Jockey Alex Birzer Reaches 3,000 Wins
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Photo: Coady Photography
Birzer wins his 3,000th race aboard Numancia
Jockey Alex Birzer became the 174th jockey in North America to win 3,000 races when he guided Angela Hall's Numancia to victory in the sixth race Feb. 26 at Oaklawn Park.
In the six-furlong claming race, the 3-year-old daughter of Primary Suspect vied for the early lead before taking control in the stretch and holding on for a half-length win. The John Hall trainee hit the wire in 1:12.28.
Birzer, 43, rode three winners on Saturday's card to move within one win of the milestone, which came with his fifth mount of the day.
"I'm speechless," Birzer said. "My agent (Brian Assmann), and to all my people that ride me, I just thank you.
"This is wonderful. It looked like it might set up this way last fall and I had it in my mind that it would be great to reach this here. I just love Oaklawn. I love the people here. The patrons are just unreal with the way they treat us. It's a great racing atmosphere."
The Kansas native rode his first winner in 1992. Some of his top mounts include stakes winners Private Prospect, American Sugar, Seriously Silver, and Zealous Vision. Birzer now has purse earnings of $48,200,560 from 22,151 career mounts.