Jockey Smith reaches 5,000 victories
April 7, 2012ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) - Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith has reached 5,000 career victories, winning aboard Amazombie in the $150,000 Potrero Grande Stakes at Santa Anita.
It was Smith's second win in a row Saturday, having earned No. 4,999 aboard 4-5 favorite Lady of Shamrock in the $150,000 Providencia Stakes.
The 47-year-old rider gave Amazombie a kiss on the neck as they approached the winner's circle.
Smith may be best known as the regular rider of Zenyatta, the superstar mare who won 19 of 20 career races.
He won the 2005 Kentucky Derby with 50-1 shot Giacomo, along with the 1993 Preakness Stakes and the 2010 Belmont Stakes. Smith has ridden 15 Breeders' Cup races in a career that began when he took out his jockey's license at 16.
Bill Spawr trains Amazombie, who Smith rode to victory in last year's BC Sprint.