SerpApi.Org
Jockey Jorge A. Vargas Jr. is still in disbelief after upsetting the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park aboard 28-1 longshot Baby Vino on Saturday.
"I keep watching the replay and I still don't believe it," the 31-year-old Vargas said Tuesday.
Vargas picked up the mount after regular rider Paco Lopez honored a prior commitment to Preakness winner Napoleon Solo and backup Tyler Gaffalione accepted the call on Ocelli. Just days before entries were drawn, Vargas wasn't expecting to ride in the race at all.
Baby Vino’s trainer, Lindsay Schultz, and Vargas teamed up the previous weekend to win two races at Monmouth Park, but Vargas was still surprised to get a call from his agent, Kevin Bubser, on Monday morning to ask if he’d like to ride in the Haskell.
“Big races like that, for jockeys like myself, the chances are very limited,” Vargas said. “To get the opportunity and to get the chance, with Monmouth being summer home base, it was big.”
With entries taken just hours later, Vargas had only a few days to study the colt. He concluded Baby Vino would need another step forward, but the son of Vino Rosso had improved with every start.
The duo saved ground on the inside, then made an early move on the backstretch when the rail opened up. When the field spun off the turn, Baby Vino’s brown nose was just in front of Napoleon Solo. They battled down the stretch, exchanging bumps in the process, with Baby Vino and Vargas prevailing by a half-length in the slop.
“I got very excited and very happy to see the race developing like that,” Vargas said. “I mean, it was just a dream trip.”
The Haskell was his first G1 victory and 10th graded stakes score. Earlier this month, Vargas returned to his native Puerto Rico to win the Grade 2 Copa San Juan Stakes at Camarero Race Track, the final leg of the island's Triple Crown.
“That was one of the best feelings, you know, that I ever got from being a jockey,” Vargas said. His father and grandfather trained horses in Puerto Rico, though neither had won a Triple Crown race.
“My dad was there with me when I won it, and you know, seeing him that happy for me, and doing it over there, it marked me,” Vargas said. “It was very special.”
Growing up, Vargas assumed he'd follow his father and grandfather into training horses. Instead, he graduated from the Escuela Vocacional Hípica jockey school at Camarero Race Track alongside future riders Manny Franco, Jevian Toledo and Victor Carrasco.
After riding for three months in Puerto Rico, Vargas moved to the United States in March 2013 despite speaking little English. One week later, he won his American debut at Parx Racing.
"And I said, 'Man, this is easy. This is easy,'" Vargas joked. "Then it took me a month to win another race."
Away from the racetrack, Vargas also became an unlikely fan of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers after settling in the Philadelphia area. He said he enjoys basketball for the same reason he loves racing: the nonstop action.
"I just like the passion," he said. "Basketball, for me, I feel like it's quicker than other sports."
On the track, Vargas has built one of the most consistent careers in the Mid-Atlantic. Since arriving in the United States, he has won 1,082 races from more than 7,000 starts through July 21. He primarily rides at Parx Racing and Monmouth Park while also making regular appearances at Delaware Park and Penn National.
Vargas once imagined retiring after reaching 1,000 career victories to become a trainer.
"When I hit 1,000, I said, 'Oh, shoot! I said I was gonna retire after 1,000,'" he laughed. "But eventually, maybe I'll train a few horses."
For now, though, he has no plans to put away his riding tack.
"If I can ride every day, I'll do it," Vargas said. "That's why I keep myself around here because there's so many options. You can go to different places, and I like that."
