Eclipse Finalists Marquez, Hiraldo Continue Tradition Of Maryland Apprentice Riders

Teenage sensation Charlie Marquez, Maryland's second-leading rider by wins and purse earnings last year, is among three finalists for the Eclipse Award as champion apprentice jockey of 2021.

Joining Marquez as finalists are John Hiraldo, who spent more than half his apprenticeship in Maryland, and California-based Jessica Pyfer. Hiraldo led all apprentice riders with 81 wins while Pyfer was tops with more than $2.7 million in purses earned.

“It's unbelievable,” Marquez said. “I was kind of surprised to be honest with you. I only had my bug last year for five months, so me being able to put up the numbers to even be nominated is kind of crazy and awesome to me.”

Marquez ended 2021 with 102 wins and $3,500,448 in purse earnings at Laurel Park and historic Pimlico Race Course, second only to Jevian Toledo, and led Pimlico's Preakness Meet with 49 victories. He also won his first two Maryland Million races, including Buff Hello in the Nursery.

A native of Columbia, Md., near Laurel, Marquez ranked fourth with 50 wins and $1,454,210 in purses earned as an apprentice in 2021, his last day coming May 29. During that time he won his first stakes, the March 15 Private Terms at Laurel with 21-1 long shot Shackled Love.

The son and grandson of successful jockeys in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Marquez was not among the Eclipse Award finalists for champion apprentice of 2020, won by Maryland-based counterpart Alexander Crispin. He led all Maryland bug riders with 58 wins and ranked seventh in the state overall despite having his apprenticeship interrupted for 2 ½ months from mid-March to late May when Maryland racing was paused amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Marquez has 211 wins and more than $6.5 million in purse earnings from 1,433 career mounts. He won his first race at the age of 16 on Jan. 9, 2020 with Sierra Leona at Laurel.

“Whether I win or lose, it's a pretty big deal that I was even nominated especially after only having my bug for a few months,” Marquez said. “You have to go into it happy. You never know what could happen.”

Maryland-based riders have captured 12 of the 50 Eclipse Awards as champion apprentice. Winners before Crispin were Chris McCarron (1974), Ronnie Franklin (1978), Alberto Delgado (1982), Allen Stacy (1986), Kent Desormeaux (1987), Mike Luzzi (1989), Mark Johnston (1990), Jeremy Rose (2001), Ryan Fogelsonger (2002), Victor Carrasco (2013) and Weston Hamilton (2018).

“It's huge. It's the dream of all apprentice riders. I can't even wrap my head around it,” Marquez said. “It's just huge. I can't really explain it.”

A 20-year-old native of Puerto Rico, Hiraldo ranked second among all apprentice riders with $2,178,769 in purse earnings from 638 mounts. With 89 seconds and 94 thirds, the son of ex-jockey Joel Hiraldo whose cousin, Angel Cruz, rides on the Maryland circuit finished in the money at 41 percent clip.

Hiraldo worked as an exercise rider for trainer Brittany Russell before making his professional debut Dec. 10, 2020 at Laurel Park. He won his first career race with 33-1 long shot Flat Rate on Laurel's 2020 New Year's Eve program.

In 2021, Hiraldo ranked 14th in Maryland with 35 wins from 365 mounts to go along with $1,171,150 in purse earnings. He has been riding at Oaklawn Park since the opening of its winter meet in early December.

Pyfer, 23, rode as an apprentice through Nov. 13 of last year, ranking second with 56 wins from 535 mounts. The stepdaughter of trainer Phil D'Amato graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a degree in political science and minor in constitutional law and put off law school to become a jockey, winning her first race Oct. 9, 2020 at Santa Anita.

All Eclipse Award winners will be announced Thursday, Feb. 10 at Santa Anita Park.

Notes: Live racing continues Monday with a special Martin Luther King Jr. holiday program. Post time for the first of 10 races in 12:10 p.m. The feature comes in Race 9, an optional claiming allowance for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs. Among the field of eight are Sweet Gracie, third in the Maryland Juvenile Fillies Dec. 18; Click to Confirm, third in the Smart Halo Nov. 13; Moody Woman, third in the Gin Talking Dec. 26; and Mama G's Wish, second in the Blue Hen and third in the Small Wonder last summer at Delaware Park.

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Buff Hello Wins Maryland Million Nursery At Laurel

In a crowded race loaded with speed, no one could catch Buff Hello.

