Cancel's six-win day gives him Aqueduct meet riding title

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Jockey Eric Cancel had a career-best day and it helped him achieve a career-first milestone.

Cancel won six races on Sunday’s Aqueduct card to usurp Kendrick Carmouche and win his first-ever meet riding title, 78-76. Sunday was closing day of the 54-day Aqueduct winter meet.

Cancel, 24, capped his first six-win day by guiding My Boy Tate to a neck victory over Bankit in the $100,000 Haynesfield Stakes.

Cancel, who trailed Carmouche by 13 wins following the March 19 card, won 19 races from 45 mounts over the last six cards to finish with 78 wins from 361 mounts. Carmouche, the Aqueduct fall meet leader, went 4 for 35 over the last six cards and finished with 76 wins from 325 mounts. Cancel also finished first in purse money won with $4,019,887.

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“It feels wonderful,” said Cancel, who is represented by agent P.J. Campo. “[Saturday], I didn’t think I was going to get him, but today I woke up and was like you just got to keep on swinging these last three rounds that you got, you just got to go for it and I just went with it all today.”

On a sloppy track, Cancel won the opener on Sono Grato ($11.80). After finishing second in race 2 on Big Mountain, Cancel won the third on Lobsta ($7.10), the fourth on Kith ($5.30), the fifth on City Temper ($4.10) and the sixth on Make Mischief ($5.20), who beat Carmouche on 3-5 favorite Ice Princess. He then won the Haynesfield on My Boy Tate ($6.10), rallying from third to just get up at the wire.

Cancel, who finished third in his final mount Sunday, tied a New York Racing Association record for most wins on a single card. Sixteen jockeys have won six races on a NYRA card with Steve Cauthen and Ramon Dominguez having done it three times. In 2018, Dylan Davis did it twice in two weeks.

Cancel was riding My Boy Tate for the first time in the Haynesfield. The gelding was 0 for 2 at a mile, but he came from last in a four-horse field to win the Hollie Hughes at six furlongs on Feb. 15. Manny Franco rode My Boy Tate that day, but rode Bankit on Sunday.

“I just tried to ride him the same way Manny did last time, very confident and just wait to the last eighth and he fired on from there,” Cancel said.

My Boy Tate, a 7-year-old gelding by Boys At Tosconova and owned by Little Red Feather Racing as well as trainer Michelle Nevin, covered the mile in 1:36.37 and returned $6.10.

Rudy Rodriguez finished as the leading trainer at the meet with 36 wins, 10 more than Linda Rice.

Michael Dubb and Mike Repole finished in a tie for wins at the meet with 10 apiece.

Aqueduct’s 11-day spring meet begins Thursday. The first two turf races of the year are scheduled for Friday.