Ricardo Santana Jr.

Ricardo Santana Jr. (born November 19, 1992) is a Panamanian jockey in American Thoroughbred racing who won six consecutive riding titles from 2013 through 2018 at Oaklawn Park and in 2019 won the Breeders' Cup Sprint as well as the Prince of Wales Stakes (2019), the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown series.^[2][3][4]

Ricardo Santana Jr.
Santana on Whitmore at the 2018 Breeders' Cup
Occupation	Jockey
Born	(1992-11-19) November 19, 1992 (age 32) Panama City, Panama
Career wins	1,929 (as of 2024-07-17)[1]
Major racing wins
Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019) Arkansas Derby (2016,2021) Apple Blossom Handicap (2020) Metropolitan Handicap (2018, 2019) Forego Handicap (2018, 2019) Churchill Downs Stakes (2019) La Troienne Stakes (2019) Humana Distaff Stakes (2019) Fourstardave Handicap (2019) Rachel Alexandra Stakes (2020) Southwest Stakes (2020) Ogden Phipps Stakes (2020) H. Allen Jerkens Stakes (2020) Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (2020) Breeders' Cup wins: Breeders' Cup Sprint (2019) Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (2020) Canadian Triple Crown wins: Prince of Wales Stakes (2019)
Racing awards
Delaware Park Leading jockey (2012) Oaklawn Park Leading jockey (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) Keeneland Leading Jockey (2017) (fall)
Significant horses
Creator, Mitole, Whitmore

From the El Chorrillo neighborhood in Panama City, Ricardo Santana Jr. graduated in December 2008 from the Laffit Pincay Jr. training school for jockeys. In 2009 he immigrated to the United States where he would get his first win on September 21 at Delaware Park Racetrack.^[2] He earned his first Grade I win aboard Creator in the 2016 Arkansas Derby.^[1]