Carmouche finds success in first year on New York circuit

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Kendrick Carmouche probably could have started riding in New York earlier than he did. He just wanted to make sure that when he arrived, he was going to succeed.

Judging by the first-year results, Carmouche timed his arrival in New York just right, as he finished 2015 with 110 wins from 807 mounts at New York Racing Association tracks, good enough for eighth place in the standings.

“Did I meet my expectations? I think I went way past them,” Carmouche said Monday. “I always think small before I think big. I think you have better success that way.”

Carmouche, 32, is succeeding in a big way this winter at Aqueduct. Following three victories Sunday, Carmouche has 21 wins through the first 17 days of the 64-day inner-track meet, tying him for first in the standings with Irad Ortiz Jr.

Carmouche was a five-time leading rider at Parx (2008-11 and 2013) before moving to New York last January. He won with his first mount – Majestic Affair in the Fred “Cappy” Capossela Stakes – but then went six weeks and 26 mounts without a win. He steadily gained traction throughout the year. For his first Saratoga meet, he rode 16 winners and followed that up with 18 wins at Belmont’s fall meet and 20 wins during the Aqueduct fall session.

“The first year, I learned a lot riding on New York surfaces just paying attention,” Carmouche said. “The inner track is a totally different kind of track than Belmont or Saratoga. It’s more of a bullring around the turns. You got to save ground, be more forward than backward.”

Carmouche gave Perfect Freud a terrific front-running ride in Sunday’s third race, taking control from the outset despite the presence of what seemed on paper like other speed in the field.

“I knew one horse had speed, but it was off-the-turf speed going a mile and an eighth,” Carmouche said. “I thought my filly was a lot quicker than her, and the way the track was favoring [speed] after I won the first race, I thought I should do the same thing.”

Carmouche’s 21 wins at this meet have come for 11 trainers, including five for Danny Gargan and four for Bruce Levine. It’s always nice to have a high-profile trainer backing you, and Chad Brown has given Carmouche some opportunities based on the success the two had at Parx (27 for 60).

“He seems to take information he gains from one race and applies it to the next race,” Brown said. “He comes to the paddock with a solid plan of what he intends to do and oftentimes executes it well.”

Overall in 2015, Carmouche won 148 races and set a personal best with $8.1 million in earnings. He has goals for 2016 but wasn’t quite ready to reveal them.

“I don’t like to speak loudly about them,” he said. “I like to accomplish them. But if you ask me that question at the end of the year, I’ll be sure to share it with you.”