Rosario breaks Kentucky Downs record after four days of meet

Even with the Saturday and Sunday cards at Kentucky Downs still remaining, Joel Rosario already has broken the record for most wins by a jockey at a meet.

Rosario rode 13 winners through the first four days of the meet, including two Thursday. The former record of 12 was held by Rafael Bejarano (2004) and Florent Geroux (2015, 2016).

“We’ve been blessed the days we’ve been here, great opportunities,” said Rosario.

Rosario won five race on each of the first two days of the meet.

◗ Snapper Sinclair became the first three-time stakes winner in Kentucky Downs history when he led most of the way Wednesday in winning a division of the TVG Stakes. From four races at Kentucky Downs, the 6-year-old horse also won the 2017 Kentucky Downs Juvenile and 2019 Tourist Mile and was second in the 2020 Tourist. Trained by Steve Asmussen for Bloom Racing throughout a 33-race career, his earnings for his four Kentucky Downs starts total $1,019,750.

◗ Oaklawn Park announced this week that Whitmore, the 2020 champion sprinter who spent most of his career stabled at Churchill, has had the six-furlong Hot Springs Stakes renamed in his honor. The $200,000 Whitmore will be run at six furlongs on March 19 on an afternoon filled with festivities to honor the recently retired earner of $4.5 million.

◗ The public is invited to the unveiling of a new statue depicting Col. Matt Winn and John Asher conversing while sitting on a horseshoe bench in the Plaza area at Churchill. The unveiling is scheduled for Thursday at 11 a.m. Eastern. Winn died in 1949 and Asher in 2018.