With both Tyler Gaffalione and Junior Alvarado achieving career milestones at Gulfstream Park, the panel of racing experts could not separate their achievements leading to a tie for Jockey of the Week for Jan. 16 through Jan. 22. The award honors jockeys for riding accomplishments and who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.
Going into Friday's card, Gaffalione sat at 1,998 career wins. He closed within one aboard Temerity for trainer Fernando Abreu in Race 3 and reached the 2,000-win milestone in Race 6 for trainer Mike Maker aboard Megacity.
Gaffalione, 28, a native of Davie, Fla., won his first race in only his third mount on Sept. 5, 2014 at Gulfstream Park. He earned the Eclipse Award as Outstanding Apprentice in 2015.
Gaffalione, whose father and grandfather were jockeys, is coming off a career-best 2022 during which he won seven Grade 1 races. He has dominated the jockey standings in Kentucky for the past several years earning leading rider titles at Churchill Downs, Keeneland and Kentucky Downs.
“I feel so blessed. I just want to thank the people who have gotten me to this point, all the people who put in numerous hours in the mornings to make my job easier,” said Gaffalione. “I love what I do. I love being here. It couldn't have happened at a better place, my home track.”
Gaffalione has a mount in every race on Saturday and will be in the irons on White Abarrio in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational for trainer Saffie Joseph.
Junior Alvarado, 36, achieved career win 2,000 on Saturday aboard Broadway Force for trainer James Jerkins in Race 5 after going winless in his last 10 mounts.
“It hasn't been easy for me – I've had a lot of injuries – but that's what makes every win worth it,” said Alvarado following a celebration in the winner's circle. “A Grade 1 or a claiming race, I'm grateful for each win. I don't take anything for granted.”
Alvarado has won 17 Grade 1 races and more than $119 million in purses. He had a very successful 2022 winning 13 graded stakes including four on Olympiad for trainer Bill Mott, one of his most loyal supporters. Alvarado won his first Breeders' Cup race in 2022 on Cody's Wish in the G1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile for Bill Mott. Alvarado will ride Art Collector on Saturday for Mott in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational, one of 11 scheduled mounts.
Other nominees for Jockey of the Week include James Graham with two stakes wins at Fair Grounds, Luis Saez who won the G3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds, and Jevian Toledo who won two stakes at Laurel.
Adam Koenig, who spent more than a decade fighting to improve the horse racing industry through changes to wagering and other revenue-generating steps, has been named the first Executive Director of the Kentucky Quarter Horse Racing Association.
The decision to appoint an Executive Director comes as the group works with Revolutionary Racing Kentucky to build the Commonwealth's first Quarter Horse track and equine facility, in Boyd County.
“Rep. Koenig spent many years helping Kentucky's horse racing industry and we are grateful he will continue that work in this new role,” said Dr. Richard Connelley, KQHRA President. “He brings unmatched leadership and relationships that will help us take the biggest step in our history.”
Koenig, an Erlanger resident, was an eight-term state legislator first elected to represent the 69th House District in 2006. There, he was the longtime chair of the Licensing, Occupations and Administration Regulations Committee, where he oversaw all gaming issues.
He carried the Historic Horse Racing bill through the House of Representatives and co-chaired the Pari-Mutuel Task Force in 2021, ultimately helping to modernize those laws, including penny breakage. Through that work, he developed strong and trusted relationships with horse owners and with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. He also brings decades of experience in planning and economic development, a background that will be utilized as the $55 million project begins this year.
“We have made great strides in making Kentucky the best place to race and breed in the world,” he said. “The missing piece has been Quarter Horses, so to be part of the beginning of that is truly exciting.”
The KQHRA represents thousands of Quarter Horse owners across Kentucky. Historically, those owners have been forced to take their horses out of state to compete. With the new race track, they will be able to race in their home state, while attracting out-of-state Quarter Horse owners and keeping those revenues in Kentucky.
Koenig will be tasked with leading the organization's day-to-day operations and serving as the lead point of contact for legislators, regulators and others.
“I have come to truly love horse racing in the last 16 years,” Koenig added. “I have spent that time fighting for the industry and while I haven't previously worked directly in it, I believe my relationships in the Legislature, as well as with the KHRC, will be very helpful for horse owners. I look forward to working with everyone to ensure Quarter Horses have a bright future here.”
You'll likely be seeing a lot more of jockey Kazushi Kimura in the coming weeks of the Classic Meet at Santa Anita. After a relatively slow start to the stand, things have started to pick up for the reigning champion jockey in Canada.
