It was a fun day of racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis as the afternoon featured the 12th annual World Jockey Challenge. A total of 32 jockeys competed in all nine races to gather points for their home countries by finishing first, second or third. In the end, Panama was a runaway winner with 28 points over Mexico, who finished in second with 14.
"This is always fun for us," said Santo Sanjur, jockey for Panama. "We all got together before the races and talked about it. We thought we had a good shot to repeat. Since we won it last year, we wanted to win again this year. It is very special for us to represent our country."
A total of seven countries were represented during the event. All seven scored points with the first five races won by a different country. Marcelino Pedroza Jr., a three-time leading jockey at Horseshoe Indianapolis, scored his second win of the day in the sixth race. But it was apprentice jockey Amir Mendoza who sealed the deal with a win in the $100,000 Nobody Listens Handicap with C.J's Storm, his first career premier racing victory.
"This is always a lot of fun," added Pedroza Jr. "And, we all added points. We appreciate everyone here who supported us today. It was definitely a team effort."
Members of Team Panama included Sanjur, Pedroza Jr., Mendoza, and Gerardo Corrales, who came in to ride for the day.
Team Mexico swept the last race, the lone Quarter Horse event, to move into second with 14 points over Team Puerto Rico, who finished third with 13 points. Team USA was fourth with 12 followed by Peru with six, and Chile and Guatemala with four each. Peru, Chile, and Guatemala only had one jockey each on their teams but still managed to get points placed on the board for their countries.
A special Parade of Flags was held after the first race to introduce each team. Jockeys walked down to the winner's circle as groups, carrying their flags. This was the third win overall for Panama, who also won the title in 2015. The team from the United States has won the Challenge five times with Puerto Rico taking home the trophy four times.
The 24th season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse extends through Friday, November 13. For more information on racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit www.caesars.com/horseshoe-indianapolis/racing or find details on social media @HSIndyRacing.
