Rosario to ride at Santa Anita through first few months of meet

Jockey Joel Rosario, second in the nation’s standings in purse earnings through Wednesday, will be based at Santa Anita from the start of the track’s winter-spring meet on Dec. 26 through the first quarter of 2021, continuing a schedule he has kept in recent years.

Earlier this year, Rosario, 35, was third in the jockey standings at Santa Anita behind Flavien Prat and Abel Cedillo before racing was interrupted in spring because of the pandemic. In the winter of 2018-19, Rosario was the leading rider through the first three months of the meet at Santa Anita.

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“We’ll do what we’ve done the last few years,” said Ron Anderson, Rosario’s agent. “He’ll be there opening day. We were considering staying in Florida, but we decided to go out there.”

Through Wednesday, Rosario’s mounts have $17,507,901 this year, second only to Irad Ortiz Jr., with $20,238,956.

Rosario has ridden in California occasionally in recent months, most recently last week at Del Mar when he won the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup on Nov. 27 aboard Arklow and the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes on Sunday aboard Viadera.

Rosario is booked to ride at Aqueduct on Saturday.