Barbara D. Livingston
Ricardo Santana Jr. ranks eighth in the nation with $5.9 million in mount earnings this year.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Ricardo Santana Jr. watched from the jockeys’ room at Churchill Downs as Creator outfinished Destin to win the 2016 Belmont Stakes by a nose.
“I was a little upset,” said Santana, who had ridden Creator in his four previous starts, including a victory in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and an eighth in the Kentucky Derby. “I was on that horse.”
Santana had been removed in favor of another 23-year-old jockey, Irad Ortiz Jr., who was a regular at Belmont Park, which has a unique 1 1/2-mile oval.