Woodbine: Justin Stein, agent split

Jockey Justin Stein and agent Neal Wilson have parted ways after a five-year partnership.

“He didn’t have the year he was having last year and there was nothing I could do that was any different,” Wilson said. “I talked to him about it and figured we would make a change for the sake of change and see what that would do.”

Stein will now be represented by Anthony Esposito, who also has the book of Alan Garcia. Wilson, who also represents Jesse Campbell, helped facilitate the transition, Esposito said.

“They both called me,” he said. “They had a conversation and mutually both agreed that I would be the best agent for Justin. Everything’s been going good so far. Justin had a good base of clients that he had cultivated with Neal. We’re just trying to work with those clients and expand and ride for a few different people.”

Through Sunday’s card, Stein was sitting ninth in the Woodbine jockey standings with 19 wins for the meet and purse earnings of over $1.1 million. Stein’s only stakes victory of the meet was a 66-1 upset in the Woodbine Oaks with Academic back on June 14.

Since he began riding in 2004, Stein has accumulated 986 wins, including 57 stakes victories, and $43 million in purse earnings. Stein also won the Queen’s Plate in 2013 with Strait of Dover.