Tampa Bay Downs: Goncalves rides 1,000th winner

Jockey Leandro Goncalves reached a career milestone in Wednesday’s fifth race at Tampa Bay Downs when he rode his 1,000th career winner.

Goncalves, who a native of Brazil, won his first race in this country in 2007. He notched his 1,000th tally when he piloted Rich Hero to a 3 1/2-length victory in the starter allowance sprint for Midwest Thoroughbreds and trainer Jamie Ness. The win was also the second of the day for the owner-trainer-jockey combination.

Goncalves leads the local jockey standings with 12 wins and is also ranked third in North America this season with 294 victories as of the fifth race Wednesday.