Garrett Gomez rode Cenizo to a 1 1/4-length victory in the last
race of the year at Santa Anita on Thursday, giving the jockey his
fourth consecutive national purse earnings title.
Gomez overtook Julien Leparoux by $10,606 to join Laffit
Pincay Jr. (1974-77) and Braulio Baeza (1965-68) as riders with
four straight money titles. Bill Shoemaker owns the record of seven
consecutive years from 1958-64.
Gomez finished with purse earnings of $18,571,171. Leparoux
had earned $18,560,565 before returning to his native France to be
with his family for the Christmas holidays.
Gomez picked up the mount on 4-5 wagering favorite Cenizo
when Martin Pedroza took ill three races earlier. Gomez, who turns
38 on New Year's Day, trailed Leparoux by $194 going into the final
race. But he had the money title wrapped up because Cenizo would
have earned a performance fee of $400 for merely coming out of the
starting gate.
"To have to go down to actually my last mount of the year is
unreal," Gomez said. "I was lucky enough to pick up the winner. I
was hanging around the (jockeys') room, hoping to pick up
something, and Martin didn't feel well."
Gomez's mount in the second race, Red Arrow, finished last.
His only other scheduled mount, Fund Raiser, won the fourth, but
the purse of $26,400 wasn't quite enough to put him over the top
until he picked up the late mount in the eighth. Cenizo earned
$10,800 for the win.
"It's been a great year," Gomez said.
