david cabrera | Horse Racing Free Tips

Veteran Rated R Superstar Springs 25-1 Upset In Fifth Season

The 9-year-old gelding Rated R Superstar proved age is just a number in Saturday's $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes at Oaklawn Park, springing a 25-1 upset with his neck triumph over pacesetting Mucho (7-1). The victory brought a bit of déjà vu for owner Danny Caldwell, who sent out Domain's Rap to win the 2017 edition of the Fifth Season when that gelding was nine years old. Both geldings are trained by Federico Villafranco.

“Just because they're eight or nine years old, doesn't mean they can't still run,” Caldwell said from the winner's circle.

Rated R Superstar was making his first start since September, and made a mid-race move from off-the-pace under jockey David Cabrera. Finding clear racing room in the center of the stretch, the son of Kodiak Kowboy ran down Mucho to complete a mile over the fast main track in 1:37.16. Thomas Shelby checked in third.

Sent to post as the 3-2 favorite, 2021 Rebel Stakes winner Concert Tour appeared to struggle around the far turn and was eased under the wire by jockey Joel Rosario. It was the colt's first start since the Preakness, as well as his first since being transferred to trainer Brad Cox.

Mucho, making his first start around two turns, went straight to the lead in the Fifth Season, pulling away to lead by as much as 1 1/2 lengths in the early going. Concert Tour was right there in second, tracking through fractions of 23.33 and 46.91 seconds, while Thomas Shelby came up the rail to join him down the backstretch.

Cabrera found a seam at the rail and sent Rated R Superstar through it midway down the backstretch, and brought the gelding into third on the inside. Thomas Shelby was challenging Mucho for the lead, while Concert Tour dropped back. Mucho repelled Thomas Shelby, but there was another challenger yet to come.

Swinging to the outside, Rated R Superstar saw the finish line and laid his ears back, eating up ground in the center of the track. Cabrera hit the wire a neck in front on Rated R Superstar, with Mucho and jockey Florent Geroux having to settle for second. Thomas Shelby was a close-up third, while it was several lengths back to Necker Island in fourth.

The remaining order of finish was: Silver Prospector, Snapper Sinclair, Atoka, Long Range Toddy, and Concert Tour.

Bred in Kentucky by Thorndale Stable L.L.C., Rated R Superstar was a $50,000 claim last January at Oaklawn. He's compiled a record of three wins, three seconds, and a third from nine starts for his new connections.

Rated R Superstar has significant back-class: he ran second in the G3 Iroquois and third in the G1 Breeders' Futurity in 2015, won the G3 Carry Back in 2016, the G3 Ben Ali in 2018, the $350,000 Essex in 2019, and the $175,000 Governor's Cup in 2021. Overall, the gelding has won 10 races from 57 starts and earned $1,271,014

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Jockey David Cabrera Nabs Fourth Straight Riding Title At Remington Park

Jockey David Cabrera was honored Thursday night, winning his fourth consecutive Pat Steinberg Leading Rider award at Remington Park.

Cabrera had long since clinched the riding title as he finished the night with 90 wins on the season, 31 ahead of second-place Stewart Elliott at 59.

“I want to thank all the trainers and owners who give me a chance; I want to thank God and Remington Park and my agent Jose Santos,” Cabrera said. “This is home. I feel like I'm with family. It is an honor to ride here. I also want to thank all the grooms, hotwalkers and gate crew. They all do a great job.”

Cabrera's biggest night of the meet came on Nov. 13 when he won five races, including the 1,500th of his career. He took five of the nine races on the card that night. His winners were Quinn Ella (6-5) in the first, Mr B Quiet (3-1) in the fourth, Fred'stwirlincandy (2-1) in the sixth, Bobbin Tail (even) in the seventh and My Golden M (2-5) in the ninth for the 1,500th in his career.

Another highlight of Cabrera's fourth title in a row included riding Welder to his final win at Remington Park, the 16th such victory for the now retired all-time winningest horse here. Welder, owned by Ra-Max Farms (Clayton Rash) of Claremore, Okla., and trained by Teri Luneack, only won one race this meet but it was a significant one as he broke the tie of 15 wins all-time with Highland Ice and Elegant Exxactsy. Cabrera booted the 8-year-old gray gelding home on Aug. 27 in Welder's first start of the season.

