Dominguez honored during Maryland's Fall Festival of Racing

Eclipse Award-winning jockey Ramon Dominguez, who retired

in June due to the severity of injuries sustained in a spill at Aqueduct in

January, made a special appearance at Laurel Park Saturday afternoon.

Dominguez, a regular rider at Laurel and Pimlico for five years earlier in his career, was saluted with a winner's circle

presentation after the 2ND race. The Maryland Jockey Club made a donation to

the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) in his name and Dominguez then conducted

an autograph session in the clubhouse.

"I am spending a whole lot of time with my family, giving

time to my family that didn't happen often before for schedule reasons,"

Dominguez said. "It is something I am enjoying. Yesterday was my first day

jogging and I went for a short run. It was exciting, not only to do something

physically but mentally it was enjoyable."

The Venezuela native arrived in Maryland in 2000 and won

1,012 races at the major Maryland tracks over the next five years, including 297

victories in 2001. He earned his first Grade 1 score when he guided A Huevo to

victory in the 2003 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash. The 2013 De Francis Dash

headlined Saturday's 11-race card.

"It was a very exciting day for me," Dominguez remarked. "I would

say it was the highlight of my career at Laurel. It was my first Grade 1 and

that alone made it special. I came into the day with high hopes and when it was

all said and done it was one of those things I'll never forget.

"I enjoyed riding in Maryland. Of course winning with

Invasor in the Pimlico Special, and the Maryland Million were very special to

me," added Dominguez, who won 16 graded races in the state during his

career. "There were so many memories. I made great friends through the years.

Maryland was home for me and it was an excellent experience racing here."

Dominguez, who has two young sons with his wife, Sharon,

retired with 4,985 career victories and earnings of $191.6 million. Last year,

he earned his third consecutive Eclipse Award as the nation's best rider when he

surpassed Jerry Bailey for the single-season record in North America with $25.6

million in earnings. The 36-year-old is now devoting his time in assisting the PDJF, a 501 (c) (3) public charity that provides financial assistance to former

jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries.

"There are currently close to 60 jockeys receiving funds

from the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund," Dominguez said. "I like to be able

to help them in any way I can. Raising awareness is one way. As an industry, I

think we all have a level of responsibility to those who make the ultimate

sacrifice. It's something I am very passionate about."

Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas announced Saturday that Dominguez

would be the recipient of Pimlico Race Course's 2014

Special Award of Merit. The award, presented at the Alibi Breakfast two days

before the running of the Preakness Stakes, is given to those who have made

a positive impact on the racing industry. Previous winners include Jim McKay,

Joe Hirsch and D. Wayne Lukas.

"Ever since I started people would ask who my role model

was and I really didn't have one specific person. I had tons of people give me

advice to help show me the way, but when Ramon announced his retirement, I

realized how much a role model he has been during my career," said jockey Rosie

Napravnik, who competed against Dominguez in Maryland, Delaware and New York.

"He has amazing riding ability and is a tremendous person."

Racing analyst Gabby Gaudet produced a special salute to

Dominguez on the Maryland Jockey Club's YouTube

page.

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