(Jockey Julien Leparoux / Photo by Coady Media)

From the Del Mar Turf Club Media Team:

JOCKEY JULIEN LEPAROUX SETS UP SHOP AT DEL MAR THIS SUMMER

Not many newcomers to the Del Mar jockey colony bring as impressive a resume as Julien Leparoux. The French-born rider has ranked among the nation’s top jockeys through the years and boasts numbers worthy of Hall of Fame consideration.

He spent some time in Southern California during the early stages of his career, arriving in the U.S. as an exercise rider for trainer Patrick Biancone back in 2003. A couple of years later he moved east and became one of the most sought-after riders in the country.

It’s been more than 20 years since he left SoCal to pursue his dreams of being a jockey and this summer he’s back to ride fulltime. He brings 3,071 victories to the table and over $207 million in earnings. Over the years he would ride at Del Mar on occasion. Quite a bit in 2012 and 2013.

“I had been thinking about coming back for a few months,” Leparoux says. “Just looking at options. Del Mar is a very good meet. It always has good horses. I was looking for opportunities and places to go and what a place to be, right?”

Leparoux’s career was a meteoric rise to the top. He won 28 races in 2005, his first full year riding professionally. The next year he won 403 to lead the nation and the $12 million in purses earned was the most by an apprentice jockey ever. He easily won the Eclipse Award for Top Apprentice in 2006.

In the years that followed he would win seven Breeders’ Cup races. His first was in 2007 aboard Nownownow in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. He was the regular rider for Tepin, a Hall of Fame mare who won eight consecutive graded stakes races in 2015 and ’16.

He won another Eclipse Award for top jockey in 2009. Only three other jockeys have ever pulled off the apprentice/journeyman Eclipse double – Chris McCarron, Steve Cauthen and Kent Desormeaux – and all three are in Racing’s Hall of Fame.

“I’ve been around horses since I was a kid,” Leparoux recalls. “My dad was an assistant trainer back in France so I grew up with horses all my life. I remember being 5 years old and riding the couch while watching TV. Since I was a little kid it’s always been my dream to be a jockey.”

He was also the regular rider for such talented horses as Forever Together, Classic Empire, Einstein and Heart to Heart. But he would be the first to tell you he never dreamed he’d have the type of success he’s achieved over the years.

“Not at all,” Leparoux concedes. “I didn’t do the normal road to becoming a jockey. I finished high school and did show jumpers first. I didn’t start galloping horses until I was 18, so I started late. I was 22 before I rode my first race. I was not expecting the way it went. It happened pretty quick.”

Earlier this year he was voted the George Woolf Award for his contributions to racing both on and off the track.

“It’s been great,” Leparoux says of the reception he’s received since arriving at Del Mar. “Everybody’s very welcoming. My wife, kids and dog are here. My wife’s family is here so we stayed with them in Monrovia at first while finding a place. It’s been very smooth.”

But even Julien understands the business and knows the competition to get mounts is going to be stiff. Especially with the group of riders assembled at Del Mar this summer.

“It’s a good meet and lot of good horses make it here every year,” Leparoux notes. “So I’m not surprised a lot of jockeys are making the move here to try to find the next big horse. That’s everybody’s goal to find good horses, to be able to ride them throughout the year. This time of year, you focus on picking up a nice 2-year-old for the Breeders’ Cup and for next year. It’s a fun time of the year.”

MOHAVEN SETS A HIGH BAR IN $150,000 FLEET TREAT STAKES FRIDAY

The stakes action at Del Mar will be fast and furious this weekend with five stakes races on the docket, beginning Friday with the $150,000 Fleet Treat Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. The seven-furlong test on the main track is the first of eight Cal-bred stakes this summer at the seaside oval. A field of 11 is expected at the gate.

Mohaven is the horse to beat. She’s coming off a six-length win in the $125,000 Melair Stakes at Santa Anita over the Memorial Day weekend. That followed a five-length romp in the $125,000 Evening Jewel seven weeks earlier.

“She’s been the best one in this division,” trainer John Sadler notes. “She was a stakes winner here last fall so we’re keeping her in the state-bred program.”

The stakes win at Del Mar was a four-length victory in the $175,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies on the Friday Breeders’ Cup undercard. In fact, the only thing keeping Mohaven from a four-race win streak is a try on the turf in her 2026 / 3-year-old debut back in February in the $100,000 Sweet Life at Santa Anita. She finished fifth that day.

Sadler’s other entry in the Fleet Treat is Liberation, winner of the $100,000 Soviet Problem late last year at Los Alamitos. The daughter of Omaha Beach has been off since early December.

“She had a little issue, so we gave her some time off over the winter,” Sadler explains. “Now she’s coming back strong. She’s a nice filly in her own right. She’s a stakes winner from last year so it’s a good spot to start her off in.”

Sadler’s duo will have to deal with a couple of horses coming off wins and stepping up in class.

She’s No Quant is a daughter of Pavel who has won two in a row since jockey Juan Hernandez jumped aboard in May. She broke her maiden and then won an entry level allowance turf sprint at Santa Anita. She’ll be trying the dirt for the first time Friday.

“There are 150,000 reasons why,” trainer Edward Freeman jokes, referring to the purse money in the Fleet Treat. “She’s by a dirt sire out of a mare who won on the dirt so why not try it. If it doesn’t work, we’ll go back to the grass.”

