BILLY ANTONGEORGI III ALL SMILES AFTER 1,000TH CAREER WIN LAST SATURDAY
Last Saturday afternoon, jockey Billy Antongeorgi III collected career win number 1,000 aboard Many Lights, an Ari Herbertson trainee who defeated five other rivals in Race 2. Five days after the milestone victory, Antongeorgi was beaming with pride.
“This can’t be taken away from me. It’s a big accomplishment,” said Antongeorgi. “I’ve put a lot of hard work into this business and it takes a lot of hard work and consistency to win that many races. You’ve gotta have people in your corner that consistently ride you and have faith in you as well, so I am very appreciative of all the support that the trainers and owners have given me.”
Antongeorgi began riding at Golden Gate Fields in 2008 and has become a well-recognized figure at the bayside racetrack. He is represented by jockey agent Fernando “Shoes” Navarro, who believes that Antongeorgi’s work ethic is one of the main reasons why his rider has become a top jockey in the colony at Golden Gate.
“Billy is always there in the mornings, works hard and never complains; he just loves to work. You can’t ask for anything else,” said Navarro. “I don’t have to worry about him doing his job. He shows up and does his job every morning and loves it.”
“He has the ‘it’ factor,” continued Navarro. “He is very strong on a horse and can finish well down the lane. He gets along well with the horses. And talking to him, it’s impossible to not like him because he is very professional and kind to everyone. What more can you ask?”
With the milestone victory now behind him, Antongeorgi can focus on the future. That said, the fans and horsemen can expect the journeyman rider to continue to grind away each and every day.
“Now I’m on to the next 1,000 wins,” quipped Antongeorgi with a grin.
EL CAMINO REAL DERBY WINNER PAVED AIMING FOR THE PROVIDENCIA STAKES
Horse racing fans witnessed El Camino Real Derby history on Saturday afternoon when the Southern California invader Paved became the first filly in history to win the race. According to trainer Michael McCarthy, the 3-year-old daughter of Quality Road will make her next start in The Providencia Stakes at Santa Anita on April 7. The Providencia, run at The El Camino Real Derby distance of a mile and one-eighth, is a turf event.
The El Camino Real Derby offered 10 Kentucky Derby points to the winner. Even though Paved was able to earn those points, her connections have ruled out a possibility of a Kentucky Derby run. Instead, Paved will be aiming for restricted 3-year-old filly races throughout the year.
In other stakes news, Tribal Storm pulled off a 20-1 upset over 2-5 favorite and East Coast invader Wellabled in The Lost In The Fog Stakes last Monday. The President’s Day victory was Tribal Storm’s second career stakes win. His first stakes triumph came last fall, when the Ed Moger Jr. trainee won The Harris Farm Stakes at Fresno. Tribal Storm was bred by his owners, Curt and Lila Lanning, and has been ridden in both stakes wins by Irving Orozco. The connections are still deciding where to run their star sprinter next.
The next stakes race of the Winter/Spring meet is The $50,000 Camilla Urso Stakes, a six furlong sprint race for fillies and mares 4-years-old and upward. Nominations for The Camilla Urso close on Thursday, March 8 and the race will be run on Saturday, March 17.
FINISH LINES: Abel Cedillo continues to hold the lead in the jockey standings over William Antongeorgi III and Juan Hernandez …Jerry Hollendorfer and Jonathan Wong sit a-top the trainer standings with 19 wins, just one win more than John Martin…Happy birthday to jockey Julien Couton and owner Chris Carpenter, both whom celebrate birthdays this week…Remember racing fans: first post time this Friday, Saturday and Sunday is at 1:15 PM…Nominations close for The San Francisco Mile on Thursday, March 22. The San Francisco Mile purse has been upgraded to $200,000 this year…Jockey Francisco Duran is one win away from 1,500 career wins. The journeyman rider has two mounts apiece on Friday and Saturday…Jockey agent Don August recently picked up the book of apprentice Lucas Gutierrez and they had success together last week. Lucas won a pair of races last Friday for trainer O.J Jauregui…Jockey agent John Buc is representing 10-pound apprentice Layla Griffin, who rode her first two races at Golden Gate Fields last week.