The 6-year-old Isolate made the first 12 starts of his career in the U.S. for Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, winning two from his first five for trainer Kathy Ritvo before joining the barn of Tom Amoss. The Florida-bred posted four victories from seven outings for that barn, winning the Work All Week S. at Hawthorne and the Tale of the Cat S. at Saratoga ahead of a runner-up effort in the Louisville Thoroughbred Society S. in 2022.

Subsequently acquired by Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi's RRR Racing and turned over to trainer Doug Watson in Dubai, Isolate was runner-up in a pair of group sprint races at Meydan, then stretched out in distance to post an impressive win in the G2 Godolphin Mile with Tyler Gaffalione in the irons. He has made just one appearance since, a handy success in the G2 Al Maktoum Mile at Meydan Dec. 22.

Isolate did not originally draw into the Saudi Cup, but gained a run when Aidan O'Brien elected to re-route the gifted multiple Group 1-winning turf horse Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) to the G2 Neom Turf Cup.

Rosario will also take the ride aboard Pantofel Stable, Wachtel Stable and Gary Barber's Bold Journey (Hard Spun) in the G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint, Anderson also reported. Winner of the GIII Fall Highweight H. and Gravesend S. in his two most recent appearances, Bold Journey carried Rosario to a first-level New York-bred allowance victory at the Big A in 2022. Bold Journey is trained by Bill Mott.

Rosario rode no fewer than six stakes winners over the weekend, including Beatbox (Pioneerof the Nile) in the GIII Fair Grounds S. He was runner-up in the GII Risen Star S. atop Track Phantom (Quality Road).

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Per agent Ron Anderson, Joel Rosario is off his mounts Wednesday at Saratoga as he still has soreness in his mouth after requiring stitches Saturday. Joel will aim for a Thursday return. https://t.co/0Jc9OkErfe

— Keith-TripleDeadHeat (@TripleDeadHeat) August 9, 2023

After being sidelined more than five weeks due to an injury suffered in a spill on July 2 at Monmouth Park, jockey Samy Camacho will resume riding on Friday, the track said in a release Wednesday.

Camacho will ease into his return with three mounts on the eight-race card. The jockey, who remains tied for second (with Jairo Rendon) in the Oceanport standings, suffered a right shoulder injury in the mishap.

Samy Camacho | Monmouth Park Web

“I'm ready to come back,” said Camacho. “I feel good. I'm ready to go again. I'm not 100 percent, but I am close to being completely healed.”

Camacho said he intends to ride through the end of the Monmouth Park meet on Sept. 11 before heading to Florida to ride for the winter.

“His first day back we didn't want to overdo it,” said Mike Moran, Camacho's agent. “But he says he is feeling great and I'm looking forward to seeing him ride again.”

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“I think I will possibly spend the winter in California at Santa Anita where I started many years ago as a young boy,” Dettori said. “I did four lovely winters there in the late eighties. I've been doing my winters in Dubai the last few years, but I'm getting a lot of requests from trainers to come over. So I thought `why not?' I want to give it a go. It's a place that I am a big fan of and am very fond of Santa Anita. I am looking forward to the challenge. This is the plan for the winter.”

Dettori had ridden frequently in the U.S., but usually comes in just for major races. He said he has no such plans for Santa Anita and said that he is committed to riding there regularly.
“If you're going to do it, you have to do it properly,” he said. “That's why I am starting on opening day.”

Dettori said he was planning to return to Europe when the flat season gets underway, but said he could extend his stay in the U.S. if he picks up a contender for the GI Kentucky Derby.

“Who knows, I might find a nice 3-year-old that heads to Churchill Downs for the first Saturday in May,” he told Luck. “I am keeping all my options open. I am going there with a clean slate and am looking forward to the challenge. I don't want to look too far ahead. My main concern is to get there for Boxing Day and start from there. You never know what will happen. I might land on a nice 3-year-old and things can take a different path. At the moment, my focus is to do well and take it from there.”

Dettori has had one Derby mount, finishing sixth aboard China Visit (Red Ransom) in 2000.

Dettori has hired veteran agent Ron Anderson, who also books mounts for Joel Rosario and John Velazquez.

“Ron Anderson is a top class agent and also a good friend for so many years,” Dettori said. “I had a chat with him and he will take me under his umbrella of jockeys and help me out. He's a good person to have on your side.”

