Jockey Panici retires, joins track maintenance crew
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Veteran jockey Luca Panici, a mainstay on the South Florida circuit the last 16 years, announced his retirement following the conclusion of the Championship meet on Sunday at Gulfstream Park.
The Italian-born Panici, 52, a son of Vittorio Panici, Italy’s leading rider in the 1970s and 1980s, rode more than 500 winners in Europe. He rode his first winner in this country on Nov. 25, 2005, at Calder Race Course before switching his tack to South Florida on a permanent basis four years later. Overall, Panici rode 943 winners in the United States, the most noteworthy being Another Romance in the Grade 3 Azalea at Calder in 2012, Sole Volante in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis in 2020, and Maryquitecontrary in the Grade 2 Inside Information in 2023.
Although retiring from the saddle, Panici will continue working at Gulfstream Park as a member of the track maintenance crew.
“I feel good. It’s time. I’m 52. I’m not going to ride anymore, but I’m not leaving the track,” Panici said shortly before going out to guide his final mount, Baytown Parfait, to a second-place finish in Sunday’s 10th race.