(Jockey Corey Lanerie / Photo by Holly M. Smith)

Corey Lanerie had a nice week at Churchill Downs, starting on Wednesday and running all the way through Sunday. A very nice week.

He may have preferred to be in sunny California for the Breeders’ Cup. He may have wanted to be riding some of the horses that he helped get there. He may have deserved the very best mounts in the very best Championship in all of sports.

But he made up for it, right at home. Right at Churchill Downs.

After winning just a single race on Opening Day on Oct. 27, Lanerie returned to the West end of Louisville on Wednesday and the backs of some of his best friends. And, he returned to the winner’s circle. Time. After. Time.

Now, just 6 days of the meet, Lanerie has added another 11 wins to his tack and has built a 5-win margin over his closest competitor in the race for the November “Jockey’s Title” under the Twin Spires. In racetrack terms? That equates to a 10-length lead at the 1/8th pole.

So far, Lanerie has had 48 rides this meet. He has 12 wins, 5 seconds and 7 thirds. His horses have won a staggering $737,392 in purses. That amounts to a win percentage of .25%, and his mounts have hit the board .50% of the time.

Ricardo Santana, Jr., who rides first chair for the barn of Steve Asmussen, currently resides in second place with 7 wins, while Brian Hernandez has made 6 trips to the winner’s circle so far.

Veterans James Graham and Julien Leparoux are tied for 4th with 5 wins apiece.

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

1 Corey J. Lanerie 48 12 5 7 $737,392 25% 24 50%
2 James Graham 39 5 7 6 $399,939 13% 18 46%
3 Julien R. Leparoux 28 5 7 2 $398,658 18% 14 50%
4 Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 34 6 4 6 $354,780 18% 16 47%
5 Ricardo Santana, Jr. 22 7 2 3 $314,812 32% 12 55%
6 Miguel Mena 35 5 4 2 $286,196 14% 11 31%
7 Tyler Gaffalione 22 2 6 0 $245,062 9% 8 36%
8 Shaun Bridgmohan 7 2 2 0 $155,229 29% 4 57%
9 Robby Albarado 18 2 1 3 $149,995 11% 6 33%
10 Mitchell Murrill 21 3 2 2 $147,852 14% 7 33%
11 Chris Landeros 17 2 0 4 $134,325 12% 6 35%
12 Declan Cannon 26 2 2 3 $122,537 8% 7 27%
13 Channing Hill 18 1 1 0 $96,575 6% 2 11%
14 Luis Saez 7 1 0 2 $86,398 14% 3 43%
15 Gabriel Saez 16 1 1 1 $80,248 6% 3 19%
16 Jon Kenton Court 17 1 2 3 $73,358 6% 6 35%
17 Alex L. Canchari 22 0 0 5 $56,336 0% 5 23%
18 Jose A. Bracho 1 1 0 0 $54,412 100% 1 100%
19 John McKee 11 1 4 0 $51,839 9% 5 45%
20 Calvin H. Borel 9 0 3 0 $45,716 0% 3 33%

(Stats Courtesy of Equibase)