Joseph Besecker's Buff Hello ($13) broke running from his inside draw and never looked back, sprinting clear to a two-length triumph in Saturday's $100,000 Maryland Million Nursery at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

The Nursery for 2-year-olds and Lassie for 2-year-old fillies, each contested at six furlongs, were among eight stakes and four starter stakes on the 36th Jim McKay Maryland Million program, 'Maryland's Day at the Races' celebrating the progeny of stallions standing in the state.

It was the sixth career Maryland Million win for trainer Claudio Gonzalez and second of the day for 18-year-old jockey Charlie Marquez, who also captured the Turf Starter Handicap to kick off the Maryland Million program. The winning time for the Nursery was 1:10.51 over a fast main track.

“It was not an easy race, especially with the [post] position we had today. The [rail] position is really hard, especially with [14] horses and a lot of horses that have speed,” Gonzalez said. “The good thing about Charlie is, he listens. He warmed up the horse really good, he broke and rushed up and took the lead, and he did the right thing. He stayed on the rail and he won the race.”

A maiden special weight winner July 31 at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., where he also led from start to finish, Buff Hello entered the Nursery off a sixth-place finish in the one-mile Sapling Sept. 5 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. Marquez wasted no time getting the Buffum colt involved, hustling to the front and posting fractions of :22.12 and :45.21 with Hickory Tree winner Local Motive and narrow 7-2 favorite Mr. Mox alternating in second.

Buff Hello remained in command as the field straightened for home and was set down for a drive by Marquez, opening up after going five furlongs in :57.62. Coastal Mission came with a run on the far outside to edge Local Motive by a neck for second, with Buff Hello's stablemate, Shady Munni, another 2 ½ lengths back in fourth.

“He had the blinkers on and I know, watching the replays, he kind of looked like a little lazy of a lazy horse, so we warmed him up good. I sent him out of there and he's the kind of horse you have to keep on going the whole way. He really dug in deep today,” Marquez said. “I got headed at the top of the stretch but I knew that I had a lot of horse, and coming to the wire was a great feeling.”

Buff Hello was purchased for $26,000 as a yearling last fall at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Md. He was making his Laurel debut after racing twice each at Monmouth and Pimlico, where he was beaten a neck in a July 11 maiden special weight by Mr. Mox.

“I was really confident with both my horses in here. [Shady Munni got] bumped really hard in the gate and that's why he finished fourth. But, doesn't happen maybe he's there, too,” Gonzalez said. “Buff Hello, all the time he showed he had talent, that's why I gave him a chance in the stake at Monmouth. That day we didn't get lucky, but today he proved he had talent.”

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Teen Phenom: How A High School Student Has Become Maryland’s Leading Rider

Idle time is something rare for Charlie Marquez these days. When the teenage riding sensation somehow managed a three-hour break between mounts over closing weekend of historic Pimlico Race Course's Preakness Meet, he took the opportunity to shut off his cell phone and turn off his mind.

The respite was short-lived. Maryland Jockey Club clerk of scales Frank Saumell, asked to summon Marquez during his downtime, walked briskly toward the back of the jockeys' room, perched high above the Pimlico winner's circle.

“Charlie!” Saumell called out. “Charlie! … Marquez!” he repeated, his voice rising each time.

Slowly, a head poked out above a row of white-painted cabinets. It is Marquez, his dark hair tussled from a quick nap on the bench in front of his locker stall. He slipped a pair of black slides over his socks and made his way out into the sunlight on the porch outside.

Sitting on a chair overlooking the main track, Marquez's thoughts go back a dozen years to a time when he watched the horses go by from a much different perspective.

“I always wanted to be a jockey,” Marquez said. “I came to the track a bunch when I was young. I came to Pimlico with my mom and on Preakness Day we used to walk over here with my brother.

“I used to go in the morning with her when she used to gallop for Mary Eppler and when she used to work for Jose Corrales at Laurel. I'd go in the morning and sit by the rail and fantasize. Now I'm doing it.”

And doing it well. Marquez, who turned 18 in late January, finished his first full professional season as Maryland's leading apprentice rider of 2020 with 58 wins. Various circumstances – a global pandemic that paused racing in the state for 2 ½ months in the spring, a trial run on the New York circuit and a wrist injury that shelved him another four weeks in the fall – kept Marquez from the Eclipse Award conversation.

