Castellano wins five in a row at Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Jockey Javier Castellano had a memorable - and perhaps historic - Sunday afternoon, riding five consecutive winners at Saratoga.

Horse racing records being incomplete, it is not known if five consecutive victories is a Saratoga record. On Sept. 3, 2001, John Velazquez set a Saratoga record with six wins on a card, though only four of those came consecutively. In 2004, Velazquez teamed up with trainer Todd Pletcher to win five races, four of them consecutively. Twice in a six-day period in 2003 Jerry Bailey won four consecutive races here.

Other riders to win five races on one day at Saratoga include Bailey, Ron Turcotte, Julie Krone, Angel Cordero Jr., and Mike Smith.

For Castellano, this was the third time he won five races on a Saratoga card. He did it on Sept. 6, 2004, closing day, and Sept. 3, 2005.

"It's so amazing, I'm so thankful and blessed," Castellano, 32, said. "I appreciate all the trainers that give me support to ride live horses; they got a lot of confidence in me."

After finishing third in the opener aboard Frivolous Buck, Castellano won the second with Yawkey Way ($7.60), the third with Cody Samora ($3.80), the fourth on Desert Key ($8.80), the fifth on Fiddler's Chaparito ($5.10), and the sixth on Stand Proud ($27), who broke last but got up in the final two strides to win.

"He broke slow out of the gate," Castellano said. "I didn't rush, I let him give a chance to let him get his feet underneath him. It's amazing, when I asked him he took off. I knew at the eighth pole I got it. This day everything went the right way no matter what."

After not riding the seventh, Castellano's streak came to an end when Peace Wine finished last in the eighth.