6/23/2023
Here is our 6th edition of the weekly Jockey Power Rankings! Again, a reminder that this is all based on the past week or two, not the overall season. We had a huge shake-up this week, let’s get to it!
Our RED HOT Mover of the Week!
#1 Silvio Amador
Silvio Amador has been turning heads since he got here and clearly has settled in and is just outside the big top 3 but closing in quickly. Amador found the Winners Circle 6 times this past weekend and had 4 2nds and could have easily had 8 wins. He finished with a 38% win rate from 16 mounts, 63% top 2 finish and 75% top 4. Silvio won 2 on Friday night, 1 on Saturday and tripled on Sunday. His 4 2nd place finishes he missed winning by 3/4 of a length, half a length and 2 necks. He Amador zooms to the top of our list!
The Blazer of the Week!
#2 Neptali Ortiz
Neptali Ortiz came out of nowhere this past week. Ortiz had had just 5 rides coming into this last weekend with just a 2nd. He’s on horses with long odds and he was coming in from last riding in Canada and had never won a race in the United States. He changed that with not 1 but 2 wins. He won the final race on Saturday with Baby Frankie his 1st ever U-S win at 4-1, the shortest price horse he’s been on. Ortiz then won on a 16-1 shot Our Empire on Sunday and then finished 3rd on a 25-1 shot by a nose from 1st and placed 2nd on Friday night on a 13-1 shot in the finale by a nose. He was 2-2 1/2 noses away from a perfect 4 win week. This is so incredible we made a new award the Blaze which will be awarded when it is clear a 2nd award is needed from our Red Hot Mover.
#3 Alexis Valdes
Alexis Valdes could have easily been #1 or #2 in most weeks with his performance this past weekend but the other 2 efforts edged him out but he shoots up our poll to #3. Valdes had 4 wins including a 3-win day on Sunday. But where we were even more impressed is his under numbers are becoming more consistent and you can count on him getting his rides on the board regularly. Vlades had a hot 31% win rate and 77% superfecta finish with a 4-1-3-2 record from 13 starts. Valdes starting to bang the drum and making noise.
#4 Kevin Radke
The next 3 or the big 3 have been camped out on top of the Power Rankings from the beginning and all 3 had similar records from last week so we went strictly by the numbers. Kevin Radke drops 2 spots to 4th with 3 wins but one was the 1st Stakes race of the year in the Auburn Stakes. Radke filled out his stat line impressively though with 4 places, shows and 4ths for a 3-4-4-4 record from 22 starts a 14% win percent and 68% top 4.
#5 Alex Cruz
Cruz was next also winning 3 at 14% but he dropped off this week in hitting the board with just a 64% top 4 finish. Cruz and Radke tied for the most mouonts with 22 each but Cruz only had 2 places this week and finished with a 3-2-5-4 record. However, Cruz did win again on Friday night and now has won at least 1 race on 17 consecutive Friday nights. Look for Cruz to heat up again as he and Radke are tied for 2nd with 20 wins 6 behind Luis Negron.
#6 Luis Negron
Luis Negron takes a big drop and off a week that many times may not even move him down a notch as he scored 2 wins but from 19 rides that’s just an 11% win clip. He placed in the top 4 68% with a 2-2-6-3 record for the week. Negron also is tied to leading trainer and owner Justin Evans and we he has a hot week then Negron does. Both had an absolute great week for most but for them it was an ok week.
#7 Kevin Orozco
Kevin Orozco fell off the Power Rankings for the 1st time since we began this and clearly he was ready to rebound and made the most of his 14 starts with 3 wins and a win percent of 21%. However, Orozco only had 1 other top 4 finish, a 2nd for just a 29% rate. We love seeing Orozco get back in win mode ands he’s had a lot to deal with over the past month so this is a great sign to see Kevin get those wins going. We believe his other numbers are all going to rebound.
#8 Carlos Montalvo
Gonna be honest, Carlos kinda hurt his own ranking when he won his 2nd race of the week on Aloha Breeze in the Seattle Stakes when he said all he had to do was go for the ride. Montalvo is one you want on big horses in big places so we really are not penalizing him for winning a Stakes. Again, in many other weeks he may have even gone up a notch but this week there were just too many outstanding performances and he finished with 2 wins from 15 mounts 3 places with a sho0w and a 4th. His win rate was 13% and just 47% on the board. The crafty veteran will be a factor all season, there is no doubt about that.
#9 Jose Zunino
Zunino again was shut out of the winners circle but placed 3 times, showed once and took 4th twice for a 75% superfecta rate. Zunino is running into a streak of the 2nd”itis” where he has 4 wins for the season and now 9 2nds. He weill get his wins and in the meantime he continues to add to the big pay-offs in the superfectas and trifectas so do not count him out.
#10 Rocco Bowen
It was a crazy week for the jocks room where anyone who won a race, won 2. No one had a single victory last week. So to fill out our top 10 this week former 3-time jockey Champion Rocco Bowen is coming back to ride on Saturday only. He has 5 mounts lined up and it’s only a 1-day stop. But with Bowen riding at Emerald Downs you can never count him out.
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