OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Before he sets up shop at Gulfstream Park for the winter, jockey Dylan Davis had some unfinished business in New York. It was important to Davis to end 2024 as the leading rider on the New York Racing Association circuit, something he accomplished with 209 wins, 13 more than Manny Franco. Davis also led all jockeys in purse money won with $15,349,606, a smidge more than Franco’s $15,318,056. Davis officially clinched the NYRA title on Saturday without winning a race. On Sunday, he went 2 for 4, including winning the final race of the calendar year aboard Majulu. “The reason why I waited until January to go to Gulfstream was because I wanted to finish out the year as the NYRA leading rider,” said Davis, who was also NYRA’s leading rider in 2022. “It means a lot because you put a lot of hard work in and there’s only one [jockey that can be the leader] for the whole year. I was in the hunt and I was leading and I wanted to get my second one.” Horsemen and bettors couldn’t help but take notice of Davis during the Saratoga meet, where he was booting home winner after winner, often at double-digit prices. His $2.82 ROI at Saratoga was the best among jockeys with at least 10 wins. He finished the meet tied for third in wins with 36 and second in stakes wins with eight. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. “Saratoga is where you want to get hot, I opened a lot of eyes,” Davis, 30, said. “I was always the same rider, I just needed some opportunities and I capitalized on the opportunity at Saratoga. Everything was working for me, perfect trips, horses were winning, longshots, and that snowballed all the way into the fall.” Davis continued his success through the fall, winning the Belmont at the Big A fall meet title with 44 wins; his eight graded stakes wins were second only to Flavien Prat’s 10. Davis finished second at the Aqueduct fall meet that concluded Sunday with 32 wins, two fewer than Franco. Nationally, through Sunday, Davis ranked ninth in both wins (211) and purse money won ($16,736,034). Davis said his 2024 highlight was his Grade 1 victory aboard Carson’s Run in the Saratoga Derby. Davis said he is going to Gulfstream this winter in an effort to ride better horses and hopefully find mounts for the Kentucky Derby and Oaks. The suggestion to ride at Gulfstream was first brought up to Davis by trainer Mark Casse, who told Davis that he would use him on most everything he runs. Though Davis could have battled for leading rider at Aqueduct’s winter meet, he said it was always his goal to ultimately winter at Gulfstream and said he plans on making it a yearly thing. “I plan on making it work so it’s routine that I go to Gulfstream," Davis said. “Next winter I want to be there earlier, I want to make it where it’s December through March.” Davis won’t start riding at Gulfstream until Saturday as he serves a three-day careless riding suspension for an incident during the running of the $500,000 Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Series. Brown, Klaravich top NYRA standings While Davis won his second year-end NYRA riding title, Chad Brown won his ninth leading trainer’s title with 146 wins from 574 starters. Brown was the leading trainer in purse money won with $15,881,246. Linda Rice, who ended Brown’s eight-year run as leading trainer in 2023 when she tied a NYRA single-year record with 164 wins, finished second in 2024 with 121 wins. She was followed by Todd Pletcher (67), Rudy Rodriguez (66) and Mike Maker (64). Brown’s primary client, Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stable, led all owners in wins with 63 wins, 25 more than Michael Dubb (38). Klarman’s stable earned $5,957,965 in New York. Rounding out the owner’s top five in wins were Rice (34), Winning Move (29) and Sanford Goldfarb (28). McAfee, Thorpedo Anna’s brother, in Jerome McAfee, the half-brother to presumptive 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, will look to make a name for himself in Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct. McAfee drew the outside post in a field of eight entered Sunday in the Jerome, a one-turn-mile race that offers 21 qualifying points (10-5-3-2-1) to the May 3 Kentucky Derby. McAfee, trained by Rick Dutrow for Black Type Thoroughbreds, Swinbank Stables, Campeche Stable and breeder Judy Hicks, won his debut going six furlongs at Churchill Downs, then finished second, beaten a head, in a first-level allowance going a one-turn mile at Churchill on Nov. 24. Dutrow also trains Ican, who was supplemented to the Jerome by FMQ Stables. Ican finished second to Jerome contender Cyclone State in a first-level allowance here on Dec. 6. Studlydoright, who won the Nashua going a one-turn mile here on Nov. 2, shortens back to that distance after running fourth in the Grade 2 Remsen going 1 1/8 miles on Dec. 7. Mansetti, a stakes winner sprinting on Woodbine’s synthetic surface, Omaha Omaha, a recent allowance winner at Laurel, Enduring Spirit and Georgia Magic complete the Jerome field. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.