(Knicks Go, with Albin Jimenez up / Photo by Holly M. Smith)

It didn’t take Albin Jimenez long to make quick work of the chase for the Jockey’s Title at Turfway Park’s Holiday Meet — which just concluded at the end of December.

He jumped to a quick lead as soon as racing switched gears from Churchill Downs to the Northern Kentucky venue. He held the lead throughout. And, he put away all of his rival with days to spare.

Another rider’s title.

Easy peasy.

But things may not be so routine from January to the end of this coming March. By the looks of things so far, Jimenez may have a race on his hands for the first riding championship of 2020 in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

After Saturday night’s racing was done, Jimenez was holding onto a slim, 1-win edge over Sonny Leon in the newest race to the top. So far, after 24 mounts, Jimenez has a record of 5-5-3. Leon, on the other hand, has a mark of 4-7-1.

A win farther back, with 3 trips to the winner’s circle, is Gerardo Corrales, who has carved out a resume of 3 wins, 1 second and 2 thirds in 11 mounts.

Here’s a closer look at the Top 20 riders so far this meet:

1 Albin Jimenez 24 5 5 3 $76,340 21% 13 54%
2 Sonny Leon 24 4 7 1 $73,130 17% 12 50%
3 Joseph D. Ramos 19 2 1 4 $48,125 11% 7 37%
4 Alex Achard 9 2 1 0 $44,930 22% 3 33%
5 Gerardo Corrales 11 3 1 2 $36,300 27% 6 55%
6 Rodney A. Prescott 21 2 2 4 $34,448 10% 8 38%
7 Alan Garcia 10 4 0 0 $33,259 40% 4 40%
8 Leandro D. Goncalves 17 1 0 1 $32,485 6% 2 12%
9 Luan Machado 14 0 1 3 $21,532 0% 4 29%
10 John McKee 22 1 1 6 $21,098 5% 8 36%
11 Abel Lezcano 5 2 1 0 $20,360 40% 3 60%
12 Malcolm Franklin 8 1 2 0 $19,007 13% 3 38%
13 Jose Riquelme 13 2 1 0 $16,640 15% 3 23%
14 Rogelio Miranda 21 1 1 4 $15,655 5% 6 29%
15 Angel Serpa 14 1 0 0 $14,690 7% 1 7%
16 Alex L. Canchari 9 0 2 0 $12,276 0% 2 22%
17 Azael De Leon 8 0 3 1 $8,510 0% 4 50%
18 Javier Padron-Barcenas 5 1 0 0 $7,205 20% 1 20%
19 Kelly R. Spanabel 2 0 0 1 $5,815 0% 1 50%
20 Carlos A. Diaz 4 0 1 0 $3,540 0% 1 25%

(Stats compiled by Equibase)