Dettori had been riding in Dubai during the winters. He told Luck that riding at Santa Anita will be a new challenge for him, something he relishes at this stage in his career.

“Dubai been easy for us,” he said. “It's only down the road. But at this stage at in my career, I've done a lot in Dubai. I need a fresh challenge and this opportunity came up. With people telling me they want me over there, why not? Better late than never. Let's give it a go.”

Dettori has had 70 mounts over his career at Santa Anita with four winners.

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Take it from Ron Anderson, agent for Rosario, the regular rider of Knicks Go, who is set to make his 2022 debut in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park a week from tomorrow on Jan. 29.

“I don't know how they could deny Joel,” said Anderson, who has been his agent since 2012 and who also represents Hall of Fame veteran John Velazquez.

“Joel led the country in graded stakes wins and purse earnings, and he would have broken the records if he hadn't missed time due to injuries, but he had an outstanding year and it's justified that he wins.”

Rosario was aboard Knicks Go in his last four races, winning wire-to-wire as is his wont, including the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar last Nov. 6.

“He was riding at Keeneland last Fall,” Anderson recalled, explaining how Joel got the mount, “and Brad (trainer Brad Cox) needed a rider for Knicks Go in an allowance race. Joel rode him and the horse ran freaky.

“It just so happened the Breeders' Cup was at Keeneland in 2020 and we rode him back and won the (Dirt) Mile. There's no big story to it. I just was riding at Keeneland on the right day, and ended up on Knicks Go who's an awfully unique horse.

“You can't run with him, or you're going to come out feet first, and if you let him go, he's probably one of the very, very best horses around the turns that I've ever seen.

“He seems to run around the turn as fast as he does around the straight. He would have been a crazy bull ring horse back in the day when we had bull rings. When he gets to the three-eighths pole he just takes off, and he runs the turns so well that many can't catch him. If they try and catch up, they spend their energy trying to get within range and then he just takes off again.

“From 1984 to 2021, I've won 38 Breeders' Cup races as an agent, my point being I've been around a lot of really good horses, a lot of good three-year-olds and won 15 Triple Crown races but Knicks Go is maybe as unique a horse as I've ever seen.

“He's going to make the lead, so it will be interesting to see what happens (against Life Is Good in the Pegasus), because basically it's going to be a match race.”

In his most recent race, likely Pegasus starter Life Is Good won the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile wire-to-wire by 5 ¾ lengths on Nov. 6.

“There will be others in the race but it comes down to Life Is Good and Knicks Go,” Anderson said. “Good luck to Life Is Good, but he's not going to be in front of my horse; there's just no way.

“He's not only fast, but more important, he's quick on his feet. It doesn't take him but three or four strides to be gone. When they leave the gate, he's going to be in front, and they're going to have to try and get him at some point.

“It's happened far more than once. He leaves there in front, he's a length or two further in front at the first turn, then it seems they try and catch up going into the turn, and just about that time he takes off again.

“He's a very unique animal and he's been very good to us.”

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Asmussen wouldn't be alone.

Those fans tracking the Hall of Fame trainer at the Hot Springs, Ark., track also were headed to the winner's circle. And, many more followed. When the photo was snapped, Abbey Huffman estimated 55 of Chasing Time's 3,220 owners, including some Arkansans, had crammed into the winner's circle to celebrate the victory. Huffman is a Midwest racing manager for MyRacehorse, which offers fractional ownership in horses to shareholders, including Chasing Time, a promising 3-year-old son of Not This Time who represented the first Oaklawn winner solely owned by the entity.

Chasing Time's entry-level victory was noteworthy for another reason, too. It marked the first for nationally prominent jockey Joel Rosario since he suffered a hairline fracture of a rib when he was unseated shortly after a Dec. 2 race at Aqueduct. Rosario resumed riding Friday, which also marked his first day as a regular at the 2021-2022 Oaklawn meeting that began Dec. 3.

“Me, I was excited after the race and then to see so many people in there cheering – it was very emotional for me and very good to see that,” Rosario said Saturday afternoon. “It was unbelievable, and that's what I do every day.”

Nobody did it better in 2021 than Rosario.

Rosario ($32,944,478) was eyeing a single-season North American record for purse earnings before the injury. In addition to leading the country in purse earnings, he topped all other riders in stakes victories (69), graded stakes victories (49) and tied for 10^th in victories (228), according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization.

