Velasquez, Lane Luzzi join jockey colony

The Gulfstream Park jockey colony will have two new and potentially significant additions by the end of the weekend, veteran rider Cornelio Velasquez and apprentice Lane Luzzi.

Velasquez, 47, rode at Gulfstream with considerable success from 2002-10. He had 73 to 83 victories at Gulfstream in four of those years while competing against some of the most talented jockeys in the country during the winter meets. Velasquez was also a mainstay at Calder throughout that period, with his most productive year coming in 2002, when he recorded 169 wins at the track now known as Gulfstream Park West.

Velasquez has 3,756 career victories with purse earnings in excess of $165 million. He has won 319 stakes and 126 graded stakes during a career that began in the U.S. in 1990.

“My family is in Florida, my wife, my daughter and my grandkids, and I want to stay at home,” said Velasquez. “It just works out a lot better for me. I will return to New York to ride on Belmont Day, also to ride Salutos Amigos and maybe a few other stakes horses during the summer.”

Velasquez left open the possibility of going back to New York next winter to ride for Linda Rice. They’ve formed a potent combination on the New York circuit for the last several years. Velasquez’s final winner at Belmont prior to packing his tack and heading to south Florida came for Rice on Monday aboard Flatterywillgetyou in the Bouwerie Stakes.

“It was definitely a little bittersweet having Cornelio win a stakes aboard this filly, knowing it was his last ride for me, at least for now,” Rice said shortly after the Bouwerie. “But I know he just wanted to change things up a bit for the summer. He’s won a lot of races for me over the years, and I’m hoping he’ll come back in the fall after Saratoga.”

Kevin Meyocks will handle Velasquez’s riding engagements in south Florida.

Luzzi, the son of veteran rider Mike Luzzi, is scheduled to begin riding here Saturday. The 18-year-old apprentice has won 35 races this season while riding regularly in Maryland. Walter Blum Jr. has taken his book.

“This has been in the works for a few weeks now,” said Luzzi. “It’s gotten to the point where I want a little more experience and the chance to get on some better horses.”