Morales eyes rare Churchill riding title as apprentice

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Edgar Morales, on his way to an Eclipse Award nomination, also is looking to accomplish something that has been done only once in Churchill Downs history – lead the rider standings as an apprentice.

Through 11 of 21 cards at the Churchill fall meet, Morales has ridden eight winners, just one behind Brian Hernandez Jr.’s leading total of nine. Morales will ride for the last time with a five-pound weight allowance on Friday, having notched his fifth career win on Nov. 17, 2017, but his agent, Julio Espinoza, is very optimistic there will no slowing of momentum as Morales becomes a journeyman Saturday. Morales enjoyed a three-win day here last Saturday.

“We’ve got plenty of business lined up,” Espinoza said. “People have seen what he can do. They know Edgar rides a very good race.”

If he can win the riding title at a meet that runs through Nov. 25, Morales, a 20-year-old native of Puerto Rico, will follow Julien Leparoux as the only “bugboy” ever to top the Churchill standings. Leparoux led with 87 wins at the 2006 spring meet, according to Churchill archives dating to the inaugural spring meet of 1875.

Meanwhile, with 87 winners and $3,125,289 in mount earnings this year (through Sunday), Morales surely will draw a long look in Eclipse voting for the outstanding apprentice of 2018, even though his statistics will stop being counted starting Saturday (for purposes of apprenticeship only). His main challenger for the award figures to be Maryland-based Wes Hamilton (106 wins, $3,111,283), whose “bug” runs through Dec. 17. As for other names in the discussion, Parx Racing-based Johan Rosado (91 wins, $2,442,250) lost his bug last weekend, and Heriberto Figueroa (75 wins, $1,948,970), based in Southern California, is playing catch-up after notching his fifth win on May 13.