Castellano prevails in race for Shoemaker Award

DEL MAR, Calif. – Javier Castellano, who won Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and was second or third in four other Breeders’ Cup races, won the Shoemaker Award as the outstanding jockey for the two days of Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar on Friday and Saturday.

The contest was based on a 10-5-3-1 point system for top-four finishes. Castellano, who has won the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding jockey the last four years, rode nine of the 13 Breeders’ Cup races and scored 25 points.

Castellano, 40, won the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf on Rushing Fall and was third on Voting Control later that day. On Saturday, he was second in the Sprint on Imperial Hint and had two third-place finishes – aboard Carina Mia in the Filly and Mare Sprint and West Coast in the Classic.

Three riders finished second in the Shoemaker standings with 23 points – Jose Ortiz, Flavien Prat, and John Velazquez.

Velazquez was the lone jockey to win two Breeders’ Cup races – Friday’s Distaff on Forever Unbridled and Saturday’s Mile on World Approval.

The Shoemaker Award was launched in 2003, shortly after the death of Hall of Famer Bill Shoemaker.