Gaffalione Rides Track Record-Equaling Seven Winners
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Leslie Martin
Tyler Gaffalione rode a record-tying seven winners on the July 4 Gulfstream Park card
Jockey Tyler Gaffalione celebrated July 4 with his own brand of fireworks, riding seven winners on the holiday card at Gulfstream Park.
Gaffalione equaled the Gulfstream record held by Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey.
Bailey rode seven winners on the March 11, 1995 Florida Derby Day program, missing an eighth visit to the winner's circle when he and Suave Prospect fell a nose short of beating Thunder Gulch in the signature race.
Born six months after Bailey's record-setting performance, Gaffalione won the first three races, visiting the winner's circle with Break Away ($6.40) and Poopsie Doopsie ($12) before scoring in the $100,000 Martha Washington Stakes aboard Adorable Miss ($3). The 22-year-old native of Davie, FL added victories aboard Perfect Tay ($6.60) in the fifth, Sambrook Edge ($4.80) in the seventh, Insum Money ($9.80) in the eighth, and Stormin Charlotte ($6.40) in the ninth.
On his other four mounts on the card, Gaffalione registered two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes.
"It is amazing. I grew up idolizing Jerry Bailey. I copied basically everything he did. Between him and my father, they're my two biggest influences," said Gaffalione, whose father Steve Gaffalione rode nearly 900 winners during a career that spanned 1978-1998. "This is such an honor. I can't thank everyone enough, my agent (Matt Muzikar), all the trainers, the owners, the horses and everyone in the jock's room for all their support."
Gaffalione rode 217 winners in 2015 to earn the Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice jockey, and went on to ride 208 winners in his first year as a journeyman in 2016.