Success has carried into this year. He earned his first career meet title at Pimlico, a four-month stand that saw him finish with a nine-win cushion. Entering Laurel Park's calendar year-ending fall meet that begins Sept. 9, Marquez has won more races than any rider in Maryland with 76. He's hoping to continue his success come Thursday when Laurel Park's fall meet opens.

Success has carried into this year. He earned his first career meet title at Pimlico, a four-month stand that saw him finish with a nine-win cushion. Entering Laurel Park's calendar year-ending fall meet that begins Sept. 9, Marquez has won more races than any rider in Maryland with 76. Sheldon Russell is second with 64.

Russell, newly turned 34, is a multiple meet champion who led Maryland in wins in 2011 – when Marquez was 8 years old.

“He's really wanted this all his life – since he was a baby. To see that we actually got him to this point, it just brings tears to my eyes,” Marquez's mother, Valerie Kounelis, said. “Just the other day I found a picture of him and Sheldon when he was little. A lot of these guys, they've seen him since he was a baby and here he is riding with them. It's funny to see. He's just a kid, but they all love him. He's one that they all want to be friends with. There's just something about him.”

Marquez's maturity, both as a rider and a person, belies his age. Rather than the parties and proms of a typical teenager, his free time is primarily spent riding and watching races. Mornings start early, before sunrise, exercising horses anywhere from Laurel to Pimlico to the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md. and even Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del.

Afternoons, and the occasional evening, have had him racing in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia since losing his apprentice weight allowance and becoming a journeyman May 30.

“I just bought a new car maybe a month ago. It already has more than 17,000 miles on it,” Marquez said. “I've been driving a lot.”

“It takes a toll, it does. You'd think just because I'm 18 I can do it, and I agree with that to a certain extent,” he added. “But it takes a toll, driving up and down the road every day. It definitely is hard work, but it pays off in the end.”

Fortunately, it is only a 15-minute drive from Laurel Park to Marquez's childhood home in Columbia, Md., where he still lives with his mother, maternal grandmother Darlene and three dogs – 3-year-old Cooper and 1 1/2-year old Kobe, both golden-Labrador retriever mixes, and 8-month-old Charlie Brown, an English cream golden retriever. Marquez also has an older brother, Carlos.

“He loves his dogs. He loves to come home and play with them,” Kounelis said.

The Marquez family

“I always tell him you can go out if he has a day off, but you can't be eating junk food like a teenage boy would be doing. You have to be mindful of that. You can't stay out all hours of the night. You know you need your rest. It's hard on your body and you've got to be aware of what you're doing. You can't be tired.

“It comes with its trials and tribulations,” she added. “He's willing to give up what he has to to be successful and do what he loves.”

While the decision to begin riding professionally – which couldn't happen before Marquez's 16th birthday – was easy, the process was not. Kounelis had to convince the Board of Education to allow her to pull Marquez from a traditional school setting for one more flexible with her son's burgeoning career.

“When I pulled him out of school, it was time,” she said. “Normally I'm like, 'You're going to school, you're graduating, you're doing it the right way.' I pulled him out because I did see how talented he was. We talked about the fact that you're giving up your childhood, you're giving up your high school days and being a kid to pursue your career. He knew going in that he was going to have to give something up to gain something.

Nearing completion of his general educational development (GED) diploma – “It's very important to have. This game is very unpredictable, and you need something to back up on,” he said – Marquez doesn't see it as a sacrifice. To him, it's an investment in his future.

“Not too many 18-year-olds can say they were leading rider in Maryland. It takes a lot to get there and a lot of hard work, but if you put your mind to it, you can do it,” Marquez said. “I hang out with friends here and there, but during school I was never really that kind of person to go out anyway. So, it wasn't really anything different. Of course, I had friends, but the true friends that you hang out with outside of school. I had a few of them and I still hang out and see them from time to time.

“I wouldn't say I really have time for other hobbies. Horse racing is what I love to do and it's always going to be like that,” he added. “After I ride in the morning I go home and use that time to myself, whether that's hanging out with my mom or my grandma or my girlfriend. Whatever it is, those few hours before I have to go to bed I kind of just keep for myself.”

Marquez was 16 when he won his first race Jan. 9, 2020 aboard Sierra Leona at Laurel Park. His brief turn in New York at age 17 came under the tutelage of retired Hall of Fame rider Angel Cordero Jr. Back home, he earned his first stakes victory at 18 on Shackled Love in Laurel's Private Terms March 14.

