Flores, after 30 years riding, notches first training win

David Flores collected many great memories in his 30-plus years of riding in the United States and winning more than 3,600 races. He created another indelible memory Friday at Tampa Bay Downs when a 3-year-old colt named Higgins gave him his first victory as a trainer.

“This is what it [felt] like when I was riding,” Flores, 51, told publicity at the Oldsmar, Fla., track. “It reminds me of how exciting our sport is, and I’m grateful to be around good horses and great people on the other side of the game now.”

Flores rode his first winner at Agua Caliente in his native Mexico in 1984, then came to the U.S. later that year. His first major breakthrough came when he won the 1991 Hollywood Gold Cup aboard Marquetry for the late Bobby Frankel. He would go on to win three Breeders’ Cup races and numerous other major events, including the 1997 Santa Anita Handicap, the 1998 Kentucky Oaks, and the 2003 Arlington Million. His mounts earned nearly $154 million.

Flores began riding in Singapore in December 2013 before returning some 15 months later. He rode a couple more years, with his last mount coming at Del Mar in July 2017, and soon turned to training. He, his wife, and two children now live in Ocala, Fla., where Flores oversees a small stable of runners among his other equine-related activities.

The victory in the 1 1/16-mile maiden turf race with Higgins, who returned $17.40 to win after surviving a foul claim, came with Flores’s seventh starter. The Kentucky-bred son of Giant’s Causeway, making his fourth start, is owned by Imagine Racing and Margaret Fauber and was ridden by Jesus Castanon, a native of Mexico City.

“I’ve known Jesus and his family since I was an apprentice at Caliente in 1984,” Flores said. “This is a great start to my new career, and it’s special to do it with someone I’ve known since we were kids.”