Panama, consisting of jockeys Marcelino Pedroza Jr., Santo Sanjur, and Arcello Flaco, scored the win among 12 countries in the 11th annual World Jockey Challenge June 14 at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
The event was part of "Pups and Ponies" raising funding and awareness for Canine Castaways of Shelby County.
Flaco kicked off the night for Panama with a point from the first race, which was won by Joe Ramos of Puerto Rico. However, Sanjur had an answer for the competition with back-to-back wins early in the program.
Defending champions Puerto Rico came roaring back to retake the lead before Pedroza Jr. scored a win for Panama to put them back in the lead. The final race of the evening brought Pedroza Jr. and Santo Sanjur back on the leaderboard with six points total, giving them the win with 41 points over Puerto Rico with 38 points. Mexico finished third with 31 points followed by Peru with 21.
Peru was only represented by Fernando De La Cruz, who scored all the points for Peru.
"We are excited to get this win and to represent our country," noted Pedroza Jr. "This is always a lot of fun and we are glad to take home the title."
This is the second time Panama has won the World Jockey Challenge in the 11-year history of the event. They also won the title in 2015 with both Pedroza Jr. and Sanjur competing that season as well.
"It's good to get back on top of this competition," added Sanjur. "We may not have the biggest team, but we always try very hard to represent our country."
Other countries represented during the World Jockey Challenge included United States, who finished fifth with 18 points, Ireland, France and Chile.
Following the first race, the Parade of Flags was held. Each group of jockeys walked to the winner's circle carrying the flag of their country to officially kick off the World Jockey Challenge. A total of 28 jockeys competed in the event.
This press release has not been edited by BloodHorse. If there are any questions please contact the organization that produced the release.
