Following his victory aboard Knicks Go in the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic (Grade 1), the nation's current leading rider in purse earnings, Joel Rosario, joined the regular Churchill Downs jockey colony Wednesday and plans to stay through the next 14 days of racing.
“We have to keep working hard no matter where we go,” Rosario said. “I'm excited to be here and looking forward to riding the rest of the meet here.”
Represented by Ron Anderson, Rosario has won 68 stakes races this year and is in pursuit of the late Garrett Gomez's 2007 all-time mark of 76. Rosario has won 48 graded stakes, and the all-time mark is held by Jerry Bailey, which was 55 in 2003. Amazingly, Anderson represented Bailey and Gomez during their historic campaigns.
Rosario presence was immediately felt when entries were taken Wednesday for Saturday's 11-race program. The 36-year-old was named to ride in every race.
On Saturday, Knicks Go gave Rosario his 209th victory of the year. He's since won one additional race at Belmont on Sunday.
One day prior to Knicks Go's Classic victory, Rosario rode 2-year-old filly Echo Zulu to a 5 ¼-length triumph in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
Rosario entered Thursday's nine-race card with more than $30.8 million in purse earnings, about $3.5 million ahead of Irad Ortiz Jr.
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