The most wins Cabrera ever had in one meet at Remington Park during this skein was 96 last year. The 29-year-old jockey came to Jones, Okla., to live with his aunt Marti Rodriguez, a trainer at Remington Park, when he was 14 years old, moving from Mexico. He worked his way up from mucking stalls to becoming a jockey in 2013. He had 46 wins to start his career that year.

Cabrera's best year thus far was 2018 when he won 236 times. He has 216 wins thus far in 2021. In his nine-year riding career, he has won 1,526 times for earnings of $35,348,847, according to Equibase stats. His best year in horse earnings has been this year with $7,646,957.He has averaged $6,834 per start this year, compared to $1,372 per start in 2013 when he began.

The leading jockey award is named after Pat Steinberg who was a dominating jockey in the early years of Remington Park, winning nine riding titles before passing away in 1993.

There is only one more day of racing at Remington Park on Friday, Dec. 17. The final night of the season includes the cornerstone race for 2-year-olds at Remington Park, the $400,000 Springboard Mile, with horses eligible for Kentucky Derby points. It goes as the 12th race on Friday. The other stakes are:

Race 8, $70,000 Jim Thorpe Stakes, 3-year-olds, 1 mile (Oklahoma-breds)

Race 9, $70,000 Useeit Stakes, 3-year-old fillies, 1 mile (Oklahoma-breds)

Race 10, $100,000 She's All In Stakes, 3-year-olds and older, fillies-mares, 1m-70 yds
Race 11, $100,000 Trapeze Stakes, fillies, 2-year-olds, 1 mile

The last night of the season gets underway at 5pm-Central.

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Jockey David Cabrera In Pursuit Of First Oaklawn Riding Title

Agent Joe Santos has been on the backside this week at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., laying the groundwork for David Cabrera's chase to win his first local riding title after finishing second to perennial champion Ricardo Santana Jr. in 2018 and 2021.

“That's what we're here for,” Santos said during training hours Monday morning. “That's our goal again this year. We're here to try to win the meet. Every meet we go to, that's kind of a goal. That's what he does. He wins a lot of races. We're always trying to win more than anybody else.”

Cabrera is now based at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla., where he is the runaway leader in the standings. Although Remington's meet ends Dec. 17, Santos said Cabrera only will miss one racing day next month at Oaklawn, which opens its expanded 66-day live season Dec. 3. Oaklawn's earliest meet opening in history will feature 10 December racing dates, all Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Santos said Cabrera will ride at Remington on Oaklawn's off days. The only racing day Cabrera is scheduled to miss at Oaklawn is Dec. 17, when the jockey returns to Remington for its stakes-heavy card, highlighted by the $400,000 Springboard Mile for 2-year-olds.

“We've got the favorite in all five stakes, it looks like,” Santos said. “Can't miss that.”

Following a one-year absence, Cabrera set single-season personal local bests for mounts (377), victories (62), and purse earnings ($3,395,649) during the 2021 Oaklawn meeting that ended in May. Cabrera won two stakes – $150,000 King Cotton for older sprinters aboard Boldor for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and the $150,000 Rainbow Miss for 3-year-old Arkansas-bred female sprinters aboard Hillary G. The Rainbow Miss was the first career stakes victory for trainer Tommy Vance of Hot Springs.

Cabrera then finished second-leading rider at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, and had 83 victories at Remington Park, through Thursday, to surpass 1,500 for his career. Cabrera also cracked $7 million in purse earnings for the first time in his career in 2021.

“He knows how to win,” Santos said.

Coinciding with Oaklawn's December opening is a truncated race week, with racing normally conducted Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in 2021-2022. Normally, Cabrera is among the most active jockeys on the grounds.

“Honestly, with the way our business is set up, it seems like a good thing for us,” Santos said. “Thus far, we've got a lot of business with a lot of people we're hoping to ride for and given us some calls. I'm not necessarily sure how it plays out for everybody else, but from our standpoint, I think it's looking pretty good.”

Santos said he believes Cabrera's prominent training clients will include Ron Moquett of Hot Springs, Kenny McPeek, and John Ortiz.

“David, he's never really angered anyone that I know of, so I feel like we can ride for everybody,” Santos said. “That's kind of the goal. Just to try to ride the right horses in the right races and try to keep everybody happy. They know that they're going to get effort from him. From me, I'm going to try and be as prepared as possible on knowing what's going in what races. Hopefully, it just leads to a lot of success.”

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Cabrera rode 43 winners at Oaklawn in 2018, his Hot Springs debut, and 12 in 2019 before wintering at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston, Texas in 2020.

