5/17/2024
(Auburn, WA) Alex Cruz looks like he is already in mid-season form, locked in on extending his state record 4 riding Championships as he has tallied 2 wins in all 3 racing days to being 2024 with a 3 win lead over 2nd place Karlo Lopez. The 6 wins are 25% of the total number of races so far on the year and he’s riding at a 29% win clip.
Will Alex “Cruz” to his next jockey title or will the talented group sitting behind him make a big run and knock him off the top of the hill? This is going to be a battle, I think, but it is going to take a huge year to deny Cruz as he tops our Power Rankings for the 2nd week in a row.
2024 Power Rankings #2
#1 Alex Cruz (2nd week at #1)
Alex Cruz was 4-4-1-2 from 14 mounts this past weekend winning at a 29% rate and a top 3 finish of 64% and superfecta finish rate of 86%. His 4 wins were on ZERO favorites with the lowest odds 3-1 and highest 18-1. Cruz’s average odds were 7.87-1 with an average $2 pay-out of $17.74 on the $2 win. Crazy numbers for a 4-time jockey champ. Plus he finished 2nd in both feature races losing the Saturday night feature by a neck and a length and 3/4’s behind in the Sunday race. Clear #1 ranking for Cruz.
#2 Karlo Lopez (Last week #7)
Karlo Lopez is fresh off his Jockey Championship at Turf Paradise which kept him from being at Emerald Downs on opening day. He came in this past weekend with a rush letting everyone know he is here to compete. Lopez won the Sunday feature which was his 3rd win of the season. He finished week 2 with 15 rides and a record of 3-6-2-0 for a win percent of 20% and a top 3 and top 4 finish rate of 73% as he had no 4th place finishes. Lopez moved into 2nd place in the standings with his 3 wins.
#3 Silvio Amador (Last week #6)
Silvio Amador had a bad case of 2nd-itis early with 6 2nd place finishes in his 1st 9 mounts of the season. Amador cured the dreaded disease with his 1st win of the year in the Saturday feature aboard Mister Mafioso with a neck victory. Amador picked up a win in the opening race on Mother’s day and still picked up more 2nds than wins but he has broken the spell. Amador is as consistent as can be and won’t be surprised if these 2nds turn to wins quickly. He was 2-3-2-2 from 10 rides which means he had t he highest superfecta rate if the week at 90%
#4 Brayan Pena (Last week was #8)
Setting the mark for the biggest $2 win pay for the season this early at 2 pennies short of $55 along with another win at 9-2 will move you up the Power Rankings every time. Brayan Pena made his 1st appearance at Emerald on Saturday but got both of his wins in front of the huge crowd on Sunday delighting the longshot players. Pena finished 2-0-5-2 from 13 rides for a win clip of 15%, top 3 at 54% and top 4 finish rate of 69%. Solid start for Pena.
#5 Javier Matias (Last week was unranked)
The Rooster is old reliable as Javier Matias takes advantage of the chances he gets. Matias picked up 2 wins on Saturday from the 4 rides he got winning the 2nd race at 14-1. Matias had 8 rides for the weekend and finished with a 25% win rate going 2-0-1-1. Matias is an honest rider and will continue to see him have strong weeks mixed in with some stretches that are a bit thin. But never count out the Rooster.
#6 Isaias Enriquez (Last week was unranked)
Isaias Enriquez had a good week capped with an impressive win on Lie and Deny on Sunday. Isaias only got 1 win but he was a regular visiting the scale after his races as he hit the board 7 out of the 8 times he saddled up. Enriquez finished 1-3-1-2 for the week with an 88% superfecta rate the 2nd highest of the week.
#7 Kevin Orozco (Last week was #3)
Kevin Orozco got his 2nd win of the season this past weekend with a solid week. Orozco had 8 mounts and finished 1-1-2-1 for a 13% win rate and 63% top 4. Orozco won the finale on Saturday going wire to wire aboard Fruit Lutes and is riding with great confidence. Orozco was the leading Stakes rider a few seasons ago, he is going to have big weeks.
#8 Jose Zunino (Last week #4)
Jose “The Carpenter” Zunino had a typical Zunino week where he grinds away with more longshots than not finds a way to get a win and hits the board regularly. Zunino had 6 rides with 1 win and 2 4th place finishes. The average odds that Zunino rode for the week was 9-1.
#9 Luis Reyes (Last week #9)
Luis Reyes was pretty efficient winning 1 of his 2 rides. He did have several mounts scratch so Reyes made the most of his limited chances winning rather easily with Holy Tutta Bella one of three 5-2 shots in the 4th on Sunday by nearly 2 lengths. Reyes will likely ride a lot for Champion Trainer Justin Evans who only had a couple of starts. Watch out for this combo as they get revved up.
#10 Carlos Montalvo (Last week #2)
Carlos Montalvo began serving his 3 day suspension from Monmouth Park from a few years ago and got the 1st two days out of the way last weekend. He will serve his final day on Saturday and then is back for Sunday’s 9 race card. If Montalvo rides close to what he did on opening day he is going to have to be dealt with and will have an impact.
www.elisportsnetwork.com
