Returning Veteran Riders Spice Up Del Mar Jockey Colony

The Del Mar jockey colony is an ever-changing organism. New faces coming in while popular veterans exit. It's been going on through the generations. Every summer riders make their way south from Arcadia and set up shop at the seaside oval. Some leave Southern California for what they perceive as greener pastures in other racing jurisdictions. In their place, jockeys from out-of-state move in, bringing their tack in hopes of reaping the riches Del Mar offers. It's an evolution that has existed since racing first came to the quiet seaside oval 89 years ago. But this year there's a noticeable difference. An influx of quality jockeys planning on riding at Del Mar, one who's already in the Hall of Fame and a couple others who are well on their way. While veterans Abel Cedillo, Giovanni Franco and Mirco Demuro have departed, the jockeys filling the void bring with them some very impressive resumes. There's Julien Leparoux, a low-key Frenchman who has been one the best riders from his native land to ever ride in America. He returns to Del Mar with just over 3,000 career victories and more than $207 million in earnings. He first came to Southern California in 2003, but soon drifted back east where he made a name for himself at Churchill Downs, Keeneland and the New York tracks. He won two Eclipse Awards, one for top apprentice (2006) and the other for top jockey (2009). He was recently presented with the George Woolf Award for his lifelong contribution to horse racing both on and off the track. Joel Rosario is rejoining the band of riders at Del Mar this summer. He was the leading rider at Del Mar in 2009, 2010 and 2011. He picked up and moved east in 2012 returning in late August that year to win the Pacific Classic aboard Dullahan. He would return in subsequent years for the big days, most notably the Breeders' Cup. He's notched four of his 16 Breeders' Cup victories at Del Mar. He won another Pacific Classic with Accelerate in 2018 and has put up such impressive numbers over the years that he was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 2024. Florent Geroux is another newcomer to the Del Mar jockey colony in 2026. The winner of eight Breeders' Cup races and one Kentucky Derby may be most noted for being the regular rider on Gun Runner. The two paired up on five straight Grade I victories from June of 2017 through January of 2018, including the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar. Geroux has also won the Kentucky Oaks three times and comes to Del Mar with over 23-hundred career victories and over $193 million in earnings during a 20-year riding career. Another highly successful rider returning to Del Mar in 2026 is Joe Bravo. He has decided to give SoCal another go after spending the past two years in South Florida. After winning a combined 22 riding titles at Monmouth Park and the Meadowlands Jersey Joe moved out to Del Mar in 2021. He won four stakes races his first summer here, including the Del Mar Derby with None Above the Law. The next year he won the G1 Bing Crosby on American Theorem but by 2023 he was yearning to return to the east coast to be closer to family. He comes back to Southern California with the same energy and witty personality that made him a fan favorite his first go-round. One other noted addition to this year's Del Mar jockey colony is Emissael Jaramillo, who moved from South Florida at the beginning of the year and immediately made an impact. He won races by the bunches and captured the riding title at Santa Anita's Classic meet. He won six stakes races, four of them graded and during the recently concluded Hollywood Meet at Santa Anita he won the G2 Charles Whittingham with Mondego. In five short years he became a top rider in Florida. He's moved to the top of the pile even quicker in Southern California. Add these new additions to the regular roster of jockeys at Del Mar: defending summer meet champion Juan Hernandez; last year's fall meet champion Umberto Rispoli; Hector I Berrios, Antonio Fresu and three Hall of Fame jockeys - Mike Smith, Kent Desormeaux and Victor Espinoza - and you have a group of riders at Del Mar that will be as competitive as any jockey colony in the nation. D'Angelo, Lynch to Stable Horses at Del Mar It looks like another full house on the backside of the Del Mar racetrack again this year. Racing Secretary David Jerkens says they've received 2,608 stall applications for the upcoming summer meet representing 147 trainers. Last year the number of horses stabled on the backside peaked at 1,925 on August 8 compared to 1,881 in 2024. It made for full fields and very competitive racing during the eight-week season. "We track overall horse population in Southern California every month," Jerkens says, "and we noticed a little bit of a dip in April so it's roughly showing a 7-percent decline in overall horse population. But we'll have the same amount of horses in the barn area as last year so I don't think it will be that big of an impact." 