Last Sunday, Kimura won his first race ever at Santa Anita and first U.S. graded stakes when rallying Kristenbosch to a nose victory in the La Canada (G3) for trainer John Sadler. Then on Saturday, Kimura took things up a notch when closing the card with a flourish.
Riding 13-1 long shot Duvet Day in the featured Astra Stakes for trainer Michael McCarthy, Kimura was content to sit second-last in the mile and one half turf marathon. Then with a quarter mile left to run, Kimura angled out widest of all for clear running room and closed with a flourish to win going away by 1 ¼ lengths.
Two races later, Kimura uncorked another flying finish aboard Hawker to win a 6 ½-furlong maiden special weight on turf for Sadler.
“He's definitely gaining some momentum,” said Brandon O'Bryan, who recently took over as Kimura's agent. “Sadler and McCarthy have been his top supporters, so to win for those guys was especially nice. But he's also been meeting new trainers and starting to work for guys outside of just those two. We're getting into new barns – (Mark) Glatt, (Carla) Gaines, and others.
“It may have been a touch slow earlier in the meet, but he's got the ball rolling now,” O'Bryan added.
A 23-year-old native of Hokkaido, Japan, Kimura got his start as a jockey at the Japan Racing Association's Horseracing School. He arrived at Woodbine in 2018 and that year would earn the Sovereign Award as Canada's outstanding apprentice jockey. The following year, he would win the Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice jockey.
Kimura said the move to Santa Anita after spending last winter at Turfway Park is all part of his career strategy.
“It's been great here,” he said. “When I left my (jockey) school in Japan, I wanted to leave the country and get all the different experiences I could,” Kimura said. “To me, experience is the most important thing. To learn different riding styles, work on my English, things like that. Everything has just been great.”
Following Duvet Day's win in the Astra, McCarthy noted Kimura rode for him last winter at Turfway Park “and he did an exceptional job.
“He handicaps the races very well, comes prepared, always eager to work and has a smile on his face,” McCarthy said.
Kimura acknowledged things are a bit different on the track at Santa Anita as compared to other places he has rode. Most notably, Woodbine and Turfway Park have synthetic main tracks. Riding on dirt at Santa Anita has been a slightly new experience.
“I grew up in Japan, everything is different,” Kimura said. “The morning training, the racing. Here you have to be quick to get into position. It's always most important to be aggressive.”
Kimura is now winning at 15 percent clip at Santa Anita entering Sunday's action. According to O'Bryan, Kimura has much more he wants to accomplish in his riding career and is putting in the work to do so.
“I spoke with him and he told me, 'I want to be the best jockey in the world, like a Frankie Dettori.' I thought that was really impressive to have such an ambitious goal like that.
“Also I didn't know, but when he was the leading rider at Woodbine, he would go down to Presque Isle Downs and ride on his off days. He was doing nothing but riding. I really like his dedication to the profession.”
As things stand, Kimura said he plans to remain at Santa Anita at least until the start of the Woodbine meet on April 22. Last year at Woodbine, Kimura won at a 20 percent clip while booting home 152 winners, 30 more than the runner-up in the jockey's standings. O'Bryan is hoping Kimura's star continues to grow at Santa Anita in the coming months.
“It's one of those things where we'll cross that bridge when it comes,” O'Bryan said of a potential return to Woodbine. “For now, I just want him to have a good experience and win races.”
Owner/breeder Keith Abrahams was quietly confident in Kirstenbosch ahead of last weekend's Grade 3 La Canada Stakes at Santa Anita. The filly, named for a famous botanical garden in Abrahams' native South Africa, proved his confidence was not misplaced when she won by a nose.
Kirstenbosch became the second homebred graded stakes winner to race in Abrahams' colors, quite a feat for a small-scale breeder who keeps only three to five mares at any given time.
Though the 4-year-old daughter of Midnight Lute was the third choice on the board behind a pair of Bob Baffert trainees, Abrahams believed the extra distance of 1 1/16 miles would be perfect for his filly after her third-place finish in the seven-furlong La Brea (G1).
“I thought she had a very good chance,” Abrahams said. “She's quite talented, we think, but she's one of those horses that we still think she's not quite putting out 100 percent of her effort.”
Juan Leyva, longtime assistant to trainer John Sadler, readily agreed after watching Kirstenbosch win by a nose at the wire.
“When she started running, I thought she was going to win by at least half a length, but then it looked like when she got to (runner-up) Ganadora, she kind of just hung with her and this filly just tends to do that,” Leyva explained. ”She does just enough to win, she's never been one to just pull away, so that's the only thing I was afraid of. … But she got the job done, so that's the main thing. I'm really happy for Keith because they have been longtime clients of John and they are just good people.”
