Talamo to return to riding in California

Jockey Joe Talamo, who has won 2,334 races in his career through Tuesday, will resume riding in Southern California on a full-time basis later this month, according to his agent, Marty McGee.

Talamo, 34, will be represented by agent Rene Amescua in California. Talamo plans to ride the final weeks of the current Santa Anita meeting, which ends on June 16 before focusing on the Del Mar summer meeting, which runs from July to 20 to Sept. 8.

In his last summer of riding at Del Mar in 2019, Talamo finished fourth in the standings with 23 wins.

The champion apprentice jockey of 2007, Talamo was based primarily in Southern California after winning the riding title at the Fair Grounds meet in 2006-07 until the beginning of 2020, when he relocated to the Midwest. Talamo was the leading rider at Ellis Park in 2020.

This year, winners have been harder to find. Through Tuesday, Talamo has had five victories from 114 mounts, including a win on the maiden Just Basking at Churchill Downs on April 27.

In the 2010s in California, Talamo won such major races as the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup and Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap aboard Melatonin in 2016, and the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile in 2013 and 2014 on Obviously.

This summer, Talamo will be accompanied to Del Mar by his wife, Elizabeth, and their two young sons.

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