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Standing 5-foot-8, Marquez is taller than most riders. He hasn't let his height be an obstacle to success.

“He's a little bit on the tall side. There was a question whether or not he was going to stay small enough to do it, but he's definitely shown everybody that thought he wasn't going to make it that he was all in,” Kounelis said. “He's definitely shown where he wanted to go with it.”

Marquez's dedication is reminiscent of his mother, who first brought him to the track as a toddler when she was galloping for trainer Larry Murray. His introduction to horses, so to speak, came much earlier.

“I galloped until I was like seven months pregnant with both [sons],” Kounelis said. “Everybody used to laugh that they were already riding before they were riding.”

Today, Kounelis gallops part-time for trainer Tim Keefe, is a technician for the Maryland Veterinary Group and spends racing afternoons working in the test barn. It's not hard to see where Marquez gets his work ethic.

“One thing about him, he knows the grind,” she said. “There were days before he really started riding, he would be getting on 12, 13 [horses] a day and you never heard a peep out of him.”

“My mom, she's been there since Day 1,” Marquez said. “She's definitely my top fan and I think about her all the time, every day that I ride. Everything I do is for her.”

Marquez's support goes beyond his mother and fellow horsemen. Kounelis' sister, Terry Overmier, is the Maryland Jockey Club's stable manager and a horse owner. The first time he rode her now 4-year-old Maryland-bred colt Whiskey and You in a Laurel Park allowance last March, they won.

His late grandfather, Carlos Marquez Sr., was a successful jockey whose wins included the 1970 Black-Eyed Susan with Office Queen before his retirement to Puerto Rico to teach at its famed Escuela Vocacional Hipica. Marquez rides with his old saddle.

“Charlie's grandfather would have been proud of him,” Kounelis said. “He passed away a few years ago and never got to see Charlie living his dream.”

Ultimately, the dream has Marquez riding for years to come and many more milestones to reach.

“I want to ride in the [Kentucky] Derby and the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. It's the dream of a lot of riders,” Marquez said. “I have many years until I retire, but definitely when I retire, I want to be a top rider in New York and go into the Hall of Fame. I want to end up in New York, settle down there eventually and retire there, and hopefully go into the Hall of Fame. That's the dream of a lot of riders, I think. Most of the game is just trying to stay healthy and keep things moving forward.

“At such a young age, I have many years to progress my riding,” he added. “I hope what I have done so far is just the beginning.”

Marquez studies the racing program in the jockey's quarters

In the meantime, Marquez – like any young professional – does his best to achieve a work-life balance. When time permits, he enjoys hanging out with friends and playing video games.

“He's very smart and computer savvy. There are a lot of other things he can do. He rebuilt his own computer and gaming setup. He's got a lot going for him – not only riding,” Kounelis said. “He has a couple good guys that he's been friends all along with that he will hang out with. He spends a lot of his time watching race replays, just taking in stuff that he sees.

“He's a kid at heart, but he's grown up pretty quick,” she added. “Yes, he is very mature for his age, but he is still a kid. I see that first-hand at home, when he's playing his video games or whatever he does with his friends. You can make a lot of money fast and you might have friends that try to steer you in the wrong direction. You just have to keep your head on straight and know where you want to go with it.”

Both mother and son have known where Marquez was headed from the time he was around 2 years old, wearing his jockey Halloween costume and sitting in front of the television on a stuffed toy horse that they still have.

“He'd watch the races and act like he's riding in them,” Kounelis said. “He's wanted it all along. There's no denying it.”

To read more, go to: https://www.laurelpark.com/teen-phenom/

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Gonzalez, Marquez Take Leading Trainer, Jockey Titles For Pimlico’s Preakness Meet

Pimlico Race Course brought the curtain down on its extended Preakness Meet Sunday with veteran Claudio Gonzalez and teenage sensation Charlie Marquez formally wrapping up their respective titles as leading trainer and jockey at the historic track in Baltimore, Md.

Gonzalez had one starter on Sunday's nine-race program, running fourth with Blue Sky Painter in Race 7, concluding the two-month stand with 40 wins, more than twice that of runners-up Mike Trombetta and Kieron Magee (19). It marked the second straight Preakness Meet title and 17th overall in Maryland for Gonzalez, a 44-year-old cancer survivor.

