Castellano Aims for More Gulfstream Success

Though he missed the opening weekend of Gulfstream Park's 2016-2017 Championship Meet with commitments out of town, jockey Javier Castellano is gearing up for a return to South Florida with his sights set on a sixth consecutive riding title.

He enters the meet in similar fashion as past years, leading the country in stakes wins, graded stakes wins, and purses earned, and figures to be among the favorites for a fourth straight trophy as North America's top jockey when Gulfstream hosts the Eclipse Awards Jan. 21.

            

Castellano is named on four horses Dec. 7 at Gulfstream. 

Behind the scenes, Castellano is in the initial stages of a new journey. This will be his first Championship Meet with new agent Mike Lakow, a former racetrack executive in New York and California who replaced Matt Muzikar at the start of Belmont Park's fall meet in September.

Castellano, 39, rose to national prominence under Muzikar during their seven years together, including setting the single-season record for earnings in 2013 and topping it in 2015. Prior to that Castellano had been represented by Mike Kelly, also for seven years.

"I was very blessed to work with Matt Muzikar. He put me on the map," Castellano said. "He was a guy that worked hard every single day, every single meet, at every single track. I give all the credit to him because he did a great job for my career, and I will always be thankful for that.

"Now we're looking forward with a new agent. Mike Lakow knows a lot of people. He's a great horseman. He used to be a racing secretary so he knows about the horses and about the races, and I'm very lucky to be working with him," he added. "It's been great. Everything's going in the right direction. I'm really looking forward to the future."

The Venezuelan-born Castellano enjoyed another spectacular winter at Gulfstream in 2015-2016, finishing with a meet-high 113 wins and nearly $4.3 million in purse earnings. He won 14 stakes, six of them graded including the Davona Dale (gr. II) with Cathryn Sophia, who he would go on to ride to victory in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (gr. I).

Castellano is the only rider to reach triple digits in Gulfstream wins, having done it in each of the past five years, topped by his record 132 in 2013-2014.

He entered the first week of December with 60 stakes wins, 34 of them graded, nine in grade I races, and purses of more than $26.5 million, all tops in North America. His 290 wins ranked fourth. He has topped 300 wins every year since 2012.

"It's always special to come to South Florida and Gulfstream. That's where I started my career and it feels like I'm coming back home to ride," Castellano said. "I'm very excited. I've been very lucky. To win five titles in a row is not easy, and I'm very lucky and very fortunate to be in that spot. I'm ready and willing to work to get another riding title.

"When you are at the top you have to work even harder because everyone is chasing you and you don't want to lose your title. I love the sport and I love what I do," he added. "It's very competitive. I'm lucky to ride a lot of very good horses. I was born to be a jockey and I love to ride horses. I enjoy my job. Not too many people are in that position and I am very appreciative of that."

Overall at Gulfstream, Castellano owns 63 career graded stakes victories led by his lone Florida Derby (gr. I) win in 2014 with Constitution  . Other highlights include winning the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap (gr. IT) with Jambalaya in 2007; setting a world record for 1 1/2 miles on turf when riding Twilight Eclipse to victory in the 2012 Pan American (gr. II); and guiding top female sprinter Sugar Swirl to a sweep of the First Lady (gr. III), Hurricane Bertie (gr. III), and Shirley Jones (gr. II) handicaps in 2008.

This year's meet includes the inaugural running of the $12 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (gr. I) Jan. 28 as well as the $1 million Florida Derby April 1.

"As always I'm very excited and looking forward to it. Every single year in the winter it's the greatest meet in the country with the horses and the horsemen. It's a tough colony because they come from everywhere and it's very competitive," Castellano said. "I don't want to take anything for granted, and I never do. I've been very blessed to be able to compete with the best jockeys in the country, and I'm very humbled and thankful to be able to ride the best horses in the country."