Northlands Park: Walcott wrapping up dominant meet

The Hastings-based Habida figures to be heavily favored when she makes her first start for trainer Dale Greenwood in the $50,000 Freedom of the City Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Northlands Park on Friday.

Habida is coming off a third-place finish in the $100,000 Sadie Diamond Futurity for trainer Pat Jarvis at Hastings and clearly has the best form in the field going into the one-mile race. She also will be ridden by Rico Walcott, which will drive her price down considerably.

Walcott, 24, has dominated the Northlands meet, which ends Monday. Entering Wednesday’s card, he had won 137 races at Northlands, while Amie Pooli was second in the jockeys’ standings with 73 wins. Walcott has the highest win percentage in North America among jockeys who have ridden 300 races or more this year. Walcott has won with 31 percent of his mounts. Russell Baze is second at 28 percent.

Walcott is happy to be riding in relative obscurity at Northlands, but he showed he can compete on a national level when he won the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby aboard Broadway Empire at Remington Park in his first mount in the United States.

Broadway Empire is trained by Robertino Diodoro, who said Walcott will retain the mount when the horse runs in the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.

“I think Rico showed how good he is in the Oklahoma Derby, and he knows the horse well, so we’re not going to change,” Diodoro said. “Rico is young, cool, and calm. I thought he might be a bit nervous in Oklahoma, but he didn’t break a sweat.”

Walcott grew up in Barbados and was introduced to racing by his father, who owned several horses who ran at the main track there, Garrison Savannah. Walcott began learning how to ride when he was 13.

“It was a school that was sponsored by the racetrack,” he said. “It wasn’t too formal, and we did most of our riding in a field.”

Walcott began his riding career at Garrison Savannah at 15 and followed his brother Rickey to Alberta in 2007. Rickey Walcott was one of the top jockeys in Alberta until he returned to Barbados following the 2009 Northlands meet.

One of the best rides by Rico Walcott this year came in the Grade 3 Canadian Derby. Broadway Empire was clearly the best horse going into the race but was questionable at the 1 3/8-mile distance. Walcott was able to get him to relax behind horses early and then gunned him to the lead when a hole opened up going down the backstretch the final time. In the Oklahoma Derby, he put Broadway Empire on the lead right from the start.

“He’s a pretty special horse,” Walcott said. “I knew he was fit enough after running a mile and three-eighths, so I just let him roll in the Oklahoma Derby.”

Walcott said winning the Oklahoma Derby was the biggest thrill of his career, and he is “very excited” about riding Broadway Empire in the Breeders’ Cup.

He’ll close out his season in Canada at Hastings, where he will ride Title Contender in the Grade 3 Premiers for 3-year-olds and up Monday. Title Contender won the Grade 3 British Columbia Derby with Walcott riding him for the first time.