Santana ready to floor it on Skelly as he approaches milestone

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. tools around town in a practical kind of vehicle when wintering at Oaklawn Park, but on Friday his ride gets an upgrade to full-on race car.

Santana will be teaming with Skelly in the ninth race, an allowance sprint that marks the 6-year-old debut of the horse who regularly runs opening half-miles in 44 seconds and tends to cover six furlongs in just more than 1:08.

“He’s fast,” Santana said. “It feels like you are sitting in a Ferrari and pushing the gas.”

Skelly has long been a signature horse for Santana, a 31-year-old native of Panama who enters the race week four wins from a milestone of 2,000 Thoroughbred victories in North America.

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Steve Asmussen, who trains Skelly, first paired Santana with the horse in January 2023 at Oaklawn. Since then, Santana has been a regular on Skelly, guiding him to six stakes victories, including two runnings of the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn.

“Skelly’s a handful and Ricardo can handle him,” Asmussen said. “They’ve had a tremendous amount of success together, and I expect that to continue.”

Skelly on Friday is part of a field of seven that includes fellow stakes winners Happy American, How Did He Do That, Run Classic, and Wildatlanticstorm.

Skelly will be making his first start since Nov. 2, when he finished an uncharacteristic 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar. Asmussen said the horse was freshened after the race. Skelly will break from the rail Friday.

“The weather over the winter cost us a work here, a work there, this that and the other, but we’re finally ready to play,” Asmussen said. “Skelly’s a phenomenal horse. Traditionally, he doesn’t break well and then is a handful – him getting the one hole off the bench, we’ll see what happens.”

Santana is looking forward to Skelly’s return Friday. Last year, the pair started Skelly’s season together with an allowance win at Oaklawn.

“He’s one of my favorite horses,” Santana said. “Not easy to ride, but he always tries.

“Every time we enter onto the racetrack, you can tell, he’s always got his game face. Every time we got in the gate, you can tell he’s got his game face. When they open the gate, he gives me everything, everything he has.”

Skelly is a son of Practical Joke who races for Red Lane Thoroughbreds. He’s won 10 of 19 starts for earnings of $1.7 million. Over the local strip, he’s 8 for 10 for earnings of $1.1 million.

Santana also boasts an outstanding record at Oaklawn. He is an eight-time title winner in Hot Springs, where he has won 791 races from 4,157 starts for mount earnings of $46 million, according to Daily Racing Form statistics.

“I was riding for Ron Moquett at Delaware and he showed me Oaklawn,” Santana said of the trainer based in Hot Springs. “He started giving me my first opportunity at Oaklawn, then I met Steve, and he gave me a chance.”

The champion sprinter Mitole has been among the graded stakes winners Santana, the son of a jockey, has ridden for Asmussen. The success has helped the rider compile a record of 1,996 wins from 12,610 starts in North America for mount earnings of $131 million.

Santana credits his longtime agent, Ruben Munoz, for bringing him to North America from Panama. Following the current meet, Santana said he will be riding in New York and Kentucky.

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