Veteran jockey David Flores, who has been competing at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots for the past month, will be leaving the United States after Christmas to compete in Singapore for six months.
A longtime regular on the Southern California circuit, Flores won twice on the Fair Grounds "Santa Super Saturday" program Dec. 21, taking the Tenacious Handicap and Buddy Dilberto Memorial Handicap in back-to-back races aboard Prayer for Relief and Daddy Nose Best , respectively. Both wins came for trainer Steve Asmussen.
Flores, 45, gave Kranji Racecourse in Singapore a two-week trial in July.
"I'm going home to California to spend time with my family, but I am due to arrive in Singapore on Dec. 26," Flores said. "I'm definitely going to miss this place (Fair Grounds), but my Singapore contract is only for six months."
As he leaves, Flores is fourth in the Fair Grounds jockey standings with 13 wins from 57 mounts.
"I definitely want to come back here next year," said Flores, a native of Tijuana who was riding on a regular basis at Fair Grounds for the first time this winter. "This is a great place to ride and I love the city and I love the Fair Grounds. This place is awesome. It has great horses, great trainers and a great jockey colony."
Singapore racing takes place at Kranji under the banner of the Malayan Racing Association (an association of four turf clubs) with year-round racing on selected Wednesday and Friday nights, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays.
Flores has 3,537 lifetime wins in North America with total purse earnings of $151,179,945 from 25,015 mounts, according to Equibase.
Kranji Race Track in Singapore.
Simon Burgess