After taking a seven week break from riding during the summer for personal reasons, Kyle Frey returned to ride in late September at Los Alamitos's September meet and the fall meet at Santa Anita before finishing sixth at the very competitive Del Mar Bing Crosby meet. Frey rode that momentum into the Los Alamitos Winter Thoroughbred meet and won their premier race for 2-year-olds, the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity aboard the unheralded Wynstock. He also finished in a tie for second in the standings.
The panel of racing experts voted Frey Jockey of the Week for December 11 through December 17.
The honor recognizes jockeys for riding accomplishments and who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1,050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.
Riding for Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert, Frey was aboard Wynstock for the second time after piloting the colt to his maiden win on October 15 at Santa Anita. Wynstock was the longest priced entrant of the trio Baffert saddled in the Los Alamitos Futurity which included race favorite Coach Prime who finished third and second betting choice, Wine Me Up who finished fourth in the field of five.
Off at odds of 13-1, Frey sent Wynstock to the front from the inside and led the field by a length to the top of the stretch. He was confronted by Stronghold midway in the stretch but bravely dug in and fought past that rival to win by a half-length in 1:43.53 for 1 1/16 miles, paying $29.40. The win was Frey's first graded stakes in Southern California.
“Relaxing isn't an issue for this horse,” said Frey. “Just getting out of the gate is and he did that perfectly today. He has the heart of a lion. He's a lot of fun to ride, that's for sure.”
Frey, who will turn 32 Jan. 3, is a native of Northern California and was the Eclipse Award winner as the nation's top apprentice in 2011. He won three consecutive riding titles at Golden Gate before moving to Southern California. He recorded his 1,000 career win on Nov. 19, 2021 at Del Mar and is following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Paul Frey, who was a talented jockey who rode in California and Washington State.
Other contenders for Jockey of the Week included Javier Castellano who won a stakes race at Aqueduct, Manny Franco who also won a stakes race at Aqueduct, Juan J. Hernandez with two stakes victories at Los Alamitos, and Irad Ortiz, Jr. who won 10 races for the week to lead all riders.
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