Cristián Torres will ride at Churchill Downs this summer

Cristián Torres, the leading rider at Oaklawn, will ride at Churchill Downs when the Arkansas track's season ends.

Torres's agent Cody Autrey confirmed the plan, which was reported earlier by Daily Racing Form.

Torres will ride at Churchill on May 2 and 3, when Oaklawn isn't running, and could ride on Kentucky Oaks and Derby days, May 5 and 6. The Oaklawn meet ends with a three-day run May 4-6.

He has 72 wins from 334 starts during the current Oaklawn meet, 10 wins ahead of Francisco Arrieta. He also was the leading rider at Remington Park’s fall meet, with 71 wins from 288 starts.

“Since his start at Remington he's just put on a really, really good run,” Autrey told Horse Racing Nation on Wednesday. “... And then he came here (to Oaklawn) and continued to get better when he came here, with all the success we've had with some Kentucky guys, with (D. Wayne) Lukas and riding some for (Kenny) McPeek. And that's just a logical choice to take the next step up.”

Torres, who has been riding since 2019, got his first graded-stakes wins during the meet with Last Samurai, trained by Lukas, in the Essex (G3) and Razorback (G3).

“The plan right now is we're trying to get him on some horses the second, third (of May) because we don't race here at Oaklawn. So it'd be a good time to get him over there, get him on,” Autrey said. “And then if everything went perfect, then maybe we're riding through the Derby weekend. He rides a filly (She’s Lookin Lucky) in the Fantasy here for Matt Shirer. And then he rides Airtime in the Arkansas Derby for (Robertino) Diodoro. So if everything went perfect, then he'd be there all that week.”

Torres plans to remain at Churchill for the rest of the summer meet, which runs through July 3.

Last year, Autrey said, Torres “was here at Oaklawn and he kind of started getting a little momentum, and then he got injured. And then he went to Lone Star and then got going and then we took him at Remington.

“I guess, normally, if he wasn't having the meet he's having here and the trajectory he's on, he would probably go back to Lone Star. He would give that circuit one more year, and then try to make the jump next year. With six stakes wins here, a couple of graded stakes, all the success he's had … you've got to take the opportunity. So hopefully it continues when we get to Kentucky.”