NEW ORLEANS – The career of jockey Florent Geroux clearly has been ascending in the last few years, and his start at this Fair Grounds meet indicates that he intends to continue the trend. Geroux’s two stakes wins last Saturday, in the Silverbulletday on Stageplay and the Grade 3 Col. E.R. Bradley Handicap on Chocolate Ride, helped boost the jockey to the top of the local standings in purse earnings at $1.16 million through Thursday’s races. Having won 39 races from 153 mounts, Geroux ranked second in the jockeys’ standings in victories, three behind Colby Hernandez, who had ridden 87 more horses. “I’m just trying to catch up,’’ said Geroux, who missed seven racing days early in the meet. Four days were well spent on a trip to Hong Kong, where Geroux rode Mongolian Saturday to a fifth-place finish in the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint on Dec. 13. Later in the month, a suspension cost Geroux three racing days. Last week, Geroux was honored by the Jockeys’ Guild and JockeyTalk360.com as the most improved jockey for 2015. By several measures, he was more successful last year than the year before. But was Geroux, 29, really a better rider? “I think it’s better horses and better opportunities,’’ he said. His first Grade 1 win, on Work All Week in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 2014, put Geroux on the national radar and was the highlight of a breakthrough year. He won 143 races in 2014, three fewer than his previous high, achieved in 2011. His purse earnings in 2014 jumped to $5.83 million, exceeding his previous best by more than $1.5 million. Also in 2014, Geroux won seven graded races, one more than his total from 2010 through 2013. The boost to his business wasn’t immediate, he said. “When I won the Breeders’ Cup on Work All Week, it took a while to kick in,’’ he said. “It didn’t kick in right away.’’ It did in 2015, which Geroux capped with two Breeders’ Cup wins. He set career highs for wins, 175, and purse earnings, $10.23 million. He achieved career-best national rankings in wins, 32nd, and earnings, 13th. And his 14 graded wins included five in Grade 1 races: on The Pizza Man in the Arlington Million, I’m a Chatterbox in the Cotillion, Her Emmynency in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, Catch a Glimpse in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Mongolian Saturday in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Geroux, who finished second in wins and purse earnings last season at Fair Grounds, said that he and agent Doug Bredar didn’t consider any moves for this winter. “Most of the guys we’re riding for, outfits from Chicago and Kentucky, were going to be here,’’ Geroux said. Trainer Larry Jones said he’s attracted by Geroux’s versatility. “He’s good if you need him in front,’’ Jones said. “He’s so good at getting horses to relax. He has something to finish with.’’ I’m a Chatterbox, ridden by Geroux for Jones, won the Silverbulletday last season by leading all the way, won the Rachel Alexandra with a rally from the back, and won the Fair Grounds Oaks by stalking. Geroux’s versatility enhanced the filly’s versatility, Jones said. I’m a Chatterbox finished third in the Kentucky Oaks. Geroux said he thinks Stageplay, trained by Steve Asmussen, has the potential to be a legitimate Kentucky Oaks contender. “She’s all business, very smart, a very talented filly,’’ Geroux said. “I’m hoping she keeps doing better.’’ Geroux said he’ll head to Kentucky after this meet. After riding at Keeneland, he’ll go to Churchill Downs for the entire spring meet instead of going to Arlington Park, which had been his spring-summer base for several years. His plan for after the Churchill meet hasn’t been decided. “If we’re doing real well,’’ Saratoga might be an option, he said. For sure, though, Geroux said he’s “looking forward to Kentucky Downs in September.’’ A Frenchman who began his career in his native country, Geroux excelled last year on the European-style turf course at Kentucky Downs. He led the jockeys’ standings in wins, with 12 from 28 mounts (43 percent), and earnings, with $1.18 million. “The money’s amazing, and people bring nice horses,’’ he said.