Bejarano nearing his 4,000th career win

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Rafael Bejarano may reach a career milestone Friday at Santa Anita.

Bejarano begins the eight-race program with 3,998 wins in North America. Bejarano, 36, has ridden in this country since May 2002 and began his career in 2001 in his native Peru.

Bejarano has two mounts Friday – Blended Citizen in the third race and Littlefirefighter in the seventh race. He has six mounts on Saturday’s nine-race program, including Desert Law in the $100,000 Thor’s Echo Stakes for California-breds at six furlongs.

Through Sunday, Bejarano has won 46 races this year. At the current spring-summer meeting at Santa Anita, which began April 12, Bejarano has won 18 races, leaving him in a tie for third, eight wins behind leader Flavien Prat.

Mandatory Rainbow 6 payout Sunday

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 will have a mandatory payout at Santa Anita on Sunday, a day in which the pool is expected to reach several million dollars.

There is a carryover of $1,161,294 for Friday’s Rainbow 6, a figure that could grow to approximately $1.4 million by Sunday, assuming there is not a single winning ticket on Friday or Saturday.

The carryover has accumulated since April 7. The Rainbow 6 had a mandatory payout on April 6, a day that began with a carryover of $815,939. There were 80 winning tickets worth $53,312 on a day in which the new money wagered reached $4,536,888.