A new face in the jockey colony this winter at Turfway Park is Tyler Conner, among the leading riders at Penn National. After quickly notching his first local win, he is now eyeing a first stakes victory as he has the call on morning-line favorite Mouffy for Saturday night’s $125,000 My Charmer Stakes at the Florence, Ky., track. Conner, 30 and a native of Lancaster, Pa., grew up around Thoroughbred racing, with a trainer father and a mother who was a jockey. However, he initially competed in motocross racing, until a few accidents prompted him to seek a different career path. He took out his jockey’s license in 2014. Although he has ridden elsewhere when the opportunity arises, including a stint in California a few years ago, he has been based at Penn National. He has been in that track’s top three by both earnings and winners each year since 2019, including leading the earnings list in 2022. Along the way, he has picked up four graded stakes wins, taking the Grade 3 Eddie D with Mr. Roary in 2017; the Grade 3 All American with The Lieutenant in 2018; the Grade 2 Penn Mile last year with Wow Whata Summer; and the Grade 3 Remington Park Oaks this year with Honor D Lady. With a number of riders on Kentucky circuit heading elsewhere for the winter, Conner, represented by agent Kevin Meyocks, decided to take a shot and began getting on horses in the mornings at Turfway a few weeks prior to the meet. “Just the right time of year to start somewhere new, and the money’s still good,” Conner said. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. The Turfway meet opened Nov. 29, and through the first five cards of the meet, Conner had ridden 14 mounts, with a win, a second, and a third. The win came on the second night of the meet, as he and Dreaming of Smarty, trained by Michael Pino, rolled to a front-running 3 3/4-length score in a claiming race. In a perfect world, that’s the start of a winter and spring in which Conner builds his business and becomes a regular part of the Kentucky circuit, including at the Keeneland meet next April and beyond. “I don’t want to just come for the meet,” Conner said. “I’m here to make it and stay – take my career to the next level.” The next rung comes with a solid mount in the My Charmer on Mouffy, trained by Jonathan Thomas. Conner has found a quick rapport with that barn, as eight of his first 14 mounts came for Thomas. “I never met him until I got here,” Conner said. “I think he had interest from seeing me ride, and Kevin knows him well.” Mouffy, a debut winner sprinting on synthetic last year at Gulfstream, has had a solid campaign, mainly on turf, this year, highlighted by the Ellis Park Turf on Aug. 27, when she rallied from seventh of nine at the five-sixteenths pole for a one-length win. She subsequently finished fourth in the Grade 3 Matron Stakes on Woodbine’s synthetic main track, beaten about a length. That was her first graded stakes try. She faces softer company here. Many other key candidates for the My Charmer have question marks due to layoffs or surface changes. Catiche finished in a dead heat for second in the 2022 Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway and was second in the Grade 3 Selene on Woodbine’s synthetic. She has made just one start in the past 15 months, that being a second in a Woodbine allowance/optional claimer in May to Millie Girl – who won the Matron over Mouffy. Catiche is making her first start for Mike Stidham after previously being trained by Thomas and gets Turfway leader Gerardo Corrales aboard. Lexa is coming off a dirt allowance win at Churchill Downs. She is winless on turf and trying synthetic for the first time. Bali Belle won twice at the allowance level last winter at Turfway, but was well-beaten in the Latonia in March. She has made just one allowance start since, an eighth in October at Keeneland. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.