Santana Earns 1,000th Victory on Four-Win Day

Ricardo Santana Jr. grabbed the 1,000th victory of his career (since based on the United States mainland) when he guided Westfest to a clear victory in the sixth race April 12 at Oaklawn Park.

The milestone win was the second of four victories on the card for the 24-year-old native of Panama.

Gary and Mary West's Westfest, the 4-5 favorite in the six-furlong, allowance optional-claiming race, emerged from a three-way contest for the lead in the early stretch to post a 1 1/4-length victory under Santana. They completed the race in 1:09.93 on a fast track.

Appropriately enough, Westfest is trained by Steve Asmussen. Santana rides regularly for the Hall of Fame trainer, and the two have paired to register 385 victories, including the 2016 Arkansas Derby (G1) with Creator. Other graded stakes winners for the pair include Iron Fist, Terra Promessa, Holy Boss , Tapiture , Lucky Player, Lemon Drop Dream, Euphrosyne, Dunkin Bend, Mico Margarita, and Justin Phillip .

Santana won five straight riding titles at Oaklawn from 2013-2017 and holds a 21-win advantage at the current meet, which ends April 14.

Santana and Asmussen also teamed to win the fourth race Thursday with Red Hot Cherry and the day's feature race, the six-furlong Bachelor Stakes for 3-year-olds, with Mitole. William and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Mitole rolled to a nine-length score in the Bachelor and completed the race in 1:08.41. Santana then won the day's final race with Ms Fifty First St. for trainer Al Stall Jr.

Correction: Ricardo Santana Jr.'s age was incorrect in an earlier version of this story. He is 24. BloodHorse regrets the mistake.