Jockey Vazquez moving to Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Ramon Vazquez, currently fourth in the standings at Oaklawn Park, will begin riding at Santa Anita on April 8, his agent, Bill Castle, said over the weekend.

Vazquez will arrive in time to ride the Santa Anita Derby program on April 9, a day with seven stakes worth a combined $1.95 million.

“We’re 100 percent committed,” Castle said. “We’re looking forward to it.”

Through Sunday, Vazquez ranked 18th in the nation with mounts that had earned $2.1 million. Vazquez had won 30 races from 213 mounts this year.

Vazquez will arrive in California in time to ride the final two months of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, which ends on June 19, and the brief Los Alamitos summer meeting in late June and early July prior to the start of the prestigious Del Mar summer meeting on July 22.

Vazquez is moving to California at a time when the jockey’s roster is undergoing a transitional phase.

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Jockey Flavien Prat, the dominant rider at Del Mar and Santa Anita in recent years, is leaving the circuit in early April. Prat will ride at Keeneland in April before moving to New York for the rest of the spring and summer.

Umberto Rispoli, sixth in the standings through Saturday, is also leaving in early April to ride at Keeneland and eventually New York.

Through Sunday, Prat led all riders with 70 wins, 21 more than Juan Hernandez who is steadily closing on Prat. Prat rode in Dubai on Saturday and did not ride at Santa Anita on Friday or Sunday over the weekend.

Vazquez, 38, rode at Santa Anita this month, finishing second on Miss Bigly in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf on March 5.

Vazquez has been among the leading riders at Oaklawn Park since 2014 and won five riding titles at the Remington Park summer-fall Thoroughbred meeting from 2013-2017. Vazquez was the leading rider at the Lone Star Park spring-summer Thoroughbred meeting in 2020.

This year, Vazquez has won two stakes at Oaklawn Park – the Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes on dirt on Feb. 12, and a 75-1 upset on Un Ojo in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes on Feb. 26.