Quinonez rides into Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame

Jockey Luis Quinonez will be part of a class of six entering the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame on Friday. He will be joined by C.R. Trout, a breeder, owner, and trainer; Joe Offolter, one of the winningest trainers in the history of Remington; Chris Lincoln, a longtime racing broadcaster; Caleb’s Posse, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile; and She’s All In, a millionaire.

Quinonez has been a mainstay at Remington and is one of just three riders to compile more than 1,000 victories there. Overall, he has won 3,697 races, and his mounts have earned more than $69 million. Quinonez is a resident of Oklahoma.

“It’s huge,” he said of entering the Hall. “I’m so blessed and thankful for it.”

Quinonez, 50, won his first race in 1989 at Canterbury, but was part of the scene at Remington when the track opened in 1988.

“I’ve been licensed here since the opening,” he said. “I got a license in 1988. I was galloping. I was an exercise rider, then the next year I was riding.”

Quinonez won the Remington title in 2008, and season after season has ranked second or third in the standings behind the now-retired Cliff Berry.

“I was second to Cliff about 20 times,” Quinonez joked. “I was in the shadow of Cliff Berry a long time. But Cilff and I, we always say we’re brothers from a different mother. I was second or third to him most of the time here, and a bunch of times it went to the wire.”

Quinonez won the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby in 2004 with Wally’s Choice. His other major wins include on Alternation in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap, Gold Medal Dancer in the Grade 2 Azeri, and Suddenbreakingnews in the Grade 3 Southwest. He said that following the Remington meet he will base at Oaklawn.