Santos also will represent 2021 Prairie Meadows leading apprentice Kylee Jordan during the 2021-2022 Oaklawn meeting and said he hopes to lure another journeyman, a nationally prominent rider, to Hot Springs in January.

Cabrera and Jordan are among seven jockeys across the country Santos represents in late November.

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Jockey David Cabrera Gets 1,500th Win Saturday At Remington Park

Three-time top rider at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla., David Cabrera, continues to etch his name in the jockey annals here with five wins on Saturday night, reaching the milestone of 1,500 victories in his career in the process.

Cabrera hit that magic mark when he won the final race of the night on a nine-race card, momentarily checking in the stretch before blasting through a hole down the lane aboard heavy 2-5 wagering favorite My Golden M ($2.80 to win). That gave him five wins for the evening, and 1,500 in his career.

Cabrera has won Remington Park riding titles the past three years, 2018-2020, and is well on his way to his fourth consecutive trophy. His five trips to the winner's circle on Saturday night gave him 69 for the meet. He now leads Stewart Elliott, in second place, with 46 wins.

Cabrera bookended the card with a win in the first race booting home Quinn Ella ($4.40) at 1-1/8th miles on the turf. The 4-year-old filly, owned by Joe Castillo of Porter, Texas, and trained by Ronnie Cravens III, took the opener by three-quarters of a length at 6-5 odds. The race was for 3-year-olds and older in second-level allowance conditions.

The second Cabrera win of the night did not come until the fourth race when he smiled for the camera after Mr B Quiet ($8.80) broke his maiden by eight lengths at 3-1 odds. The 2-year-old gelding by Mr. Besilu, out of the Quiet American mare Bin Quiet, was the most impressive winner for Cabrera, pulling away at the end, beating the bunch of $7,500 maiden claimers by a city block. He is owned by Linda and Michael Mazoch and Austin Gustafson, who also trains that winner.

Cabrera then won the sixth, seventh, and ninth races to complete his huge run. He had mounts in eight of nine races Saturday night. His winner in the sixth was Fred'stwirlincandy ($6.40), who won for the second outing in a row. The 6-year-old gelded son of Twirling Candy, out of the Wimbledon mare Daphne Angela, is one of the most versatile runners at Remington Park, winning on a muddy main track Oct. 27, and then taking to the lawn to win Saturday against $25,000 claimers over the turf course. He went off at 2-1 odds and won by 1-1/4 lengths. Cabrera rode him in both victories. It was his second win of the night for Cravens III. This winner is owned by Jeffrey Hoffman of Wichita Falls, Texas.

The young rider from Jones, Okla., was on fire at this point, taking down the seventh race with Bobbin Tail ($4), the prohibitive even-money favorite. That 3-year-old filly by Tale of Ekati out of the Indian Charlie mare Bobbin' Robin, was one of Cabrera's closest calls of the night, beating conditional allowance horses at the mile distance by a mere neck. In fact, there was an objection made by second-place finisher Itsallinthenotes' jockey, Jose Medina, but the stewards ruled there would be no change. Itsallinthenotes was trying to pull off the major upset as she went off at 74-1 odds, the longest shot by far in the field. Cabrera rode this winner for owner Dream Walkin Farms (Toby Keith) of Norman, Okla. The filly is trained by Kenny Smith.

Cabrera closed out the night with the final trip to the winner's circle aboard My Golden M, a 4-year-old gelding by My Golden Song, out of the Early Flyer mare Early M. She is owned by Kathy Stephens of La Verna, Texas. His chances of getting that fifth win on the night and 1,500th of his career seemed almost inevitable riding this horse at 2-5 odds. It was also the second victory for the top jock by the length of a neck. Cabrera had to ride hard in this spot after being shuffled back and being pulled out wide to rally down the middle of the track. The winner is trained by Hector Echeverria.

Cabrera began his North American riding career in 2013 with 46 wins. His best year thus far was 2018 when he won 236 times. This year has been his top year for horses' earnings starting Saturday night at $6,876,135 from 987 starts for an average earnings mark of $6,967 per start. That compares to 2013 when his horses earned an average $1,372 per start.

The total career earnings for Cabrera, from 8,528 starts tops $34.6 million.

Remington Park racing continues next week with a new schedule. Monday and Tuesday racing in the afternoons gets underway for four weeks, beginning Nov. 15 & 16. The first post time is set for 2:30 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays. Each week will conclude with night racing on Fridays and Saturdays, with a regular first post of 7:07 pm. All times are Central.

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