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Jockey Jose Gomez leading apprentice rider on NYRA circuit for 2022

by NYRA Press Office

• Jockey Jose Gomez leading apprentice rider on NYRA circuit for 2022
• Lombardi hopeful Andiamo a Firenze can follow in brother’s footsteps
• Circling the Drain tries deeper waters in $150K Jerome
• Aqueduct winter meet Week 3 stakes probables

Apprentice jockey Jose Gomez, who rode his first mount in June 2021, closed out his 2022 campaign as the leading apprentice rider on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit and finished in ninth-place in the overall jockeys standings. Gomez, 22, posted a NYRA record of 917-98-95-117 with total purse earnings of $5,803,684. 

“It all came by surprise. I didn’t expect to start out here in New York,” said Gomez. “I’m thankful for all the trainers, everybody who is a part of the team, and all the people who taught me and gave me a chance to learn even before I started riding.”

Gomez celebrated three stakes victories on the NYRA circuit, earning two starter stakes coups on the March 26 New York Claiming Championship card and a breakout score in the NYSSS Statue of Liberty aboard Golden Rocket in August at Saratoga Race Course, the first black type stakes victory of his career. 

Gomez, who was born in Muskegon, M.I., moved to Pennsylvania when he was a child and spent much of his youth at Penn National Race Course, where his mother groomed horses and his father was an exercise rider. It was there that Gomez fell in love with horses and the sport. 

“My mom would take me to the barn with her when I was seven and I would dump the buckets and the wheelbarrows and all that,” said Gomez. “I saw all the hard work my mom would put in and it just really spoke to me. I just have it in my blood.”

After learning the basics of riding aboard his childhood Shetland pony named Lucky, Gomez worked his way up to thoroughbreds with trainer Richard Lugovich and began galloping young horses for him. Gomez recounted several of the trainers and mentors that helped him grow to where he is now. 

“Lucky taught me riding is a balance and that it’s not a battle between you and them,” said Gomez. “I started getting on thoroughbreds with Lugovich and then I started breaking babies with Jose Flores and my love of horses grew from there. I was at Arlington Park for a little before they closed and then went to Ocala and worked for Nick de Meric. I finally wound up in New Jersey with Skip Einhorn and then Kelly Breen.” 

Gomez is represented by agent Angel Cordero, Jr., the Hall of Famer who won over 7,000 races, five Triple Crown events and over $164 million in purses. 

Gomez said having such a legendary jockey as an agent has been a privilege. 

“I want to thank Angel and Kelly Breen, who introduced him to me,” said Gomez. “Angel taught me a lot and I’m thankful for that. It gives me confidence to learn from someone like him. The biggest thing he’s taught me is to come out of the gate running and to get early position.” 

This summer, Gomez rode his first Saratoga meet, posting a record of 128-11-15-11 and over $927,000 in earnings. Gomez said he has enjoyed the challenge of working and learning in the most competitive jockey colony in the country. 

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was going to go to Saratoga or not, but Angel told me if I want to be good, I’ve got to go where the big guys go,” said Gomez. “We went and it was a lot of work, but I’m grateful for the wins I had up there and the learning experience.”

Gomez said one of the highlights of his year at NYRA was riding two winners for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas at Saratoga. 

“Riding for ‘Coach’ was special,” said Gomez. “I won two races for him and that was a great feeling. Angel rode for him a lot, and now I’ve ridden for him. It’s surreal. I was a little nervous when I found out I was riding for him, but I just gave it my best effort at the end of the day.” 

Beyond his NYRA record, Gomez posted an overall record of 1,312-152-163-156 in 2022, and it is likely his name appear will appear on the ballots of Eclipse Award voters as he eyes a chance at the prestigious Champion Apprentice title. 

“It’s been a great year for many apprentices – Jeiron Barbosa in Maryland and Vicente Del-Cid in Louisiana are great riders,” said Gomez. “Whoever wins, wins, and I’m just happy to be mentioned in the conversation.”

Finalists for the Eclipse Awards will be announced Saturday at 11:30 a.m. with the 52nd annual Eclipse Award winners’ ceremony to be held Thursday, January 26 in Palm Beach, Florida. 

