With 10 wins last week including a stakes race, James Graham earned Jockey of the Week for March 7 through March 13. The honor, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.
Graham began the race week on Wednesday at Fair Grounds where he makes his winter home. He posted three wins in a row on the nine-race card, two for trainer Steve Asmussen and one for James Hodges. On Thursday, he won the last four races for four different trainers, Greg Foley, Keith Desormeaux, Dallas Stewart, and Delmar Caldwell.
On Saturday, Graham again had multiple wins all for different trainers, the second race for Dallas Stewart and the third race for Ignacio Correas, IV. Trainer Tom Amoss then gave a leg up to Graham in the Allen 'Black Cat” Lacombe Memorial Stakes on the 3-year-old filly, Kneesnhips.
Off in post position three in the field of nine, Graham and Kneesnhips raced inside in seventh going to the half-mile pole, around the second turn. Graham swung Kneesnhips wide in upper stretch, well aware that with the temporary rail set at 17 feet, the outside turf paths were the best. While widest of all, Kneesnhips finished best by a length in 1:41.64 for the about one mile on the Stall-Wilson Turf Course. Kneesnhips paid $17.80 for the win.
“Fresh ground and a fresh horse – she was happy,” Graham said.
A native of Dublin, Ireland, Graham, 43, came to the United States in late 2002 after completing the program at Ireland's jockey school. He won his first race at River Downs in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 3, 2003.
A multiple graded stakes winning jockey, Graham is on his way to capturing his fourth straight leading rider title at Fair Grounds as he sits in first place with 63 wins and more than $2.2 million in purses with just 10 racing days left. Graham will then move his tack to Kentucky.
Graham's weekly statistics were 22-10-3-2 for a 45 percent win rate and $324,390 in purses.
Other nominees for Jockey of the Week were Stewart Elliott with nine wins, Ricardo Gonzalez with a graded stakes race at Santa Anita, Harry Hernandez with a stakes win at Turfway Park, and Irad Ortiz, Jr. with three stakes wins at Tampa Bay including two graded stakes.
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