Keith Abraham, second from left, bookended by Sadler assistants Juan Leyva (right) and Enrique Miranda, along with jockey Kazushi Kimura and stakes coordinator James Kasparoff
Loyalty in his business relationships is one of Abrahams' key tools to success, both in his real estate work as co-founder of the Brentwood Real Estate Group, and in the racing industry. Originally a CPA by trade, Abrahams figured out early on in the business realm that having the right people around him was paramount to success.
Abrahams' relationship with Sadler dates back 20 years, while his work with bloodstock agent Kathy Berkey traces back more than 30 years. He's kept his small band of broodmares at the same Kentucky farm (Columbiana) for nearly 20 years as well.
“I learned in business that you should always try to surround yourself with good people,” Abrahams said. “You hire them to do a job, and then that's their expertise so you let them do it. John Sadler and I always sit down and discuss the race options, but ultimately it's what he thinks we should do.
“I'm very involved in the breeding, where I like to make decisions; my agent Kathy provides me with information, then I do my own research as well and we come to a decision.”
Abrahams' passion for the bloodstock side of the business, albeit on a small scale, has led to strong results on the racing side of the industry.
“I love the breeding, the challenge,” he said. “That's pretty much 95 percent of all the horses I've ever run are all horses I've bred. That whole challenge of finding the right crosses, making those decisions, and seeing them come to the track and do something with it, whether it be a low-level race, or we've been fortunate to have some good runners at the higher level.”
One of his earliest breeding successes came in the form of Taste of Paradise, a horse on whom he is listed as co-breeder with his father-in-law. Berkey helped him select that horse's dam, Tastetheteardrops, at the 1997 Keeneland November sale, for $60,000. Taste of Paradise was foaled in 1999 on a breeding to Conquistador Cielo, and won the G2 San Diego Handicap for Abrahams in 2003 before selling for $425,000 at the 2004 Barretts January sale. Taste of Paradise would go on to win the G1 Vosburgh in 2005, retiring with earnings over $1 million.
The next major success came with Get Funky, a colt Abrahams acquired via a $62,500 claim from a maiden race in 2006. The colt would go on to win 11 of his 45 career starts, including the G2 Del Mar Derby, before retiring with earnings of $781,675.
Also in 2006, Abrahams and Berkey bought a mare named Azure Spring for $32,000 at the Keeneland November sale. Her most successful offspring was Selcourt, named for the small town in South Africa in which Abrahams was raised. The 2014 filly by Tiz Wonderful won the G2 Santa Monica Stakes in 2018, and retired a multiple graded stakes winner with earnings of $393,160.
Selcourt and jockey Tyler Baze winning the 2018 Santa Monica Stakes
Kirstenbosch, the latest in a stream of homebreds named for South African landmarks, is actually a second-generation homebred for Abrahams. Berkey helped select the filly's granddam, And Guess What (Kris S.) at the 2001 Keeneland January sale for $24,000. A 2010 cross with Belong to Me led to Llandudno, a graded stakes-placed mare, who in turn would foal Kirstenbosch in 2019 on a cross to Midnight Lute.
“I love the game, and it's so fun to have the highs because we all know how tough this game can be,” Abrahams said.
In fact, his first foray into U.S. racing could hardly be described as a profitable one.
Though Abrahams had some exposure to horse racing while growing up in South Africa, courtesy of his grandfather, a rural hometown meant the young Abrahams was more involved with riding horses and working with farm animals.
Following a mandatory two-year stint in the South African army, Abrahams had a last-gasp chance to follow his family to the United States; he could get a green card if he arrived before his 21st birthday, which was just 10 days away when he learned of the opportunity. Taking the risk, Abrahams fell in love with California and decided to stay, eventually graduating from USC and beginning his journey as a CPA.
“I was just out of college and working for a big accounting firm when a friend's family, who was involved in a very small way in breeding a mare of two, had one foal they needed to find a home for,” Abrahams recalled. “Two of us decided that we'd take the foal and try to race it.”
It would have been a perfect Hollywood ending had that filly had any success. Instead, she never made it to the race and became Abrahams' personal riding horse before passing away at the ripe age of 35 just a couple years ago. Despite the perceived failure, Abrahams had been fatally bitten by the racing bug.
“I ended up taking over a layup facility in Bradbury, Calif, right near Santa Anita,” Abrahams said. “I was working in the office during the day and trying to run a boarding facility at night, so that I could pay my way to get into the business. I made a lot of bad breeding decisions on my own early on, until I met Kathy and started breeding more seriously in Kentucky a few years later.
“The industry is a fun one to be in, but I also love being around the horses. I pretty much go out to the track every week to see them work, and I try to be in Kentucky as much as I can to see the mares and babies.”
