Reading it and saying it are two completely different things.
It wasn't going to be a surprise when Sofia Vives started winning races this year but the reality is starting to settle in for many of the other jockeys within the colony. Unless you are living under a rock somewhere and just popped your head up, you would have noticed how well the young jockey Sofia Vives been riding throughout 2023. In just her third year of professional riding she has already won 142 races and that is a lot more races won than some of her colleagues who had been riding longer than her.
So what is changing in the Woodbine colony?
I'll let you decide because I see one hard working woman who likes to win races. Eighty nine races is a lot of races in one month and she won fifteen of them. Kazushi Kimura so far this year at Woodbine has managed to win six races from sixty one of them and he has been making some serious moves across the border, winning races and getting his name familiar with the American public. Something may have shifted in the colony but it is still quite early and quite some ways to go before this season ends and the title can still be up for grabs.
Veterans like Rafael Hernandez and Patrick Husbands have been doing their work in fine form and letting their record speak for itself when it comes to steady hands. Husbands ten wins from twenty four races itself is very impressive while Hernandez has twelve wins from sixty-eight races to show for. We are now seeing Eswan Flores with some good wins that look like he can be propelled into some kind of battle with the top five jockeys at Woodbine. From a fan point of view this may be great for racing and it has only been one month into the racing year.
It is still yet too early to read into the leaders board.
However, Jockeys are paying attention and this may have been the story with Rachel Slevinsky who has taken her tack to the USA for new opportunity. New jockeys are always popular at Woodbine and we just have to peel back slightly to remember the sixteen year old Slade Jones who had gotten very popular in just his one year and won sixty-one races from his 443 starts.
Some new trainers have also made their way to Woodbine and it is yet too early to see how they are impacting with their presence. I'll have to dive into their stats later down the line because really it is early and some trainers take a couple months before their barn gets rolling.
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