Hot streak pushes Franco closer to first riding title

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Like the relentless nor’easters that seem to be arriving on a weekly basis, jockey Manny Franco has been pummeling his competition this month at Aqueduct.

In eight racing days here in March, Franco has 20 wins from 63 mounts. He won a personal-best five races on the March 9 card at Aqueduct and nearly duplicated the feat on Sunday, winning four times before losing the last race by the slimmest of noses.

The recent hot streak has catapulted Franco past Dylan Davis atop the rider standings. Franco holds a 53-46 lead over Davis with five days remaining in the winter meet, which ends March 31. Franco, 23, is seeking his first career meet title.

“It’s a big deal,” Franco said Sunday morning at Belmont Park after working a pair of horses for trainer Chad Brown. “All the jockeys want to win a title, especially here in New York.”

Franco’s success in New York this winter is due in part to the absence of two of his fellow natives of Puerto Rico, Irad Ortiz Jr. and Jose Ortiz. Those two are riding at Gulfstream Park this winter.

All three attended the same jockey school in Puerto Rico and then came to the Northeast to ply their trade. Irad Ortiz Jr., 25, and Jose Ortiz, 24, have dominated the New York circuit the past four years and have combined to win the last two runnings of the Belmont Stakes. Jose Ortiz won the Eclipse Award as champion jockey of 2017.

Franco was the fourth-leading rider in wins on the NYRA circuit in 2015, third in 2016, and second last year.

“I hope so; I see it that way,” said Franco when asked if he sees himself following the career path of the Ortiz brothers. “They have one year, two years ahead of me. That’s how it goes.”

The Ortiz brothers have worked their way into the top barns in the country, such as Chad Brown’s and Todd Pletcher’s. This winter at Aqueduct, Franco has gone 10 for 29 for Pletcher and 6 for 15 for Brown. One horse he rode for Brown, Backyard Heaven, was quite impressive last Saturday at Aqueduct, earning a 107 Beyer Speed Figure.

It remains to be seen if Franco will keep the mount on Backyard Heaven, who would seem bound for stakes company next out. Irad Ortiz was aboard for the colt’s maiden win in December.

Franco has lost one high-profile mount this winter: Catholic Boy, on whom he won the Grade 2 Remsen last fall and finished second, beaten a half-length, in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa in February. He will be ridden by Irad Ortiz in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream on March 31.

“I feel a little disappointed about that,” Franco said. “Like I told John Panagot” – racing manager for owner Robert LaPenta – “good luck.”

Franco added that he thought Catholic Boy “did everything right” and “I think I rode a good race” in Tampa.

Angel Cordero Jr., the Hall of Fame jockey, is Franco’s agent. He said Franco losing key mounts to more-established riders is part of the process at this stage of his career.

“It happens to most of the jockeys,” Cordero said. “Maybe a year from now, two years from now they’ll be moving somebody for him.”

Franco’s best Derby prospect at the moment is Firenze Fire, on whom he won the Jerome here on Jan. 13. Most recently, Franco rode Firenze Fire to a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Gotham. Firenze Fire didn’t settle in the Gotham and was intimidated between horses, according to Franco. In the Jerome, Franco was able to get Firenze Fire to settle behind a slow pace before he came with a run.

“On him I like to wait, wait and make one move,” Franco said. “He doesn’t like to pass the horses early. He pulls himself up a little bit.”

Franco rode the 2015 Kentucky Derby, finishing 17th on Tencendur, 35 lengths behind American Pharoah. Whether he makes it back this year doesn’t change the fact Franco is an emerging star on this circuit.

“My dream is to get him to the top,” Cordero said.