Saturday, October 16, 2010
Contact: Jenny Kellner
VELASQUEZ RIDES FOUR WINNERS SATURDAY AT
ELMONT, N.Y. – Jockey Cornelio Velasquez rode four winners Saturday afternoon at Belmont Park, capping off his day with back-to-back victories in the final two races of the card.
Velasquez, a 42-year-old native of Panama, scored his first win in the fourth race when he piloted favored Nuclear Wayne ($5.10) to a three-quarter length victory in a six-furlong optional claimer, and his second in the seventh race, in which he rallied Dougie ($5.10), another favorite, to a five-length score in a seven-furlong maiden race on the grass.
In the ninth race, a six-furlong claimer, Velasquez brought favored Philotimo ($6.20) from just off the pace to a 4 ¾ length win, and he closed out the day with a wire-to-wire win aboard short-priced Watkins Glen ($2.80), keying a $8.20 late double.
Velasquez, perennially one of the top 10 riders on The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit, currently is fifth in the jockey standings for
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