After blockbuster Keeneland meet, Saez returning to New York

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Things have gone so well for Luis Saez this spring in Kentucky that the star jockey seriously considered sticking around beyond the Kentucky Derby.

Upon further review, however, Saez and his agent, Kiaran McLaughlin, have decided to return to Belmont Park in New York, where the 28-year-old jockey has made his primary base since 2013.

“We did talk about riding the Churchill Downs meet after the Derby, but no, we’re going back to New York,” McLaughlin said. “We do really like the way it’s gone here this month, though.”

As well they should. Saez has been “in the zone,” as they say, winning races in bunches at the Keeneland spring meet that began April 2. Through 12 of 15 days, Saez already has virtually clinched his first Keeneland riding title by winning 27 races, 11 more than Joel Rosario, his closest pursuer atop the jockey standings.

Saez has a combined 17 mounts on the final three cards of the meet (Wednesday through Friday), meaning it’s highly unlikely he’ll approach the spring-meet record of 38 winners set in 2013 by Rosario. Pat Day owns the all-time single-meet record at Keeneland with 45 wins at the 1991 fall meet.

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Still, these are unforgettable times for Saez, a Panama native who burst onto the American racing scene in 2009 in Florida as a teenage phenom. He’s the rider of Essential Quality, the favorite for the May 1 Derby, and among his blockbuster wins already this year is the $12 million Dubai World Cup with Mystic Guide on March 27. He enjoyed a terrific winter at Gulfstream Park, riding 85 winners, and this month alone, he and Rosario have accounted for the majority of the Keeneland stakes schedule – Saez won four of the 17 run so far, including the April 3 Blue Grass and the Elkhorn last Saturday, while Rosario won six of them.

“The horsemen have been very good to me, and my agent has done a great job,” Saez said last week.

Purse levels at Churchill are comparable to those at Belmont, with maiden-specials going for $91,000 and allowances starting at $93,000, including sizable bonuses for registered Kentucky-breds. The Churchill meet will begin and end with night cards, opening Saturday and running through June 26.

“The money and the people are great in Kentucky,” said McLaughlin, a Lexington native who had stable earnings of more than $120 million while training for 25 years prior to switching careers a little more than a year ago. “We’re blessed with the opportunities we have.”