Trujillo's move to California paying off
DEL MAR, Calif. – This was not where jockey Elvis Trujillo expected to be by the end of August.
At the start of 2014, Trujillo was at Gulfstream Park, rebounding from a collarbone injury that left him sidelined in the final months of 2013. A few months into this year, he broke up with his agent and soon after received a telephone call from agent Tom Knust in California.
“Tom said, ‘Do you want an opportunity?’ ” Trujillo recalled last weekend.
Knust recalls offering Trujillo a chance to ride in Southern California, with support from stables such as Doug O’Neill and Jerry Hollendorfer. Trujillo made the jump, moving to California in mid-May.
A little more than three months later, he is tied for second in the jockeys’ standings at Del Mar with an outside chance of winning the riding title before the meeting ends Sept. 3. Trujillo did not envision being so high in the standings so soon after leaving Florida.
“It surprised me,” Trujillo said. “A lot of people helped me. I got a lot of opportunities.”
A native of Panama, Trujillo, 30, first rode in Southern California in late 2001, when he arrived in the United States, and was based here for six months before moving to Chicago in 2002. For years, Trujillo rode at Calder, Gulfstream Park, and Monmouth Park, winning riding titles at Calder in 2007 and Monmouth Park in 2009 and 2011-12.
When he arrived this year, Trujillo may have been known to owners and trainers in Southern California, but that did not necessarily translate into gaining mounts. Trujillo said he took time to think about the change, discussing options with his wife. He could have easily returned to Monmouth Park, where he was second in the standings in 2013.
“My wife said, ‘If you want to do it, do it,’ ” he said.
Through Sunday, Trujillo had 24 wins, trailing leader Rafael Bejarano by two. He has stakes opportunities in the coming days that could help his total. On Sunday, he rides the French import Aventador in the $300,000 Del Mar Derby. On Monday, Trujillo has the mount on Parranda in the $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Handicap for fillies and mares on turf.
Trujillo rode Parranda to a win in the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes at Santa Anita in June, his biggest win since returning to California. This summer, Trujillo has yet to find a horse as prominent as some of his past stakes runners, such as Maryfield, whom he rode to a win in the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Monmouth Park; or Presious Passion, a multiple Grade 1 stakes winner in turf marathons in 2009.
Trujillo rode Maryfield for O’Neill, who has supported the jockey in recent months.
“We got lucky with him with Maryfield,” O’Neill said. “He fits every horse. He gets them out of the gate, and he’s good down the stretch. He’s levelheaded and doesn’t hold grudges. He’s got all the tools to be a top rider around here.”
Trujillo may be the undisputed leader of the jockeys’ room in another aspect Saturday. Trujillo and fellow rider Corey Nakatani, 43, are scheduled for a three-round exhibition of boxing at the track after racing Saturday during a seven-fight professional boxing program. A percentage of proceeds from the sale of reserved seats for the boxing matches are earmarked for the Permanently Jockeys Disabled Fund, which aids riders nationwide who have been severely injured in racing accidents.
“When I was little kid, I boxed for a couple of months,” Trujillo said. “I broke my wrist. I was done.”
Trujillo insists that he and Nakatani are friendly. “It’s for the foundation,” he said.
The real competition will remain on the track in the afternoons. There, Trujillo has already proven to be a winner this summer.