Drayden Van Dyke had a set routine at Del Mar last summer. He was an all-around stable hand for trainer Tom Proctor, working before dawn and in the afternoon. “I’d work in the morning and get done at 10:30 and be back for 2:30 to 4:30 for afternoon chores,” he recalled a few days ago. “Tom wanted me to be a horseman, to do the raking, work in the shed row, and work at feed time.” Van Dyke, 19, will have a much different routine this summer. Afternoon chores will not be required. Van Dyke will be after the title of leading rider. Since November, the Arkansas native has soared to the top of the southern California jockey standings. On Sunday, he clinched his first riding title, finishing first at the Los Alamitos summer meeting with 12 wins, four more than Joe Talamo, who won the riding title at the Santa Anita spring-summer meeting. :: DRF Live: Get real-time updates and insights from DRF reporters and handicappers at Del Mar each race day The title fulfills a goal Van Dyke set when he graduated from Lake Hamilton High School near Hot Springs, Ark., in the spring of 2013. While many students set off for an early-summer vacation, Van Dyke had other plans. He moved to southern California to work for Proctor at Hollywood Park and lay the groundwork for a career as a jockey. “I didn’t want to waste time,” he said. “I wanted to get right in the game.” Through last summer and much of the fall, Van Dyke’s tasks at the barn ranged from exercising horses, accompanying schoolers to the paddock, helping at feed time, and walking horses in the afternoon. “You’ve got to start at the bottom,” he said. With Proctor’s support, Van Dyke began gaining mounts at Hollywood Park late last year. By the start of 2014, he had four wins. Through the two meetings at Santa Anita, Van Dyke’s standing improved. He began riding for other stables and venturing to Turf Paradise in Phoenix to ride on Santa Anita’s dark days. Last week, after Gary Stevens announced that he would be sidelined to undergo a knee-replacement operation, Proctor turned to Van Dyke to ride at Arlington Park. The riding title at Los Alamitos has galvanized Van Dyke’s hopes for his first-ever Del Mar season. On Thursday, Van Dyke rides in eight of the 10 races. Van Dyke figures to be in high demand during the season even with Rafael Bejarano, the circuit’s leading rider in recent years, back in action following an injury in May and other riders such as Talamo, Tyler Baze, and Edwin Maldonado capable of winning titles. “My personal goal is to be in the top five,” Van Dyke said. “My goal is to be leading rider. If I get off to a good start, I have a good chance.” Standing 5-foot tall, Van Dyke dreamed of these days in his high school years. He is the son of former jockey and current Kentucky exercise rider Seth Van Dyke. In high school, Drayden Van Dyke ventured to Churchill Downs during the summer to work in the stables and to exercise horses. “I always have a goal to be one of the best,” he said. “I was training in high school to be a jockey.” Van Dyke turns 20 in September and will ride with a five-pound apprentice allowance until January. He has heard compliments about his riding but knows there is room for improvement. “A lot of people say I have good patience, good hands, and I don’t panic,” he said. “People say horses run for me. I need to keep horses straight and not over-whip.” With his success in recent months, Van Dyke is a candidate for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding apprentice this year. That would not be enough. Van Dyke is thinking about life after the “bug” ends and how he might fit into the national picture. “My goal when I lose the bug is to be a go-to guy for top trainers,” he said. Achieving that would make those afternoon chores seem further in the past.