Among Gomez’s upcoming mounts at the Big A are stakes engagements on Saturday aboard Valenzan Day [post 3, 10-1] in the $150,000 Jerome for sophomores and Forewarned [post 1, 20-1] in the $150,000 Queens County for older horses. The former race will award the top-five finishers 10-4-3-2-1 qualifying points, respectively, towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on the First Saturday in May. 

“I’ve galloped Valenzan Day and it’s nice to ride him,” Gomez said. “Hopefully, we get lucky. Just seeing my name on the overnight for a race like the Jerome is a good feeling.”

Gomez has already started the year off on the right foot, guiding O’Trouble to victory in a New Year’s Day claiming event at the Big A for trainer Antonio Arriaga. Gomez said his main goals in 2023 are to continue learning and improving with each mount. 

“O’Trouble is my boy and I love him,” said Gomez, with a laugh. “I’m just hoping to keep going and learning – to try to win, to get better, and to make a name for myself.” 

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Lombardi hopeful Andiamo a Firenze can follow in brother’s footsteps

Owner Ron Lombardi of Mr. Amore Stable expressed a sense of confidence that graded-stakes placed New York homebred Andiamo a Firenze can carry on a family tradition by winning Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome for newly turned 3-year-olds going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

The Jerome, which will see its 152nd renewal, is a qualifying race for the Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs, awarding 10-4-3-2-1 points to the top-five finishers. 

Andiamo a Firenze, a Kelly Breen-trained Speightstown colt out of the Langfuhr mare My Every Wish, is a three-quarter sibling to multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Firenze Fire, who won the 2018 Jerome. Firenze Fire, a son of Poseidon’s Warrior [by Speightstown], went on to finish 11th in that year’s Grade 1 Kentucky Derby behind subsequent Triple Crown winner Justify. 

“This race kicked off Firenze Fire’s run for the Derby, so I’m hoping to have the same luck. Hopefully, he can follow in his brother’s footsteps,” Lombardi said. “It would be really awesome to get back on the Derby trail, especially with a three-quarter sibling to Firenze Fire. That would be an almost unheard of type of thing for someone like me. Kelly is very excited about him and doesn’t think the distance will be a problem for him at all. Firenze Fire turned out to be really more of a sprinter to a mile type, but Kelly has been stretching this one out and likes what he’s doing.”

Andiamo a Firenze enters the Jerome off a narrow runner-up finish in the six-furlong New York Breeders’ Futurity on October 17 at Finger Lakes. He battled on the front end to the outside of Acoustic Ave through swift fractions before being joined to the far outside by Stonewall Star. The trio of juveniles battled down the stretch with Andiamo a Firenze gaining a slight advantage in mid-stretch, but lost the head bob to Acoustic Ave.

“He ran great. We were stuck between horses and we couldn’t even ask him or get going,” Lombardi recalled. “It was that tight. In my mind, I think we would have won with a little bit more space, but it was a great race and a good way to finish off his 2-year-old campaign. I’m excited about Saturday. It won’t be an easy race, but none of them are at this level.”

Andiamo a Firenze gave his connections plenty to be excited about during his juvenile season, including a 5 1/2-length triumph in the Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital on August 26 at Saratoga Race Course. 

A four-length winner on debut against fellow state-breds in June at Belmont Park, he made his stakes debut with a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Sanford on July 16 at the Spa, finishing two lengths ahead of subsequent Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Forte. In his lone off-the-board effort, he was a distant fourth in the Grade 1 Champagne on October 1 at Belmont at the Big A. 

Lombardi said they decided Andiamo a Firenze would train up to the Jerome following his effort in the New York Breeders’ Futurity. 

“We really just wanted to gear up for this. From early on, everyone was very impressed with him. We were aware that we may have something special, so we decided to rest up for the Jerome and try to get him on the Derby trail from there. It was pre-meditated that we would run,” Lombardi said. “I skipped the Breeders’ Cup, which I don’t know if it was a good decision or not. In the Sanford, we came in third and Forte came in fourth, so you scratch your head sometimes, but you have to make the decision and live with it. We’ll take it one race at a time and get this one under our belt.” 

