Santana records 1,000th win in North America

Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. is building an outstanding record at Oaklawn, where he will win a sixth consecutive riding title when the meet ends Saturday.

Santana hit a milestone of 1,000 Thoroughbred wins in North America on Thursday when he guided Westfest to victory in the sixth race at Oaklawn.

Santana is a native of Panama who won his first race in the United States in 2009 at Delaware Park. He had won more than 50 races in Panama before that, and was his country’s leading apprentice, said his agent, Ruben Munoz.

Santana’s first Oaklawn title came in 2013. At the current meet, he has won three stakes through Wednesday and also celebrated a five-win day at the track on March 31. Santana has four stakes mounts on Saturday’s card: Combatant in the Arkansas Derby, Untrapped in the Oaklawn Handicap, Whitmore in the Count Fleet, and Title Ready in the Northern Spur.

Santana’s biggest local win came in the 2016 running of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby aboard Creator for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Asmussen will win his third straight Oaklawn title on Saturday, and his eighth overall in Hot Springs.

Munoz said that after the Oaklawn meet ends Santana will be riding at Keeneland, Churchill Downs, and later in the year Saratoga. It will be the third year Santana has ridden at Saratoga.