Milestone: Jockey Quinonez tops 600 wins at Oaklawn
“Louie Q in the last” has been a popular catchphrase for years among fans of
Luis Quinonez, Oaklawn’s leading rider in 2007.
“It’s great,” Quinonez, 53, said during training hours March 26. “That’s a lot
of wins. I’ve been blessed to have the support of everybody.”
A native of Mexico, Quinonez rode his first horse at Oaklawn in 1991 and his
first winner in 1998. Quinonez was a fixture near the top of the standings for
the next decade, highlighted by a career-high 52 victories in his championship
season of 2007. Quinonez entered Thursday with 602 career victories at Oaklawn,
including 26 stakes.
One of the jockey’s biggest supporters has been trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel.
They teamed to win the $100,000 Essex Handicap, $125,000 Razorback Handicap
(G3) and $400,000 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) in 2012 with Alternation, $300,000
Azeri Stakes (G2) in 2015 with Gold Medal Dancer and the $500,000 Southwest
Stakes (G3) in 2016 with Suddenbreakingnews.
“Extremely happy for him,” Von Hemel said Thursday morning. “He’s a good rider
and a better person. He’s a family man that has a smiling face every time he
comes to the barn.”
Quinonez already had ridden 11 winners at the meet through Sunday – his highest
total since 2016 – and said retirement can wait, if he continues to win.
“This game has its ups and downs,” said Quinonez, now an American citizen.
“Nobody wants to be down, but somebody has to. I think if you continue to work
hard, something good is going to come out of it.”
Quinonez said he will probably ride this summer at Lone Star Park. He entered
Thursday with 3,819 career North American victories, according to Equibase,
with the first coming in 1989.
Hall of Famer Calvin Borel is Oaklawn’s leading active rider with 969 victories
through Sunday.