Among Gonzalez's meet highlights were stakes wins by Harpers First Ride in the July 31 Deputed Testamony and both Miss Leslie in the Weber City Miss and Completed Pass in the King T. Leatherbury April 24.

Originally scheduled to run May 6-31, the Preakness Meet began April 22 when racing was shifted from Laurel Park in Laurel, Md., following an equine herpesvirus outbreak and later extended due to a complete reconstruction of Laurel's main track. Horses and personnel, relocated to various facilities including Pimlico and the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, returned to Laurel April 8.

“It feels good,” Gonzalez said. “It was a little different this year. The good thing for me is, I had my horses at Pimlico and I believe that's better for the horses when you're training where you run. It makes it easier for us and the help, everybody.

“They do the hard work. Everybody sees my name or another title, but if you don't have the right help, I don't make it,” he added. “It's the truth. I have to thank all my help.”

Gonzalez has won both full meets in Maryland this year following Laurel's winter stand, and was leading its spring meet standings when live racing was moved to Pimlico after just four days. He has been Maryland's overall leading trainer by wins each of the past four years.

“You feel pressure because people might think it's easy to win titles or win races. It's not that easy. It takes a lot of hard work,” Gonzalez said. “I have to thank all the owners for supporting me and giving me a chance. The owners I have are really good and they understand where we are with the horses and putting them in the right spots.”

Gonzalez said GMP Stables, Arnold Bennewith, and Cypress Creek Equine's Harpers First Ride, a five-time stakes winner for Gonzalez including the historic Grade 3 Pimlico Special in 2020 and back-to-back editions of the Deputed Testamony, is getting some time off. He is 2-for-2 since rejoining Gonzalez in May after being sold in January and making three starts for Midwest-based trainer Robertino Diodoro.

“I talked with the owners and we decided to give him a little rest. He has run a couple good races with us and he deserves and he needs a little break,” Gonzalez said. “It all depends on how he looks on the farm where he is. Maybe we give him a few months over there and then we'll see how he does.”

Marquez, 18, captured Pimlico's Sunday opener aboard Lost Uncle ($4.40) to give him 49 wins. J.D. Acosta finished second with 40 wins, two ahead of Jevian Toledo in third.

It is the first career riding title for Marquez, a native of Columbia, Md., whose 58 wins made him Maryland's leading apprentice of 2020. He had two or more wins on a single card 14 times at the Preakness Meet, during which he graduated to journeyman status May 30 and also posted multi-win days at Colonial Downs in New Kent, Va., and Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del.

Marquez is represented by Tom Stift. Marty Leonard, who has Sheldon Russell and Toledo as clients, had been booking mounts for Marquez but agents are not allowed to carry three journeymen.

“It means a lot to me,” Marquez said. “We moved here in April and to hold the lead all the way until now is pretty hard to do, a lot of the riders say. I'm proud of myself, and I can't help but think of and thank everyone that helped me.

“My mom, who brought me up and got me familiar with everyone. My agents, that put me on live horses. Just everyone that gave me opportunities, really,” he added. “Everything goes to them. I'm just the passenger.”

Super C Racing finished as leading owner with nine wins, one more than Joseph Besecker and Robert D. Bone.

Highlighting the Preakness Meet was the 146th Grade 1 Preakness Stakes, returned to mid-May after being pushed back to October last year during an altered stakes schedule amid the coronavirus pandemic. It was won by Rombauer, giving trainer Mike McCarthy his first Triple Crown race victory.

Army Wife won the prestigious Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan for 3-year-old fillies, the traditional Preakness Eve feature. Other graded-stakes winners over Preakness weekend were Last Judgment in the Pimlico Special, Somelikeithotbrown in the Grade 2 Dinner Party, Red Ghost in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness, Spice is Nice in the Grade 3 Allaire du Pont, Mighty Mischief in the Grade 3 Chick Lang, Mean Mary in the Grade 3 Gallorette, and Special Reserve in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint.

Live racing in Maryland moves to Timonium for the State Fair Meet Aug. 27-29 and Sept. 3-6 before returning to Laurel Park for its calendar year-ending fall stand starting Thursday, Sept. 9.

Laurel's grandstand will be open Wednesdays through Sundays during the State Fair Meet. The entire main floor of the clubhouse will be open on Saturdays as well as the grandstand's Sports Book bar.

Doors will open at 11 a.m. at Laurel Saturday, Aug. 28 to accommodate a first-race post of 11:35 a.m. at Saratoga for its Travers Day program.

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