Gonzalez wins six races on Tampa Bay Downs card

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Edwin Gonzalez became the second jockey in Tampa Bay Downs history to win six races on a single card when he capped Friday’s 10-race program with a win aboard the favored Blake’s Magic in a claiming race on turf.

Gonzalez won with Blake’s Magic ($5) for trainer Mandy Ness, Perennis ($3.60) for trainer Gerald Bennett in the second race, El Coco Paa ($6.40) in the fifth race for Victor Carrasco Jr., Oldstone Farmhouse ($5.80) in a dead heat with Big Awesome for Jason DaCosta in the sixth race, One for Don ($12.80) for Ness in the eighth race, and Just My Game ($12) for Kathleen O’Connell in the ninth race.

Gonzalez joined Richard DePass, who went 7 for 7 on March 15, 1980, as the only jockeys in track history with six or more victories on a card. Gonzalez, who also won six races on a card at Penn National, ranks second in the Tampa jockey standings with 53 wins, eight behind five-time local riding champion Daniel Centeno.

“I feel so happy,” Gonzalez, 25, told track publicity. “My agent [Mike Moran] and I have been working so hard, but today is still hard to believe. [Moran] told me I was going to start a little slow here because it was my first year, but he thought I could be leading jockey. We’re both trying hard to make that happen, and everything I rode today was hot.”

“Edwin has been very consistent for us all season and is getting better and better,” Ness said. “He studies the races and is learning his competition, and right now he’s riding great.”