Goncalves, Cohen head to South Florida for the fall
The local jockey colony will gain a couple new editions with the opening of the Gulfstream Park West meet at Calder next Wednesday, with both Leandro Goncalves and David Cohen having moved their tack to South Florida for the winter.
Goncalves comes to town via Kentucky, where he regularly has been riding at Churchill Downs, with several forays to Kentucky Downs during the month of September. Goncalves is nearing the 1,500 milestone for career victories, having won from 217 to 298 races for four consecutive years between 2009 and 2012. The bulk of his success has come in the Midwest at Indiana Downs and Hoosier Downs, as well as at Tampa Bay Downs, where he was the leading rider two years ago.
Goncalves will have his engagements handled by Kevin Meyocks, the son of Terry Meyocks, the former president of the New York Racing Association and currently the national manager of the Jockeys’ Guild. The younger Meyocks has been serving as stakes coordinator at Gulfstream under Director of Racing P.J. Campo but will leave that post shortly to resume his career as a jockey agent.
Cohen, who has ridden 1,237 winners, returns to the saddle for the first time since February, when he suffered a broken fibula and tibia in his right leg after being kicked by his mount, Recoup, in the paddock prior to a race at Aqueduct. Cohen, who finished 11th in total victories on the New York circuit in 2013, was fifth in the standings at Aqueduct with 20 wins at the time of his accident. Cohen also rode regularly here during the winter of 2012-13.
“I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to be back riding again,” said Cohen, who has been getting on nine to 10 horses a day in the morning for the past three weeks at Belmont Park, readying for his return. “The time off has really been good for me, as much from a mental standpoint as anything else. My agent, Bill Castle, and I believe it’s a perfect time to return to Florida, especially since many of the New York horsemen have already started shipping horses down for the season because of the year-round racing program they’ve got there now.”