Quinonez drawing close to 4,000 career wins

Jockey Luis Quinonez is on the countdown to a major milestone of 4,000 career Thoroughbred wins. He entered the race week with 3,993 wins and is named on a number of horses at his longtime base of Remington Park in Oklahoma City.

“I can’t believe I’ve come this far,” said Quinonez, a 56-year-old native of Mexico.

Quinonez is Remington’s second all-time leading rider behind the retired Cliff Berry and has been a local fixture in some form or fashion since the track’s inaugural season.

“I’ve been licensed at Remington since 1988 – licensed to gallop – then in 1989 I got a jockey license,” Quinonez said. “I started [race riding] the second meet. I was like 22.

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“Time goes by so fast. I don’t feel it was that long ago.”

Through the years, Quinonez has had 27,591 mounts that have earned more than $81 million. Suddenbreakingnews took him to the Kentucky Derby, while other graded winners for Quinonez include Wally’s Choice in the 2004 Oklahoma Derby at Remington; Alternation in the 2012 Oaklawn Handicap; Gold Medal Dancer in the 2015 Azeri; and Shotgun Kowboy in the 2018 Lone Star Park Handicap. Quinonez also has won graded races with Bob’s Edge, Brownie Points, Maysville Slew, and She’s All In.

Quinonez ended up winning his first race at Canterbury Park on May 10, 1989. He had traveled to the Minnesota track with trainer Cliff Darnell, whom he was working for at Remington.

“He took a bunch of horses there and I got a chance to ride some,” Quinonez said. “It’s funny, my first win was a horse I was a groom for, then galloped, then I got to ride her.”

In time, Quinonez would win five titles at Canterbury and be inducted into the track’s Hall of Fame. He also has won titles at Oaklawn, where he will be based this winter, and Remington, where he is a member of the track’s Hall of Fame.

Quinonez came to the United States to work alongside his uncle at the racetrack. He is the older brother of both jockey Alonso Quinonez, who is riding at Tampa Bay Downs, and Belen Quinonez, a retired jockey who is now developing young horses in Oklahoma.

Luis Quinonez had an influence on the career choice of his brothers. When they were young, they were shown video of their older brother’s first win as a jockey.

“When I went home I brought a videotape to show them the race and my little brothers watched it over and over,” Quinonez recalls. “They said, ‘He wins all the time!’ I remember thinking, ‘This is the only one!’ ”

Now, there’s nearly 4,000.

◗ Faversham, a winning full brother to Hall of Fame member California Chrome, will stands at Clear Creek Stud in Folsom, La., in 2024, according to a press release. He was previously based in California. Faversham will be part of Clear Creek’s stallion show Dec. 16.

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