(Jockey Tyler Gaffalione is closing in on a really good Fall meet at Churchill Downs / Photo Courtesy of Keeneland)

(But can Gafflione catch Corey Lanerie, the master of ceremonies at most Churchill Downs’ race meets? Time will tell / Photo by Holly M. Smith)

(The sun is setting fast on another meet and another year of Churchill Downs’ racing / Photo by Holly M. Smith)

There’s not much time left in Churchill Down’s annual Fall / November race meet. Just five more race days, which kick off on Wednesday — the day before the big turkey comes to town. Just five more live race days left under the Twin Spires for all of 2019.

Where has the time gone? Seriously? It has gone about as fast as a 3-year-old on Derby Day. Maybe faster.

But there may be — perhaps, could be — just enough time for young, aspiring, Luke Skywalker-like rider Tyler Gaffalione to catch the Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Kentucky jockey colony, Corey Lanerie, in the race for the Jockey’s Title this November.

Perhaps. Maybe.

After Sunday’s races were concluded, Lanerie — who seemingly wins the Churchill Downs’ riding championships as often as there’s a big party here every year on the First Saturday in May — has totaled 28 wins, 22 seconds and 21 thirds in 147 rides this meet. His horses have earned an amazing $1.03 million in purses.

Just a week ago, Lanerie’s lead seemed to be insurmountable. Untouchable. Undeniable.

And, it still may prove to be.

But?

Closing fast is Gaffalione. So far this meet, Gaffalione — who just recently moved his tack to the Kentucky circuit from his previous home base in Florida — has 22 wins, 21 seconds and 14 thirds in 102 rides this meet. His horses have won over $1.511 million in purses, too.

That means that Gaffalione has to win, on average, 1.5 more races per day that his target over the final few days to catch and surpass Lanerie at the wire?

Can it be done? Certainly.

Will it be done? Let’s watch and find out.

At the least, there is now a race.

Here’s a look at the Top 25 riders so far this meet:

1 Corey J. Lanerie 147 28 22 21 $1,603,747 19% 71 48%
2 Tyler Gaffalione 102 22 21 14 $1,511,602 22% 57 56%
3 Julien R. Leparoux 89 18 12 10 $1,153,619 20% 40 45%
4 Ricardo Santana, Jr. 101 19 16 12 $1,118,228 19% 47 47%
5 Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 111 14 20 20 $991,525 13% 54 49%
6 James Graham 89 13 15 8 $769,952 15% 36 40%
7 Florent Geroux 35 10 3 4 $681,882 29% 17 49%
8 Chris Landeros 57 9 5 11 $581,426 16% 25 44%
9 Miguel Mena 110 6 8 11 $497,865 5% 25 23%
10 Declan Cannon 78 5 5 9 $318,397 6% 19 24%
11 Jon Kenton Court 66 5 6 10 $316,841 8% 21 32%
12 Gabriel Saez 59 5 5 6 $277,679 8% 16 27%
13 Joseph Rocco, Jr. 55 2 5 5 $268,317 4% 12 22%
14 Robby Albarado 52 3 2 7 $240,002 6% 12 23%
15 Shaun Bridgmohan 19 3 4 2 $230,176 16% 9 47%
16 Mitchell Murrill 32 4 3 3 $227,394 13% 10 31%
17 Channing Hill 43 3 3 1 $199,764 7% 7 16%
18 Alex L. Canchari 61 3 3 6 $183,061 5% 12 20%
19 Martin Garcia 18 2 4 3 $171,812 11% 9 50%
20 David Cohen 32 2 5 3 $144,483 6% 10 31%
21 Sophie Doyle 16 2 4 2 $142,326 13% 8 50%
22 John McKee 29 3 5 4 $141,925 10% 12 41%
23 Julie Burke 13 3 2 0 $124,232 23% 5 38%
24 Fernando De La Cruz 22 2 0 1 $120,057 9% 3 14%
25 Edgar Morales 40 2 4 4 $115,119 5% 10 25%