Published Monday, September 5th, 2016   ( 7 years ago )
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Bejarano, Prat Forge First Jockey Title Tie Since 1950

Bejarano (left) and Prat © Benoit
 
The only time Del Mar had a tie for the jockey championship was 1950, when riding legends John Longden and Bill Shoemaker deadlocked with 60 wins apiece.
 
Until the 77th Summer Meeting came to an end Monday when four-time defending champion Rafael Bejarano, 34,  and 24-year-old rising star Flavien Prat tied with 38 wins after a dramatic final six races.
 
One behind Prat to start the day, Bejarano drew even by winning the Grade I $300,000 Del Mar Futurity, the fifth race of the day, for trainer Bob Baffert.
 
Prat countered with a win on 2-1 favorite With Honors in the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies, the eighth  race on the program and the final stakes of the meeting.  Bejarano knotted things again with an easy victory aboard odds-on choice Big Gray Rocket in the penultimate race of the meeting.
 
Bejarano did not have a mount in the finale, and when Prat didn’t win, the tie was final.
 
“What it was is two men fighting to win the title, and now they have to share it. They both win,” said Derek Lawson, Prat’s agent.
 
Phil D’Amato claimed his first Del Mar training title, and third straight on the Southern California circuit, with 23 wins during the 39-day meeting. Peter Miller’s one victory on closing day moved him to second with 21, one ahead of Richard Baltas.
 
Baffert’s 13th Del Mar Futurity victory was one of three on the day which boosted his meeting total to 19.
 
 
DEL MAR STATISTICS
 
Jockey Standings
(Current Through Monday, September 5, 2016 Inclusive)

Jockey

Mts 

1st

2nd

3rd

Win%

In-money%

Money Won

Rafael Bejarano

175

38

34

23

22%

54%

$2,545,394

Flavien Prat

215

38

32

29

18%

46%

$2,431,351

Santiago Gonzalez

221

31

34

21

14%

39%

$1,508,387

Kent Desormeaux

145

25

28

21

17%

51%

$1,702,510

Tyler Baze

195

23

25

35

12%

43%

$1,442,848

Norberto Arroyo, Jr.

127

19

13

17

15%

39%

$1,038,782

Stewart Elliott

109

17

10

9

16%

33%

$652,590

Victor Espinoza

79

15

10

12

19%

47%

$1,639,870

Tiago Pereira

104

13

12

10

13%

34%

$664,490

Mario Gutierrez

113

11

14

19

10%

39%

$1,000,287

Joseph Talamo

135

11

12

19

8%

31%

$845,896

Gary Stevens

68

11

8

2

16%

31%

$1,004,431
 
 
Trainer Standings
(Current Through Monday, September 5, 2016 Inclusive)

Trainer

Sts

1st

2nd

3rd

Win%

In-money%

Money Won

Philip D'Amato

108

23

14

13

21%

46%

$1,504,154

Peter Miller

115

21

16

16

18%

46%

$1,067,166

Richard Baltas

94

20

18

11

21%

52%

$1,223,188

Bob Baffert

77

19

17

8

25%

57%

$1,691,775

Doug F. O'Neill

135

11

18

24

8%

39%

$894,438

Mark Glatt

60

11

11

10

18%

53%

$478,581

John W. Sadler

62

11

8

11

18%

48%

$810,080

James M. Cassidy

53

10

4

8

19%

42%

$525,319

Michael Machowsky

24

9

0

3

38%

50%

$279,122

Richard E. Mandella

33

7

6

1

21%

42%

$779,592

Chris A. Hartman

36

7

5

4

19%

44%

$247,550
 
 
Winning Favorites Report
(Current Through Monday, September 5, 2016 Inclusive)
 
Winning favorites -- 117 out of 347 -- 33.72%
Winning favorites on dirt -- 84 out of 226 -- 37.17%
Winning favorites on turf -- 33 out of 121 -- 27.27%
Winning odds-on favorites -- 26 out of 53 -- 49.06%
In-the-Money favorites -- 244 out of 347 -- 70.32%
In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 45 out of 53 -- 84.91%