Jan. 26, 2023, was a day that Jose Antonio Gomez will always treasure. It was an evening with the potential to shape his career — and life — in ways he could only dream about five years ago. On that night, when he was selected as the outstanding apprentice jockey of 2022 at the Eclipse Awards festivities, the 22-year-old Michigan native morphed from a promising, yet inexperienced rider into a member of a select group whose early accomplishments stood out.
