Through Wednesday of closing week at Churchill Downs, Tyler Gaffalione was in third place in the jockey standings with 7 wins trailing Jose Ortiz with 11 and Luis Saez with 8. By Sunday, Gaffalione had landed another leading jockey title at Churchill with six wins on Saturday including the Ack Ack (G3) and Lukas Classic (G2) and 12 wins overall for the week.
The panel of racing experts voted Gaffalione Jockey of the Week honors for September 21-27.
Gaffalione began his ascent in the standings with a win on Thursday for trainer Greg Foley in Race 5 and on Friday, Race 9 for trainer David Fawkes.
Gaffalione's stellar six-win Saturday began in Race 3 for Joe Sharp, He then won three races in a row starting with Races 5 and 6 for Brendan Walsh and Race 7 for trainer Riley Mott.
Gaffalione posted his fifth win of the day aboard Bishops Bay in the Ack Ack Stakes (G3) for two-time Eclipse Award trainer Brad Cox. Breaking from post three in the field of seven, 6-year-old Bishops Bay dueled early with longshot Macho Music before putting that rival away leaving the turn for a two-length lead. Coal Battle and Owen Almighty tried to close the gap but Bishops Bay held on in a tight photo finish in 1:34.51 for one mile.
"Everybody came at him, took their shot, but he kept fighting hard and really showed a lot there today," said Gaffalione to Churchill Downs publicity.
Gaffalione capped his six-win day aboard Dragoon Guard in the Lukas Classic (G2) for Brad Cox. Breaking from post two at 3-1 in the five-horse field, the gray Dragoon Guard raced in fourth rounding the clubhouse turn. Taking the lead heading into the far turn, Dragoon Guard rolled home a 3-1/4 length winner in 1:48.35 for 1-1/8 miles. With the win, Gaffalione became just the 13th jockey to win six races in a day at Churchill Downs.
"It's been a really special day winning six races and two stakes," said Gaffalione. "This race is always very special and I'm thankful to the connections for letting me ride (Dragoon Guard). He made a big run for me."
On Sunday, closing day, Gaffalione won Race 4 for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and Race 9 for Brendan Walsh for a total of 12 wins for the week and earning the leading jockey title.
Gaffalione will be riding at Keeneland beginning opening day on Friday.
Other nominees for Jockey of the Week included Edwin Gonzalez who travelled to Santa Anita from Gulfstream Park to win the Goodwood (G1), Emisael Jaramillo with two graded stakes wins at Santa Anita, Jose Ortiz with a graded stakes win the Beldame (G2) at Belmont and the Oklahoma Derby (G3) at Remington Park and Umberto Rispoli with two graded stakes wins at Santa Anita.
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