Apprentice jockey Mendoza making mark at Oaklawn

Apprentice jockey Amir Mendoza ventured to the United States from his native Panama this winter and is making his mark in the standings at Oaklawn Park – all while getting to know a jockey from his country that he has long admired.

“He’s a huge Luis Saez fan, and they have the same valet at Oaklawn,” said agent Jose Santos Jr., the son of retired Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Jose Santos. “We got lucky. Mark Kelly, his valet, is an awesome guy and takes great care of him, and we were lucky to get in with him. Julien [Leparoux] recommended him.”

Mendoza, 21, was tied for fifth in the Oaklawn standings through Thursday. He has won 6 of 29 starts, and his mounts have earned $294,885. He’s had a riding double on two separate cards, and his win rate of 21 percent is one of the best amongst the meet’s leaders.

“He came in from Panama on Nov. 1,” Santos said. “His agent over there, Miguel Ossa Jr., he’s the one who hooked me up with him. He reached out actually to my father and said keep an eye on this kid and my dad called me and said, ‘I think he can really ride. You should try to get a hold of him.’

“We’ve kind of been in contact with him since September, and they asked me to come up with a plan for him and I thought Oaklawn would be the best spot. I think Oaklawn’s really good for apprentices, in my opinion. Big fields and a lot of people come in from different tracks, so they’re more willing to use new riders who they haven’t used before. And, obviously, with as well as Tyler Bacon did last year, we were hoping we could replicate something like that.”

Mendoza is a graduate of the Laffit Pincay Jr. Technical Jockey Training Academy in Panama. He’s won 35 races in his home country since he launched his career in May, Santos said. The victories, some of which came for one of the country’s leading owners, include five handicaps.

Mendoza, who is taking classes to learn to speak English, has won Oaklawn races for a variety of trainers, including Genaro Garcia, Randy Morse, Ron Moquett, and Shea Stuart. He does not come from a racing family, but he was a fan of the sport from a young age, Santos said.

“His mom is the mayor of a town about four hours away from the track, but he always grew up liking horses,” Santos said. “And his grandfather liked to watch the races, so his grandfather took him to the racetrack and he just got hooked and ever since then he’s wanted to ride.”

Mendoza is a natural lightweight and appears to have a natural talent for race riding.

“He’s about five foot tall and he can tack 105,” Santos said. “He’s got an uncanny ability for getting horses to run and he’s very patient, which I love. He’s won on the front. He’s won off the pace. He’s won sprint races. He’s won going long. He’s shown a lot of different dimensions in a short amount of time.”

Oaklawn’s holiday meet closes Sunday, and a few days later, Mendoza will head home to see his family in Panama.

“He’s going to go home for two weeks, and the plan is to return on January 20th and get back to work and get ready for the start of the new meet on January 30th,” Santos said of the classic meet that begins at Oaklawn.

Santos also is the agent for Christopher Elliott, who wrapped up a successful run as an apprentice in July.