Flores drops agent, will book own mounts

Jockey David Flores has parted with agent Ron Anderson and will begin booking his own mounts next week.

Flores decided on Wednesday to part with Anderson when the first condition book for the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting is completed on Sunday. The second book, which lists the proposed races and conditions for the next three weeks of racing, starts on Wednesday.

Flores, 41, has never booked mounts on his own. In the last year, Flores has been allied with agents that already represented prominent jockeys. Flores was represented by Brad Pegram, who books mounts for Mike Smith, and since late July by Anderson, who represents Garrett Gomez.

"Being the second guy is not good," Flores said on Wednesday. "I want to learn. I'll do this [for book 2] and go from there. I like challenges."

"It will get me out of bed early," he said, smiling.

Flores has struggled for wins lately. At the current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, he has 2 wins from 14 mounts through Sunday, the eighth day of the meeting. Flores's last graded stakes win was the Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup aboard Awesome Gem in early October. He did not win a Grade 1 in 2009.