Castellano resumes riding Wednesday as he eyes 6,000 wins
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, injured in a spill here on the July 3 opening day card, is set to return to race-riding on Wednesday at Saratoga, where he is named to ride one horse on the eight-race card.
Castellano, 48, suffered a lower back injury during the running of the Wild Applause Stakes, when his mount Paris Carver, was one of four horses who fell and unseated their riders. Castellano was cleared to return and has been getting on horses in the morning since Monday. On Friday, he worked a horse for George Weaver on the turf.
“I feel good, actually, I feel really good,” Castellano said. “I expected to be off longer. I was surprised, I went to the doctor, they took X-rays again, made sure everything in the back is clean, and I’m good to go.”
Paco Lopez, whose horse I Love Giraffes clipped heels with another horse in the Wild Applause and went down, which started the spill, was suspended 30 days by the stewards for his actions in that race. Castellano felt the spill could have been avoided.
“He’s a very professional rider, he’s been riding for a long time [but] he shouldn’t have been in that spot,” Castellano said. “The stewards made the decision to give him 30 days, it is what it is, just move forward. Thank God, we’re lucky, it should have not happened, it should have been avoided.”
Castellano is named to ride First Blessing for Jose Jimenez in a starter allowance on Wednesday. He hopes to ride Thursday and Friday in Saratoga and will be at Colonial Downs on Aug. 1 where he rides Fort Washington for Shug McGaughey in the Grade 1 Arlington Million and Alpyland for Mark Casse in the Grade 2 Secretariat.
Before his injury, Castellano was building some momentum for the meet, as he won five races during the final week at Aqueduct and won a race on the opening-day card at Saratoga. He has 5,992 career wins and looks to become the 18th jockey to reach the 6,000-win plateau.
“I can’t wait, hopefully I can make it here because this is such a prestigious meet,” said Castellano, who is actually tied with Stewart Elliott with 5,992 wins. “Everybody likes to race here and ride here and win races here. Can you imagine winning [my] 6,000th race here in Saratoga? That would be amazing.
“I had a lot of success at this meet, I won a recored seven Travers and hopefully I can make it eight with The Puma.”
Gustavo Delgado Jr., assistant to his father, confirmed that Castellano will be back on The Puma for the Travers on Aug. 29.
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