ranch, just across the street from the Keeneland grounds.