Formidable jockey colony for winter Championship Meet at Florida’s premier track also set to include Irad Ortiz, Jose Ortiz, Javier Castellano and Luis Saez
Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez says he’s returning to his second home this winter when he returns to an ultra-strong jockey colony at Gulfstream Park set to feature high-profile visitors from Britain in three-time champion Oisin Murphy and Sean Levey.
Velazquez, who spent the past two winters riding primarily in California, will return to South Florida to ride at Gulfstream’s Championship Meet and join one of the world’s most competitive and talented riding colonies.
The Championship Meet, which begins Friday [Dec 1], will not only be playing host to Velazquez but reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz, leading rider at the meet for four of the past five years.
Also present will be five-time leading rider Javier Castellano, three-time leading rider Luis Saez, Tyler Gaffalione, Paco Lopez – plus several newcomers including Murphy and Levey from the UK, Vincent Cheminaud, and Chris Emigh. The popular ‘Jersey Joe’ Bravo is also returning after spending several of the past winters in California.
Velazquez, leading rider during the Championship Meet twice, says returning to South Florida represents a return to his normal routine.
“California, obviously, was a different opportunity,” he explained. “The experience was something different and I enjoyed it a lot.
“I was given a lot of opportunity because guys from the east who go west don’t always get the opportunities I did. It was a good experience, and the people were very good to me, but Gulfstream is my second home after New York.”
Velazquez will begin riding the weekend of Dec. 8, while defending champ Irad Ortiz will kick off Dec. 6. Jose Ortiz, who will be honored with a bobblehead in his likeness during the Championship Meet, will begin riding Friday.
Sean Levey is due to arrive from the UK and will ride December through February. Born in Swaziland, he moved to Ireland as a teenager, and spent six years with Aidan O’Brien before going to England in 2011.
Levey won his first G1 event in the 2018 1000 Guineas at Newmarket aboard Billesdon Brook. Levey won two more G1s in 2019 aboard Billesdon Brook in the Sun Chariot Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on King Of Change. In 2022 he won his first G1 in France with Aristria in the Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville.
Triple champion Murphy is set for a shorter stint in Florida, scheduled to ride from late December through January.
Cheminaud first came to the US in 2015 to ride Flintshire, whom he guided to victory in the Sword Dancerat Saratoga. The 29-year-old French Derby-winning jockey ventured to Kentucky to ride full time in 2021, winning 41 races. He has won 29 races from 206 mounts this year.
“I ride a lot for Christophe Clement and Shug McGaughey, so I decided to come here,” Cheminaud said.
Chris Emigh is well known in the Midwest, where he’s ridden the past year in Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana and has won riding titles at Arlington, Hawthorne and Delta Downs.
Riding the Championship Meet has “been on my bucket list for a while but I never got the chance,” said Emigh, a winner of nearly 4,400 races.
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