Geroux headed back to Churchill base

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Florent Geroux will ride at Santa Anita for the first time in four weeks on Saturday before returning to his current base at Churchill Downs on Sunday.

Geroux relocated to California in February and won 12 races at Sana Anita through the end of April. He has ridden at Churchill Downs this month, winning six races, notably the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on May 2 on the exciting 3-year-old Crude Velocity.

Two of Geroux’s wins at Santa Anita earlier this year were aboard Crude Velocity in a maiden race and an allowance race. Crude Velocity is trained by Bob Baffert, who has approximately 34 horses at Churchill Downs this spring.

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Geroux said he is eager to ride Crude Velocity in his next start, which could be the Grade 1 Woody Stephens Stakes at seven furlongs at Saratoga on June 6, or the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes at 1 1/16 miles Churchill Downs the following day. Both races have purses of $500,000.

Despite his activity in Kentucky, Geroux said he has not abandoned plans to ride in California in the future.

“I still have my stuff in California,” he said last weekend. “I have my car, my clothes.”

At Santa Anita on Saturday, Geroux has mounts in six of the 10 races, including two of the five stakes for statebreds. He rides Holdthatrainbow in the $125,000 Melair Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles, and Smoovin Saturday in the $125,000 Snow Chief Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

On Sunday, Geroux is scheduled to return to Churchill Downs to ride Warlander in an allowance race for Steve Asmussen. On Monday, he is booked to ride the Baffert-trained Usha in the Grade 3 Winning Colors Stakes, a $250,000 race for fillies and mares at six furlongs.

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