109 stalls have been assigned to out-of-state trainers this year. They include Jose D'Angelo, winner of two Breeders' Cup races last fall. He's expanding from his longtime base in Florida. Renowned Kentucky trainer Brian Lynch will bring a string to Del Mar this year as well as Sam Wilensky from Florida and Vann Belvoir, who ships a string of horses from Arizona. They'll join regulars Philip D'Amato, Michael McCarthy, Mark Glatt, John Sadler, Richard Mandella and last year's leading trainer for the second year in a row Bob Baffert. "We have initially assigned approximately the same number of stalls as last year," Jerkens says. "We anticipate a tight situation with both stall availability and living quarters throughout the meet." To help ease the crunch, some horses will be housed at San Luis Rey Downs in Bonsall and Los Alamitos in Orange County. Horses are constantly coming and going on the grounds throughout the summer. Many shipping in for a particular race then leaving a day or two later. Others remain at Del Mar for the entire two months. On any given Saturday, between 100 and 200 horses put in official works during morning training hours. Ship & Win Back for 16th Year There are so many obvious reasons to want to run your horse at Del Mar every summer. But if the sunny days, the cool ocean breezes and the laid-back feel of racing in a beach-side community are not enough, racing officials have added a few more incentives. This will be the 16th year for the "Ship & Win" program at Del Mar, providing purse enhancements for first-time starters from out-of-state. An extra $5,000 for those running on the dirt or an extra $4,000 for turf runners. That's just for entering. Then another 50% purse increase for those finishing first through fifth on the dirt and a 40% purse increase for runners on the grass. And that's for all subsequent starts at the seaside oval as well. More than 3,000 horses have taken advantage of the incentives offered by the popular program helping Del Mar achieve some of the largest average field sizes in the country. And don't think the regular local trainers and owners are being left out. Up to half of the horses entered in the program were brought from out-of-state by California-based stables. The pleasant byproduct of the "Ship & Win" program has been the number of horses who stayed in Southern California to race. "The results from last year were encouraging," Jerkens notes. "We were up 18-percent and we saw an increase in the number of "Ship & Win" participants remaining on the circuit participating at Los Al and Santa Anita." Del Mar is also bringing back enhancements for 2-year-old maidens running on the dirt in 2026. Last year some 2-year-old maiden races offered $100,000 purses and Del Mar's racing office is promising much of the same this summer. Add your bonus if your horse is participating in the "Ship & Win" program and the purse increases to $150,000. Del Mar's 2026 summer meet promises 32-days of exciting horseracing with some world class equine athletes expected on the grounds again this year. It gets started this Friday. Racing will be conducted Thursday through Sunday for most of the stand with first post at 2 p.m. JOCKEY PHOTO DAY RETURNS JULY 26 Jockey Photo Day, a most popular event that has been on the shelf since 2019, will make a highly anticipated return to Del Mar this season on Sunday, July 26. Del Mar's riding colony, one of the most heralded in the game that includes several Hall of Fame jockeys, will turn out in silks for free photos with the racing public in the area around the large fountain in the track's Plaza de Mexico. They'll be available between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. that afternoon. Jockey Photo Day was a regular happening at the seaside oval during the 2000-teens, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the track to greatly limit attendance for the 2020 season followed by a gradual return to normalcy in the years that followed. The July 26 date is also one of the track's two Family Fun Days this season, which should allow families with their children a perfect opportunity for keepsake photos with the colorful riders. COOLING OUT Gold Phoenix is expected to breeze on the grass this Sunday at Del Mar. "If he breezes like we hope, we'll probably enter him in the Eddie Read," trainer Phil D'Amato states. "If he needs some more time we'll just wait until the Del Mar Handicap." The Eddie Read is run Sunday July 26 and the Handicap is on August 29. Gold Phoenix has won the Del Mar 'Cap an unprecedented four years in a row. Super Corredora, last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner, is returning from a brief freshening. "She's galloping every day," trainer John Sadler says. "But she's probably a couple of weeks away from a work. We might see her at the end of the meet."