Gomez takes over the mount on Flashback

Agent Tony Matos confirmed Thursday morning that Garrett

Gomez has picked up the mount on Triple Crown contender Flashback for the Grade

1 Santa

Anita Derby on April 6.

Gomez replaces Julien Leparoux, who was criticized for his

ride on the sophomore son of Tapit in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes last Saturday, in which the

even-money favorite suffered his first defeat after prompting fast fractions on

the front end while going 1 1/16 miles.

"We're very excited that (trainer) Bob Baffert put Garrett on this

horse," Matos said. "They've had a lot of success together and we hope it

continues."

Gomez -- a two-time Eclipse Award winner as outstanding

jockey, a four-time leader in national purse earnings and Santa Anita's 2011

George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award winner -- piloted the Baffert-trained Lookin

at Lucky to three Grade 1 victories prior to a sixth-place finish in the 2010

Kentucky Derby.