OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Jason Huayas is not your typical apprentice jockey. He did not graduate from a famous jockeys school and didn’t start riding races until last April at the age of 29. Now 30, married with two children, Huayas is trying to launch a career in one of the toughest professions around. With nine wins at Aqueduct since Dec. 1, things are off to a promising start. Overall, Huayas has ridden 21 winners in his career and rides as a seven-pound apprentice. “It’s never too late to start anything,” Huayas said in a recent interview between races at Aqueduct. “I want that to be an example to my children. No matter what age if you want to start something you can start it, you can do it. You have to put your mind to it. No excuses.” :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. Huayas, a native of Peru, is a third-generation horseman. His father, Rafael, rode 36 races at South Florida tracks in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before moving to Spain where it is believed he became the first individual to ride, train, and own a winner. Jason Huayas – his given names is Gherson “but everyone knows me as Jason” he said – came to the U.S. in 2000. He remained in the U.S. even when his father moved to Spain. In high school, Huayas attempted other sports, but said the fastest path to becoming a U.S. citizen was to get a job, so he went to the track. He began working for trainer Leo Azpurua, but Huayas said that didn’t work out well. Huayas went back to Spain for a month where his father gave him some pointers on riding before he returned to the U.S. Huayas worked for Robert Ribaudo in Florida and then at Saratoga. It was there he met trainer Ralph Nicks, who brought Huayas to Florida and began giving him more responsibilities. Huayas started as a groom for Nicks but eventually began exercising horses. Still, by working primarily in the mornings with his afternoons free, his weight rose to nearly 150 pounds. When he found out his wife, Isabel, was pregnant with the couple’s second child, Huayas decided he wanted to ride races and went on a strict diet. He also began galloping more horses in the morning, with Nicks putting him on some of the more difficult horses in the barn. “I’m very grateful for that,” Huayas said. “He not only prepared me physically, he prepared me mentally. Even now, he’ll message me and I’ll talk to him. I was very blessed to win a race for him. He’s always been like a father figure to me.” Huayas won a race for Nicks last September at Gulfstream Park, a special victory for both trainer and jockey. “It was rewarding,” Nicks said. “You watch a kid come around in a short period of time that was a groom, took the time to go and learn to exercise horses properly, work on a diet to lose 30 to 40 pounds to give himself the fitness level, and he paid attention. A lot of things came together for him due to discipline and hard work. At the end of the day, he’s being rewarded.” In October, trainer Roger Laurin put Huayas on longshot Tigre in the $400,000 In Reality division of the Florida Sire Stakes where, at 71-1, he finished second to odds-on favorite Awesome Strong. “To me that was a win,” Huayas said. Huayas rode at Gulfstream until mid-November. With many of New York’s high-profile riders moving their tack to Gulfstream for the winter, Huayas moved his to New York and started working with agent Michael Migliore, who is also the agent for Dylan Davis. Huayas started riding at Aqueduct on Nov. 25 and won his first race here on Dec. 1. He rode four more winners in December and started off the winter meet, which began Jan. 1, going 5 for 41. Huayas called Migliore “a game changer.” “He’s the one putting me on these horses,” Huayas said. “He works just as hard as me. You can see what he’s doing with Dylan.” :: DRF Bets players have exclusive access to FREE DRF Past Performances - Classic or Formulator! Join today.  Huayas said Davis has a locker right next to him and has provided advice. “For him to start from the bottom and now where he’s at – one of the top riders in New York,” Huayas said of Davis. “Just to imitate that hard work that he did I know it’s going to get me there.” Business should pick up for Huayas soon. Jose Gomez, the leading apprentice in New York and a finalist for the Eclipse Award, loses his weight allowance and becomes a journeyman starting Thursday. Those horsemen looking for an apprentice jockey will likely turn to Huayas. When he earns his 40th career win, he’ll become a five-pound apprentice, an allowance he’ll retain until the end of July. “My goal is to be top five at this meet,” said Huayas, who is tied for sixth in the standings with Gomez. “I know I just got here and it’s crazy to think about, but nothing’s impossible. I want to do good here, so wherever I go I’ll have an opportunity to ride.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.