She’s No Quant has only run four times in her young racing career, winning twice and finishing third in the other two races. She’s gone off as the favorite in all four races so the Fleet Treat is a logical step up for her.

“She’s won a Cal-bred a-other-than (NW1) sprint, “Freeman points out, ”so she could run in a Cal-bred a-other-than (NW1) going a mile but they write those all the time whereas the stake is a stake and it’s now or never.”

Trainer George Papaprodromou also brings a last-out winner to the dance with Donttellmewhattodo. She won an entry level allowance in May at Santa Anita.

“We gave her a little time off to mature,” Papaprodromou states. “She got a little break and now she’s back doing well.”

Donttellmewhattodo accompanied Mohaven on the front end in the Evening Jewel before finishing second, five lengths behind the winner.

“Mohaven is a nice filly so she’s the one to beat obviously,” Papaprodromou contends. “But I think it’s a wide-open race.

The Fleet Treat is Race 7 on the eight-race card. Probable post time is 5 p.m.

Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and morning line odds: Tapatia Mia (Tiago Pereira, 15-1); The Loan Exchange (Armando Ayuso, 20-1); Lino’s Angel (Armando Aguilar, 15-1); Donttelmewhattodo (Edwin Maldonado, 15-1); Troisieme Etoile (Umberto Rispoli, 10-1); She’s No Quant (Juan Hernandez, 3-1); Lyndee’s Dream (Diego Herrera, 30-1); Mohaven (Emisael Jaramillo, 8/5); Christa McAuliffe (Tyler Baze, 20-1); Cecilia Street (SCRATCHED); Liberation (Joel Rosario, 8-1), and Taking a Joy Ride (Kazushi Kimura, 20-1).

BIG WINNERS LAND AT TOP OF JOCKEY AND TRAINER STANDINGS

Fours were wild Sunday at Del Mar as jockey’s Kazushi Kimura and Emisael Jaramillo won four races each and trainer Doug O’Neill also won four races. It was enough to shake up the early stages of this summer’s jockey and trainer standings at the seaside oval.

The four victories were the first of the meet for Kimura and Jaramillo but they weren’t enough to get by past defending champion Juan Hernandez and Del Mar’s fall meet champion Umberto Rispoli, who had five wins between them in Week 1.

Kimura and Jaramillo occupy the third and fourth spots in the rider standings followed by Armando Ayuso (3) and Hector I. Berrios (2). Nine jockeys, including Hall of Famers Joel Rosario and Mike Smith, each had one win last week.

Rispoli led all jockeys with two stakes victories. He took the G2 San Diego aboard Journalism on Saturday and then the $100,000 Wickerr Stakes with King of Gosford on Sunday. Ayuso (San Clemente) and Kyle Frey (Oceanside) were the other two stakes winning riders during Week 1.

The four victories by O’Neill vaulted him into a first-place tie in the trainers standings. O’Neill joins Phil D’Amato and Michael McCarthy atop the leaderboard with four apiece followed by John Sadler and Antonio Garcia with two wins. Sixteen trainers had one win, including last summer’s training title winner Bob Baffert.

McCarthy, D’Amato, Sadler and Jeff Mullins were stakes winners over Opening weekend.

The owner’s title is determined by purse money and after Week 1 the partnership behind Journalism lead the way with the $180,000 they won in the San Diego Handicap thriller on Saturday.

One of the more intriguing stats from last week was the lack of winning favorites, going a mere 7-for-32 over the three days of racing. That’s just 21%, well below the common average of 33%. Eighteen of the total races had $2 win ticket payoffs in the double-digits, the highest being 40-1 shot Strident Miss, who paid $82 on opening day. There was also Somerset West’s $73.40 payoff in the G2 San Clemente.

The average field size remains robust at 9.00 over the first 32 races of 2026.

Twenty horses qualified for ‘Ship & Win’, up from 15 horses last year. Three of this year’s qualifiers won their race.

POP UP SUNDAYS HIGHLIGHT TOP LOCAL RESTAURANTS AT DEL MAR

Every Sunday through the Del Mar summer meet a top local San Diego restaurant will be featured, offering special items from their menu for purchase along with drink discounts and live music.

This week’s featured restaurant is the North Italia.

It will all go down in the north area of the Plaza de Mexico with an outdoor eating area and a stage with music. Drink specials include 50% off Kona Beers and 25% off single pour margaritas and Cutwaters.

COOLING OUT:  Add two more horses to the list of contenders for this year’s Pacific Classic. Florida-based trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. announced this week that he’s sending his G2 Hollywood Gold Cup winner Forged Steel to Del Mar’s marquee race on August 22. Joseph says he’s also considering Navajo Warrior for the $1 million race. That horse just won the G3 Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows last Saturday night…One of the more impressive victories over opening weekend at Del Mar was that of Net Par, a 2-year-old colt by Pavel who scorched a field of Cal-bred maidens on Saturday. He opened up out of the gate and never stopped, wiring the field and finishing 7 ¾ lengths better than his closest competitor. Net Par stopping the clock at :58.01 for the five furlongs on the dirt. He’s owned by Reddam Racing and is out of the Antonio Garcia barn…As if to acknowledge his father’s retirement, Sumter went out and won a stakes-caliber allowance race Sunday. He’s by War Front, who was pensioned over the weekend. For 20 years he was one of the leading sires in the nation, producing 74 graded-stakes winners and four champions…Notable works on Thursday. Dirt – Big City Lights (3f, 35.20) and Privman (4f, 59.40).