Saratoga Spotlight: Castellano still loves to compete
After the first four days of Saratoga's 2018 meeting, Javier Castellano is back on top of the jockey standings. That is a place he had gotten used to, having won the Angel Cordero Award for the leading rider in both 2013 and 2014.
But in the last three years, the Ortiz Brothers, Irad and Jose, have taken the title. Irad won it in 2015 before his younger sibling, Jose, was top jockey in both 2016 and 2017. During the last two years, Castellano slipped to third and then was fifth in the last Saratoga meeting.
Results like that were not acceptable to Castellano, who says, “I am very competitive. I like to be on top.”
Thus, Castellano decided to make a change and hired John Panagot as his new agent. Panagot is well known on the New York racing scene having served as the racing manager for Robert LaPenta, a position he continues to hold.
“We had a nice conversation before the meeting started," Castellano said of Panagot. "We had a lot of high expectations before the meet. We tried to focus on finding the right horses on the grounds.”
Very few jockeys have a resume like Castellano. The 40-year-old father of three won the Eclipse Award for Top Jockey over four consecutive years from 2013-2016. He has won the Travers Stakes a record five times and was leading rider in 12 NYRA meetings. For six years in a row, his mounts have earned over $20 million. Castellano was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame last year.
The change to Panagot has produced a fast start for the Venezuelan rider, who leads all jockeys with eight Saratoga wins so far. Irad Ortiz has four and Jose two.
“We started pretty good – opening day we won one race, then two and two and then three today,” he said Monday. “It’s amazing, you never know what you will get here at Saratoga. You have to be lucky, too.”
When Castellano was asked if winning the riding title was a goal for him this year, he replied, “It’s hard to predict this game, especially in this very competitive game with so many young talented riders, but I always have that goal in mind.
Most of all, the fast start has the Hall of Fame rider filled with positive thoughts.
“I feel strong. I feel hungry. I want to do my best. I want to ride hard and be at the top of the list.”