Gutierrez goes 5 for 5 on Friday mounts

ARCADIA, Calif. – With a little help from the stewards, jockey Mario Gutierrez was perfect with five mounts Friday at Santa Anita, the second time in his career he has recorded five victories on a program.

Gutierrez, best known for winning the 2012 Kentucky Derby on I’ll Have Another, had five wins at Hastings Park in British Columbia in May 2008.

On Friday, Gutierrez’s five-win day gave him 10 wins for the autumn meeting, putting him second behind leader Rafael Bejarano with 16. He won the first race with Stealth Drone ($4.20), and the third through sixth races on Frank Conversation ($19.60), Lily Pod ($5.80), Sleepwalker ($5.80), and Light Striker ($11).

Sleepwalker was promoted from second to first in a maiden race on the hillside turf course after One of the Greats was disqualified and placed fourth for causing interference when the field crossed from the hillside portion of the turf course to the main turf course.

Gutierrez is expected to have mounts in three Breeders’ Cup races at Keeneland on Oct. 31 – Nyquist in the BC Juvenile, Land Over Sea in the BC Juvenile Fillies, and Jimmy Bouncer in the BC Sprint or BC Turf Sprint. All three are trained by Doug O’Neill for Paul and Zillah Reddam, the same trainer and owners as I’ll Have Another.

“It’s been a long work in progress,” said Gutierrez, 29. “The hard work is paying off.”