Jockey Geroux to leave Fair Grounds, move to Santa Anita
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ARCADIA, Calif. - Veteran jockey Florent Geroux is moving to California.
Geroux, 39, who has ridden at Fair Grounds this winter, is scheduled to arrive at Santa Anita on Thursday and will begin riding on Friday, he said on Sunday.
Geroux will be represented by Matt Nakatani, who also books mounts on behalf of Umberto Rispoli. Rispoli is currently sidelined with leg and ankle injuries sustained when he was unseated in a turf sprint at Gulfstream Park on January 24.
A recent discussion with Rispoli and Nakatani prompted Geroux’s decision to move to California.
“I went to visit him in the hospital,” Geroux said on Sunday morning. “We talked it over. I decided to jump on the opportunity.
“Business has been a bit slow at the Fair Grounds. I’m winning, but I’m not riding a lot.”
Through Saturday, Geroux has won seven races this year from 33 mounts, with all the wins at Fair Grounds. In his career, Geroux has won 2,319 races in North America since 2007. He achieved a personal best with 217 wins in 2016. His mounts earned more than $21.4 million in 2018, a career record.
Last March, Geroux won the $12 million Dubai World Cup on Hit Show in the United Arab Emirates.
Geroux is booked to ride four of the nine races on Friday.
This will be the first time Geroux has been based at Santa Anita. He has won five races at the track since 2014, including four Grade 1 races – the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Work All Week, the 2019 Shoemaker Mile on Bolo, the 2021 Frank Kilroe Mile on Hit the Road, and the 2023 BC Distaff on Idiomatic.
Geroux’s biggest win in the United States occurred in California, the 2017 BC Classic at Del Mar on Gun Runner. Geroux was based at Del Mar in summer 2022, winning seven races from 92 mounts.
Late in 2025, Geroux rode in Japan on a short-term basis, with two wins from 59 mounts.
“It was something I always wanted to do,” Geroux said. “It’s extremely hard to get a license.
“Winning the Dubai World Cup qualified me to go there. I thought, Why not jump on the opportunity? It was good experience.”
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