Jockey Luis Saez, already having clinched his second straight Championship Meet riding title, equaled Hall of Famer Javier Castellano's single-season meet mark of 132 victories with a record-tying seven-win afternoon March 29 at Gulfstream Park.
Saez, 25, reached the milestone with Santera Stable's Four Freedoms' decisive victory in the final contest on the 11-race card, a $30,000 maiden claiming event for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on the main track.
"It's not easy to win races, but we just came here and every horse ran good," Saez said. "I feel very glad. It's very special to come here and do pretty good. To tie the record with Javier is something big and I have to thank God and everyone that supports me."
Castellano, who won five consecutive riding titles from 2011-12 to 2015-16, rode 132 winners during the meet in 2013-14.
Thursday was the second seven-win day of the meet for Saez, who had previously achieved the feat Jan. 24. He is the first jockey in track history to reach seven wins twice, sharing the single-day record with Hall of Fame rider Jerry Bailey (March 11, 1995) and Tyler Gaffalione (July 4, 2017).
A native of Panama, Saez won with his first four mounts Thursday, scoring aboard Broomhill in the first race, Cosmic Halo in the third, Sound Values in fourth and Up the Road in the fifth, before finishing second in a photo finish on Gemini in the sixth. He came back to win the seventh on Ox Eyed Daisy and the eighth race with Take a Stroll before closing out his day with the win aboard Four Freedoms.
Saez now owns 38 multi-win days during the meet, winning four or more races six times.
"The other day I was thinking about it, I needed seven wins to tie the record," Saez said. "I can't believe we did something crazy like today. Now we keep working hard and try to win as many as we can."