Rosario, as expected, was announced Saturday as one of three finalists for an Eclipse Award as the country's outstanding jockey of 2021. Despite already compiling a Hall of Fame resume – more than 3,200 career victories, including 15 in Breeders' Cup races and three in Triple Crown events, and roughly $264 million in purse earnings – Rosario has never been honored with an Eclipse Award. The winner will be announced Feb. 10.

“We always hope,” said Rosario, who is represented by super agent Ron Anderson. “We're really grateful for everything we have and everything we've done. Appreciate everybody who has given me the opportunity. Yeah, we look forward for this one, this year again.”

Rosario, who turned 37 Friday, is scheduled to ride regularly at Oaklawn through at least early April, Anderson said. Chasing Time was Rosario's 29th career Oaklawn victory. He rode six horses Friday, all for Asmussen, and four Saturday, including Concert Tour in the $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes for 2020 Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox. Lured by highest purse structure in the country this winter and the opportunity to ride A-list stock for Asmussen and Cox, Rosario is riding regularly at Oaklawn for the first time. Physically, Rosario said he's ready to go following the injury.

“I feel fine,” Rosario said. “It's always tough in the beginning, when you get started, but I've been working out. I feel fine.”

MyRacehorse, in partnership, won the $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) for older fillies and mares last year at Oaklawn with two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl. MyRacehorse was founded in March 2019.

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Joel Rosario is named on seven horses Friday, which will mark his first day as a regular in Hot Springs and first action since suffering a hairline fracture of a rib when he was unseated shortly after the finish of a Dec. 2 race at Aqueduct.

Rosario ($32,944,478) was eyeing a single-season North American record for purse earnings before the injury. Now healthy, Rosario's return to the saddle will fall on his 37th birthday.

“He takes care of himself like no one, probably, you've ever met,” Rosario's agent, Ron Anderson, said Saturday afternoon. “He's exceptionally fit … his lady friend is a nutritionist. She's taught him how to take care of his weight, what to eat, what not to eat. He's ready to go at all times. It will be six weeks since he fell and he had a hairline fracture. It's time to get started again.”

All seven horses Rosario is named on Friday are for Hall of Famer and perennial Oaklawn training champion Steve Asmussen. Rosario and Asmussen teamed to win the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) Nov. 5 at Del Mar with unbeaten Echo Zulu. Rosario won the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) the following day aboard Knicks Go for trainer Brad Cox.

Cox (12 victories) and Asmussen (11) entered Sunday leading the 2021-2022 Oaklawn trainer standings. Coupled with Oaklawn's purse structure, the highest in the country this winter, Anderson said Oaklawn is a perfect fit for Rosario, who has enjoyed immense success in Hot Springs, particularly in 2020. Rosario wintered last year at Santa Anita, but Anderson has Hall of Famer John Velazquez there in 2022. Velazquez's major client is Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

“We have success for two guys that are 1-2 and 2-1 there,” Anderson said, referring to Oaklawn. “The winter in California's not quite the same as it used to be. Just looking for a change. So, Brad we've won for; Steve, we've won for. We've won a Breeders' Cup for both of them. It's three days a week and the purses are fantastic. It's a good place to go for a change. I have Johnny, too, and Johnny's in California, per Bob's request. Sometimes, it's just the flow of the way things feel. Johnny won the last two Kentucky Derbys for Bob. Bob would like him to come out there. Joel won the Breeders' Cups for Brad and Steve. They're kind of the kingpins at Oaklawn. The purses are big. Joel doesn't mind it there. He likes it.”

Rosario rode six days during the final weeks of Oaklawn's 2020 meeting and won 15 races, including the $150,000 Oaklawn Mile Stakes aboard Tom's d'Etat for trainer Al Stall, $100,000 Rainbow Stakes aboard Man in the Can for trainer Ron Moquett of Hot Springs, $165,000 Arkansas Breeders' Championship Stakes aboard Man in the Can and the second division of the $500,000 Arkansas Derby (G1) aboard Nadal for Baffert.

