Velazquez becomes Saratoga's all-time leading rider with 694 wins

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez won the

4TH race at

Saratoga Race Course on Saturday to become the historic track's all-time leading

rider with 694 victories.

Velazquez, 41, had tied retired Hall of Fame jockey Jerry

Bailey with 693 victories when he rode three winners on Thursday's card. Winless

with three mounts on Friday, Velazquez finished sixth in the 2ND race and

then came from behind aboard the Todd Pletcher-trained Unitarian to win

the 4TH.

"I definitely want to say thank you to Todd,"

Velazquez said. "I've been riding for him since 1998 and we're still going. I

want to thank my family, without whose support I wouldn't be able to do this.

"And I have to thank the fans. The fans have been great to me. Thank you for your

support. Thank you everyone. I appreciate it, and hope to win many more."

Velazquez was joined in the winner's circle presentation by

his wife, Leona, children Lerina and Michael; his agent, retired Hall of Fame

jockey Angel Cordero Jr., who rode 649 winners at Saratoga; Bailey; the

Saratoga riding colony; and Christopher Kay, CEO and president of the New York

Racing Association (NYRA).

Last month at Belmont Park, Velazquez won his 5,000th

career victory, also aboard a horse trained by Pletcher.

"I'm really happy for Johnny," said Pletcher, who has

trained 255 of Velazquez's 694 Saratoga winners. "It's his moment, you know?"

Velazquez won the 2007 Belmont with Rags to Riches and 2005 Travers with

Flower Alley for Pletcher. He also captured last year's 2012 Belmont aboard

Union Rags and the 2011 Kentucky Derby with Animal Kingdom.

"It's a big number, I have to say that," Velazquez remarked. "Just to be

named after Jerry Bailey or Angel Cordero, who probably, in my eyes, obviously

I'm a little biased when it comes to Angel, they are two of the best riders I've

ever seen in my career. I'm humbled, and I'm happy.

"It's two different categories," he added. "When Angel was riding (the meet) was only 24

days, and now there's more racing days. It's great to get it done, definitely."

"That's a lot of winners, and he should be proud, because this is the meeting

that everyone wants to win at," Cordero said.

Born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Velazquez began riding in

the mainland United States in 1990. A winner of 22 NYRA meet titles, including

five at Saratoga, Velazquez won the Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey in 2004

and 2005 and in 2009 was honored by his fellow riders with the George Woolf

Memorial Jockey Award. He has captured 11 Breeders' Cup races, most recently the

2012 Mile with reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan.