Jockey Valdiva's busy day includes notching 2,000th North American triumph

ARCADIA, Calif. - Veteran jockey Jose Valdivia Jr., and his family know how to fill a Saturday.

On Saturday morning, Valdivia’s daughter, Siena, took her college entrance exams, a few hours before the Santa Anita program. That afternoon, Valdivia won his 2,000th race in North America in the sixth race on Mitico ($6.80).

Valdivia’s wife, Renee, Siena, and brother Luca did not attend the races. They were en route to Dodger Stadium about 18 miles from Santa Anita to watch the late afternoon start of the Yankees-Dodgers game.

Jose Valdivia fought his way through traffic to get to the game by the second inning.

“I was lucky,” he said.

A Yankees fan, Valdivia watched his team beat the Dodgers, 6-3.

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Valdivia, 48, rode Mitico for trainer Paula Capestro, an association that dates back to Valdivia’s start in the 1990s.

A native of Peru, Valdivia has ridden throughout the United States, winning two of the biggest races of his career at Belmont Park – the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Mile aboard Southern California-based Val Royal, and the 2011 Belmont Stakes on Ruler On Ice.

Valdivia was the leading rider at Arlington Park for five seasons from 2015 through 2019 before moving back to California in 2019.

His California milestones include a leading rider title at the Los Angeles County Fair at Fairplex Park in 1995 as an apprentice. Later that decade, Valdivia was the regular rider of the sprinter Big Jag, riding the gelding to eight stakes wins in 1998-1999 and a third in the BC Sprint at Gulfstream Park in 1999.

Mitico was Valdivia’s seventh win of 2023.

Aside from 2,000 wins in North America, Valdivia has three international wins – a race at Ascot Racecourse in Britain for Wesley Ward in 2016, and two wins in his native Peru at a jockey’s promotional event.

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