Lombardi said he has two more New York-breds from My Every Wish, including a 2-year-old full-brother to Firenze Fire named Fuji Fire and an Honest Mischief filly produced last year named Blakely’s Wish. 

Lombardi lamented the loss of My Every Wish, who he said died one week after giving birth to Blakely's Wish.

“She’s no longer with us, which is a loss. She produced some nice runners," Lombardi said. "But I just retired [stakes-placed mare] Firenze Freedom [by Istan] and she’ll be breeding and hopefully Blakely’s Wish can show some promise. She’s a big, beautiful looking horse.”

Andiamo a Firenze will break from post 5 under Kenrick Carmouche and has been tabbed at 6-1 morning line odds by NYRA oddsmaker David Aragona.

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Circling the Drain tries deeper waters in $150K Jerome

Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds' Circling the Drain will step up in class from an impressive maiden waiver-claiming score when he makes his stakes debut in Saturday's $150,000 Jerome, a one-turn mile for sophomores at Aqueduct. The Jerome, a Kentucky Derby qualifier, offers 10-4-3-2-1 points to the top-five finishers.

Trained by Brittany Russell, the Maryland homebred son of West Coast graduated at second asking, while protected, in his two-turn debut on December 9 traveling 1 1/16-miles over a Laurel Park main track rated good. 

With Feargal Lynch in the irons, the bay gelding made every pole a winning one en route to a seven-length score that garnered a 70 Beyer Speed Figure. The victory came on the heels of a runner-up effort sprinting seven furlongs in a maiden special weight on November 20 at Laurel.

"We ran him seven-eighths first time basically because that's how it came up and he was ready,” said Russell, who led all trainers with 29 wins at the recently concluded Laurel Park fall meet. “He ran fine that day but we always thought a mile or more would be what he would like. He's a horse everyone has liked along the way and has always done things right.”

Russell said she was hoping to bring Circling the Drain back in an allowance tilt which failed to fill, but feels confident her charge will perform well in his stakes debut.

“The horse has been training well and he's sitting on 'go,' so we thought why not take a swing,” Russell said. 

Circling the Drain breezed back on December 29 at Laurel under jockey Jevian Toledo, blitzing a bullet half-mile in company in 48 flat as the fastest of 26 works at the distance on the day.

“He worked really nicely. He galloped out well and came out of the work bouncing,” Russell said.

Circling the Drain, a half-sibling to stakes-winner Who's in Town, is out of the graded-stakes placed Cozzene mare Who's Cozy. He will exit post 2 under Toledo with a 12-1 morning-line assessment.

Russell said she is hopeful Toledo can work out a stalking trip in a field that features the stretch-out speed of Andiamo a Firenze.

“There's sprinters in there coming out of sprints, so I'd like to see him sit a comfortable trip and not be too far out of it,” Russell said. “Hopefully, he comes running when it counts.”

Russell has another talented Maryland-bred sophomore on her hands in Hillwood Stable's Post Time, who is undefeated in three starts all at Laurel Park. 

The Frosted colt, an $85,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling Sale, graduated in an off-the-turf 5 1/2-furlong sprint on October 7 and followed up on October 27 with a 6 3/4-length romp in a seven-furlong optional-claimer that garnered a career-best 84 Beyer. Last out, the impressive grey rallied from last-of-7 and made a wide move to win the Maryland Juvenile by 3 3/4-lengths on December 3 over a muddy and sealed main track.

Although initially under consideration for the Jerome, Russell said Post Time will target the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid on January 21 at Laurel.

“He's doing fantastic,” Russell said. “We'll run him here at home in January and if that goes well, we'll think about taking a shot somewhere.”

Bred by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman, Dr. Brooke Bowman and Milton P. Higgins III, Post Time is out of the graded-stakes placed Fairbanks mare Vielsalm.

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Aqueduct winter meet Week 3 stakes probables

Saturday, January 14

$100K Busanda (Offering 20-8-6-4-2 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points)

Probable: Affirmative Lady (Graham Motion), Aniston (Todd Pletcher), Gambling Girl (Pletcher), Occult (Chad Brown), Sweetest Princess (George Weaver)