Coupled with a double in March, including the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) aboard Nadal, Rosario finished with a spectacular 17-10-7 record from just 45 mounts and amassed $2,030,576 in purse earnings. Rosario ranked second in stakes victories at the meet (five), fourth in purse earnings and 11^th in victories – just one shy of cracking the top 10 – with an eye-popping 38 percent strike rate. Rosario added three more stakes victories at the 2021 Oaklawn meeting, including the $1 million Rebel (G2) for Baffert aboard Concert Tour.

Anderson said Rosario is booked to ride Concert Tour in the $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes for older horses Jan. 15 at Oaklawn, a one-mile race would mark the colt's first start for Cox. Rosario and Cox are scheduled to team up again Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park when Knicks Go makes his final career start in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1).

“World-class rider,” Cox said Saturday afternoon. “I mean, it's no secret about that. He's a very good all-around rider and very happy that he's going to be there during the meet. Looking forward for him teaming up with Knicks Go again in the Pegasus and go from there.”

Anderson said Rosario is scheduled to ride regularly at Oaklawn until at least early April. Rosario has 28 career Oaklawn victories, including 12 stakes, with his mounts earning $4,979,104. In addition to Nadal, Rosario won the $200,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) and $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) in 2014 aboard Close Hatches for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Close Hatches won an Eclipse Award as the country's champion older female that year.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Rosario rode his first winner in the United States in 2006. He has more than 3,000 career victories, including 15 in Breeders' Cup races and three in Triple Crown events, and his mounts have earned more than $250 million. Rosario won the $10 million Dubai World Cup (G1) in 2013 in the United Arab Emirates aboard Animal Kingdom.

In addition to purse earnings, Rosario led the country in stakes victories (69) and graded stakes victories (49) in 2021, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization. Rosario is seeking his first Eclipse Award.

“Look, like I tell people, he's a world-class rider,” Anderson said. “He could go anywhere in the world and be competitive. Lucky enough we come in there and we ride for Steve right away. Got some calls with Brad, got some calls with (Ron) Moquett and some other people. We'll get back with it here.”

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Riding regularly now at Santa Anita after being based mainly in New York since 1990, the native of Puerto Rico is well atop the jockey standings after three racing days, with nine wins from 17 mounts, leading in purse earnings as well with $653,900.

It's no surprise to those in the know, particularly his agent, Ron Anderson, whose savvy extends well beyond horse racing.

“He's without a doubt one of the greatest riders we've seen in a very, very long time,” said the 67-year-old Anderson, who became a world-class agent soon after he started in 1973, and also represents future Hall of Famer Joel Rosario.

Anderson's admiration of “Johnny V.,” as Velazquez is known to friends and fans alike, is understandable and deserved.

“John devotes considerable time as president of the Jockeys' Guild, which involves much more than meets the eye,” Anderson said. “Overall, he's in a league by himself, a great rider and a complete professional in every facet of his life.”

Anderson is reticent when it comes to beating the drums on his own behalf, but his record speaks for itself.

“I've won 38 Breeders' Cup races,” Anderson noted sans fanfare. “Nobody's even close.

“I've been doing this long enough that we've got it figured out,” he said, “but the bottom line is these guys make it easy for me, because I get opportunities to put them on good horses.”

He has represented a Who's Who of Hall of Fame jockeys in his nearly 49 years as an agent, namely Velazquez, Jerry Bailey, Garrett Gomez, Gary Stevens, Chris Antley and Kent Desormeaux, with Rosario waiting in the wings.

Ron Anderson may not own up to it, but you could say this: he's been Colonel Parker to all of those jocks.

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Agent Ron Anderson suggested that opening day at Santa Anita Park on Dec. 26 could fall in line with Rosario's return to action.

“Those kind of things, usually it's a couple or three weeks, then you have to bite the bullet a little bit because you're in discomfort, anyway,” Anderson told bloodhorse.com.

Rosario had been booked to ride through the weekend at Aqueduct, including on the Bill Mott-trained Olympiad in the G1 Cigar Mile.

Read more at bloodhorse.com.

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Rosario's agent, Ron Anderson, predicted that his rider would be out for about three weeks and could be ready for the Dec. 26 opening day card at Santa Anita.

“I haven't spoken to a doctor yet, so we're just waiting to find out,” he said. “It's going t be two, three weeks before he can ride again, so we're going to have to bite the bullet. Opening day at Santa Anita is 23 days away. It's possible that he can make that, but I do not know.”

