Dylan Davis to winter in New York

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After spending last winter riding at Gulfstream Park, where he did pretty well, jockey Dylan Davis will stay in New York this upcoming winter.

Davis said he will do what many other riders do during the winter, which is fly down to Gulfstream as needed. Despite missing the first month of Gulfstream Park’s winter meet, Davis won 38 races – good enough for seventh in the standings – and his horses earned $2.38 million.

In the winter of 2024, Davis was the leading rider at the Aqueduct meet with 54 wins, and his horses earned $2.7 million. The previous winter, Davis won 60 races, missing out on the riding title by three victories, and his horses earned $3.3 million.

Davis said one of the main reasons he went to Gulfstream last winter was to try to find a Kentucky Derby horse. Though he rode in some of the prep races, he didn’t ride in the Derby.

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“Realized New York is home and I can just ship down when needed,” Davis said. “But it was nice to get down there and put my name and my face out there and build up some new relationships with new trainers that I’d never ridden for before.”

Davis also felt that not being in New York last winter may have cost him business during the Saratoga meet, where he rode 21 winners. The previous year, Davis won 36 races at Saratoga.

Davis cited the uncertainty of Gulfstream’s future due to the ongoing battles over decoupling and the fact that Belmont Park is expected to reopen next fall as additional reasons to stay in New York this winter. The winter New York colony figures to be strong, with Flavien Prat announcing he was going to make Aqueduct his winter base and Ricardo Santana Jr. having moved to New York full-time in May.

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