(Jockey Chris Landeros is one of the top contenders for this year’s riding title at Turfway Park / Photo Courtesy of Keeneland)

Wow. It is a tight, tight, tight race at Turfway Park.

And, we are just talking about the jockeys.

After Saturday night’s racing was completed, there are three riders within a single win of each other in the race to become the meet’s top jockey.

Newcomer Santiago Gonzalez has inched ahead by a lone win now, with 22 trips to the winner’s circle so far. In 136 mounts, Gonzalez has compiled a record of 22-15-15. His win percentage is .16% and his horses have finished “In the Money” .38% of the time.

Just a win back and tied for second are Chris Landeros and Gerardo Corrales.

Landeros, who stayed behind for the winter meet at Turfway Park for the first time, has a resume of 21 wins, 14 seconds and 2 thirds. But he has done it with only 76 mounts, to date. That ratio makes Landeros the run-away leader in terms of win percentage. His mounts are scoring at a .28% win clip.

Corrales, a perennial favorite to win the riding title at Turfway Park, has had to miss several race dates with some “Steward-mandated” time off. But he has a record of 21-9-12 in 91 mounts.

What is more interesting?

The leading rider in terms of purses won? None of those three. It is veteran expert Rafael Bejarano, who has a record of 16-24-13 in 93 rides. But his horses have won over $346,000 in purse money. And, Bejarano’s horses are hitting the board at a .57% rate. That makes him tops in that category, too.

Turfway Park’s Current Jockey Standings:

1 Rafael Bejarano 93 16 24 13 $346,640 17% 53 57%
2 Chris Landeros 76 21 14 2 $342,100 28% 37 49%
3 Santiago Gonzalez 136 22 15 15 $333,232 16% 52 38%
4 Gerardo Corrales 91 21 9 12 $294,446 23% 42 46%
5 Albin Jimenez 107 9 13 10 $205,971 8% 32 30%
6 Deshawn L. Parker 96 10 10 10 $169,258 10% 30 31%
7 Emmanuel Esquivel 67 7 5 5 $162,116 10% 17 25%
8 Rafael Manuel Hernandez 73 6 5 12 $145,353 8% 23 32%
9 John McKee 84 6 8 14 $116,043 7% 28 33%
10 Declan Cannon 50 4 5 6 $111,324 8% 15 30%
11 Edgar Morales 61 3 6 6 $100,271 5% 15 25%
12 Perry Wayne Ouzts 64 8 4 3 $94,530 13% 15 23%
13 Rodney A. Prescott 80 3 7 8 $91,250 4% 18 23%
14 Samuel E. Bermudez 43 5 4 3 $79,779 12% 12 28%
15 Joseph D. Ramos 85 4 7 8 $79,743 5% 19 22%
16 Rafael Mojica, Jr. 52 4 2 5 $65,975 8% 11 21%
17 Jermaine V. Bridgmohan 25 4 1 1 $58,000 16% 6 24%
18 Julie Burke 39 1 5 3 $55,270 3% 9 23%
19 Rogelio Miranda 66 3 3 7 $47,340 5% 13 20%
20 Alex L. Canchari 52 3 4 2 $42,808 6% 9 17%
21 Angel Serpa 63 1 4 5 $31,770 2% 10 16%
22 Gabriel Lagunes 32 2 4 3 $29,868 6% 9 28%
23 Malcolm Franklin 34 2 1 3 $26,306 6% 6 18%
24 Luis H. Colon 15 2 0 4 $20,091 13% 6 40%
25 Javier Padron-Barcenas 10 2 1 0 $17,987 20% 3 30%

(Statistics Compiled by Equibase)

(Trainer Wesley Ward / Photo Courtesy of Keeneland)

Wesley Ward has a knack for spotting his horses in the right races. Some times that is at Gulfstream Park in Florida. Some times that is at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Some times that may be at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.

But, more and more, that is becoming Turfway Park. In Northern Kentucky.

And, like he does wherever he goes, Ward is enjoying success.

After Saturday’s races were done, Ward was standing atop the leaderboard in the race for Turfway Park’s leading trainer. In 35 races so far, Ward has a record of 11-6-1 and his horses have won over $151,000 in purses.

Two wins back, and alone in second, is HOF trainer Mark Casse, who left a string of horses in the Commonwealth this year to race over the “new and improved” Tapeta track surface at Turfway Park. And, the experiment has paid dividends, too. After 34 mounts so far, Casse’s barn has won 9 times and is the leading training operation in terms of purses won with over $168,000 in the satchel, so far.

Turfway Park’s Current Trainer Standings:

1 Mark E. Casse 35 — 9 1 4 $168,555 26% 14 — —
2 Wesley A. Ward 35 — 11 6 1 $151,040 31% 18 — —
3 Michael J. Maker 33 — 5 7 6 $134,645 15% 18 — —
4 William E. Morey 23 — 6 5 2 $133,720 26% 13 — —
5 Rey Hernandez 22 — 4 2 3 $90,123 18% 9 — —
6 Jonathan Thomas 11 — 6 1 1 $88,645 55% 8 — —
7 Cipriano Contreras 14 — 3 1 0 $82,864 21% 4 — —
8 Kim Hammond 21 — 5 3 1 $69,590 24% 9 — —
9 Ben Colebrook 19 — 2 2 3 $68,459 11% 7 — —
10 Eric R. Reed 27 — 3 5 5 $65,936 11% 13 — —
11 Susan L. Anderson 28 — 5 5 3 $58,705 18% 13 — —
12 Rodolphe Brisset 13 — 2 4 0 $54,867 15% 6 — —
13 Larry Rivelli 15 — 4 4 1 $49,851 27% 9 — —
14 Ian R. Wilkes 16 — 2 3 1 $48,768 13% 6 — —
15 Eddie Kenneally 17 — 1 2 2 $44,736 6% 5 — —
16 Michael W. McCarthy 7 — 1 3 1 $43,281 14% 5 — —
17 Eric N. Foster 18 — 3 1 0 $43,014 17% 4 — —
18 Ethan W. West 22 — 4 3 4 $42,816 18% 11 — —
19 Juan M. Cano 22 — 1 3 3 $42,331 5% 7 — —
20 Timothy E. Hamm 17 — 1 3 1 $40,191 6% 5 — —
21 Paulo H. Lobo 19 — 2 1 2 $39,749 11% 5 — —
22 Steven F. Cahill 8 — 2 2 0 $38,009 25% 4 — —
23 Claude L. Brownfield, III 16 — 2 4 1 $37,225 13% 7 — —
24 Douglas W. Danner 6 — 2 1 1 $35,700 33% 4 — —
25 John Alexander Ortiz 18 — 2 0 0 $33,367 11% 2 — —

(Statistics Compiled by Equibase)