With Rosario closing in on a number of records, the jockey and his agent had planned a busy schedule over the final four weeks of the year. Rosario has won 49 graded stakes this year, six shy of the record set by Jerry Bailey in 2003, and his 69 stakes wins on the year had him within seven wins of the record set by Garrett Gomez in 2007. With $32,944,478 in earnings this year, he was also within striking distance of the record held by Irad Ortiz Jr. Ortiz set his record in 2019 with $34,109,019 in purse earnings. It appears that Rosario will run out of time when it comes to establishing any new records.

“I am just concerned about him being comfortable,” Anderson said. “He's not the type to dwell on something like (breaking records). We'll just roll with it and maybe we can do it next year. We will move on.”

Riding Irish Constitution (Constitution) in the second race Thursday, Rosario was unseated after the wire.

“Last night on his way home, he called me and said that when he breathed it was painful,” Anderson said. “I got off phone thinking it had to be a rib or something like that bugging him. He got x-rays and it showed he has a fracture.”

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A 50-year-old native of Puerto Rico, “Johnny V.” as he's affectionately known, is Thoroughbred racing's all-time leading money winning jockey, with career purse earnings of more than $446 million from 6,357 wins. A winner of four Kentucky Derbies, including this year's running with Medina Spirit, Velazquez has won 17 Breeders' Cup races, including the 2020 Breeders' Cup Classic with Authentic.

A dominant force on the East Coast for many years, Velazquez, who broke his maiden in Puerto Rico on Jan. 3, 1990, began riding full-time in New York later that year and was soon befriended by legendary Puerto Rican Hall of Famer Angel Cordero, Jr., who served as an invaluable mentor as Velazquez sought to immerse himself in American culture.

When Cordero retired from the saddle, he became Velazquez's agent in 1998. The results were instantaneous and they were remarkable, as Velazquez, who rode “first-call” for top trainer Todd Pletcher, would go on to become Saratoga's all-time leading jockey and become America's leading rider by money-won in 2004 and 2005, winning Eclipse Award Champion Jockey honors in both years as well.

Although he enjoyed tremendous success with Cordero, Velazquez shifted gears in late 2019, as he hired superstar agent Ron Anderson, who at the time was working for Joel Rosario, whom he continues to represent.

“We're looking to winter out there instead of going to Florida, we're looking for some sort of change,” said Anderson, himself a Southern California native. “Johnny's at a point, we're looking for good horses, graded stakes and the like…He'll be in and out (of town) a little bit, but something different. I think he's very excited about being there. His wife Leona went out and got a place over the weekend.

“He'll be riding for everybody, Bob Baffert, Doug O'Neill, Richie Baltas, Dick Mandella, everybody. I'll piece that together as we go. The first condition book came out (Monday) and I've already got a few guys that are knocking on the door.”

Far beyond his tremendous success as a rider, John Velazquez, who also serves as Chairman of the Board of the National Jockeys' Guild and as a board member of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, is revered by jockeys and horsemen nationwide for his unwavering commitment to his fellow riders and the betterment of the sport in general.

“He's one of the greatest guys ever,” said Anderson. “What he does for the Jockeys' Guild and all the time he puts in, the meetings and following up with individual riders through a lot of situations…He's just different. He's really, really a special person at the end of the day. He's positive, he's classy, he's considerate, he's kind to everybody.

“As a rider, his numbers and his records speak for themselves. He's the number one leading rider of all-time. You'll see, he's just a special person.”

Anderson also noted that although Velazquez will be based at Santa Anita through the month of March, he will also be flying out of town to ride in major stakes such as the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park Jan. 29 and other races nationally and internationally as well.

Velazquez, a winner of Santa Anita's 2009 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, also notched a significant milestone at Santa Anita, when he passed retired Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey with his 661st graded stakes winner aboard the Baffert-trained Bast in the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes here on Sept. 27, 2019—making him racing's all-time leading graded stakes winning jockey.

Velazquez will be joining a star-studded riding colony headed by the likes of Flavien Prat, Juan Hernandez, Umberto Rispoli, Joe Bravo, Abel Cedillo and fellow Hall of Famers Kent Desormeaux, Victor Espinoza and Mike Smith.

First post time for an 11-race card on Santa Anita's Winter/Spring Meet opening day, Dec. 26, is at 11 a.m. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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