Jockey Esquivel making a name for himself

Jockey Manny Esquivel was to resume riding Saturday in Chicago at Hawthorne after spending several months in New York and should have a decent chance to repeat as leading rider at the 2014 Arlington Park meet, which begins Friday.

Esquivel, who launched his career just over a year ago at Hawthorne, was the surprise leading rider last summer at Arlington, where he nipped James Graham, 83 wins to 79. Esquivel moved his tack to New York during the Hawthorne meet last fall and won 54 races at Aqueduct late last year and during the first three-plus months of 2014.

“As of the first of March, it looked like he might stay there, but by the middle of April, he told me he was for sure coming back,” said Ben Allen, who was Esquivel’s agent here last year and is booking mounts for him again.

Esquivel, who was raised in the area around Hawthorne, endeared himself to local horsemen with an open personality and a strong work ethic that, evidently, has not waned with the loss of the apprentice status that helped land him mounts last summer.

“One of the first things he said to me was, ‘Let’s see how many we can work Saturday morning,’ ” Allen said. “He’s working seven.”

Another newcomer to the Chicago circuit, Santo Sanjur, has started riding at Hawthorne this week.

Meanwhile, Tim Thornton is having a typically strong Hawthorne meet and, with 51 winners entering Friday’s card, is set to win the winter-spring riding title for the second year in a row.