Woodbine: Jockey Jermaine Bridgmohan hoping for big meet

Jermaine Bridgmohan relocated here last summer with an eye toward making the Woodbine meeting a regular part of his riding future. And while Bridgmohan compiled a very respectable record of 29-26-18 from 168 mounts, winning with 17 percent of his starters and earning more than $1 million in purse money, he did so while riding solely for American owners, and his immigration status remains unchanged heading into the 2013 meeting.

“I was very pleased with my season,” said the 24-year-old Bridgmohan, the younger brother of jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, who won the Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice in 1998. “I met a lot of Canadian horsemen and rode for quite a few of them. I’m hoping to get a work permit to ride for everyone. I was working on it before I even came here. It’s a slow process, but I’m positive. I’m looking forward to having a productive and successful meet.”

Jermaine Bridgmohan has ridden at a number of racetracks since beginning his career in Florida in 2006 and decided to try Woodbine following encouragement from local trainers, including Mike McDonald and Malcolm Pierce, for whom he had ridden in the United States.

“Throughout my career, I’ve been very nomadic,” said Bridgmohan, who was born in Jamaica and raised in Florida. “I’ve been a fan of Canadian racing for a long time. I’ve been watching the Queen’s Plate as long as I can remember.”

Bridgmohan’s first ride here was a memorable one as he guided Havelock to victory in the 2011 running of the Grade 2 Play the King Stakes.

Last year, he won his second local stakes with Surtsey in the Fanfreluche and enjoyed success while traveling out of town for Mark Casse, including a victory aboard Prospective in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby.

Following the 2012 Woodbine meeting, Bridgmohan moved to southern Florida, riding nine winners from 77 mounts at Gulfstream and making a side trip to win the filly division of the OBS Championship Stakes for Casse with Spring Venture.

During that time, the jockey joined forces with agent Steve Roberts, who also represents journeyman Tyler Pizarro. Roberts also had Quincy Welch’s book last year, but that rider has returned to Alberta with the intention of campaigning at Northlands Park.