Castellano notches win No. 4,000

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Javier Castellano reached another milestone when posting his 4,000th career win aboard Captain Stan in Sunday’s 10th race. The memorable victory capped off a tremendous weekend for Castellano, the meet’s leading rider, who swept both Grade 1 stakes, the Donn Handicap and Gulfstream Park Turf, the previous afternoon for trainer Todd Pletcher with Constitution and Mshawish, respectively. Castellano is the two-time reigning Eclipse Award winner as the nation’s top rider.

“I feel so, so happy, I think it’s one of the best moments of my life right now,” Castellano said after being saluted by his fellow riders in the winner’s circle following his 4,000th win. “I’m very fortunate to ride a lot of very good horses over the years, win two Eclipse Awards back to back, and a lot of great races. I’m feeling very thankful and blessed at the same time.”

The affable Castellano credited his agent, Matt Muzikar, and his family for playing such a huge role in his success.

“It’s a team effort,” Castellano said. “Matt puts everything together for me, all the horses I ride. And my wife and my kids have been supporting me, making sacrifices, all the time. Like during the winter when I have to be down here [in Florida] and they are up there [in New York]. But that’s part of the life. It was a special weekend all around, everything is going the right way now.”

Private Zone training well

Jorge Navarro, who sent out a pair of winners on Sunday including Captain Stan for Castellano’s 4,000th victory, reported that Private Zone continues to train forwardly for his much-anticipated 2015 debut, which is expected to come here later this winter. Private Zone worked five furlongs in 1:01 at Gulfstream Park West on Sunday with former rider Sebastian Madrid aboard. It was his second breeze since joining Navarro’s barn last month.

“He worked easily, but what really impressed me was the way in which he galloped out after the work,” Navarro said. “Right now the Gulfstream Park Handicap is probably our first option, although that’s not etched in stone just yet.”

The one-mile Gulfstream Park Handicap will be run on March 7.