Ramon Vazquez, leading jockey at the recently concluded Los Alamitos Thoroughbred Meet, plans to remain a prominent presence at Santa Anita when the 18-day Autumn Meet begins Friday. The 38-year-old native of Puerto Rico is here to stay according to his agent Bill Castle, who has Vazquez booked to ride seven of nine races on opening day.
“Riding full time at Santa Anita is a first for us,” said the 58-year-old Castle, a native of New York City who earned his keep on Wall Street for 20 years before retiring to become an agent going on two decades now, learning the ropes under agent Steve Rushing (Irad Ortiz, Ramon Dominguez, Edgar Prado).
“He was so kind to me. I've known Steve since 1987 and he let me sit with him for 2 ½ years to watch how he did his work.
“Ramon and I left Oaklawn which had been his base many years and have been in Southern California about five months.
“Del Mar was phenomenal. We were really blessed with the support from the owners and trainers. It continued at Los Alamitos, but it's not about winning the titles. It's about the day-to-day work, the repetition, and that was successful the last two meets, and coming into Santa Anita, we'll have a very robotic schedule, the same thing, day in, day out.
“Those meets are behind us, so every morning you get up, it's a new chapter. For Ramon to win five races at Los Alamitos closing day finishing with a win in the Capote Stakes, you just say, 'Wow!' No one's ever done that before.
“We're looking forward to Santa Anita very much, but the question I get hit with day in and day out is: “Are you staying?'
“We took a six-month lease on an apartment in Monrovia, so we're really here to stay and we're not looking to leave, not with so many Grade 1 and Breeders' Cup opportunities.
“We're very happy here; we're not leaving.”
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