Jevian Toledo and Claudio Gonzalez | Photo MJC
A pair of familiar faces topped the jockey and coach rankings after the closing day of their winter meet at Laurel Park on Sunday, such as track athlete Jevian Toledo and coach Claudio Gonzalez reunites with the leaders after their title at Laurel’s fall 2021 grandstand as well as the overall Maryland championship of the year.
Toledo, 27, is without a Sunday riding but has secured a 10-win, 38-28 advantage over apprentice Jean Alvelo by 5 pounds in the nine race program. Alvelo had six rides on Sunday, winning the Royal Thunder ($3.60) in Race 6 to finish with 29 wins. It was the eighth career encounter title, all at Laurel, for the Puerto Rican native, who was represented by agent Marty Leonard. Second behind Victor Carrasco with more than $1.3 million in earnings, Toledo was also Maryland’s overall lead driver in 2015 and 2017.
“I have to thank God; Toledo said. “I won the summer encounter and the fall encounter but I never won the winter encounter. This is my first time, so it feels very good. It’s another achievement in my career. My agent does a great job and I get a lot of support from everyone. They gave me so many opportunities to ride beautiful horses, and thank God we got the job done.”
Gonzalez entered Sunday with a 24-23 advantage over John ‘Jerry’ Robb after delivering a winning pair of cards on Saturday. Robb was horseless entering Sunday, while Gonzalez was runner-up in four races, winning Danny Chen’s Little Ms Scarlet ($7.40) in the fourth race and Magic’s I’m Not Slow Stable ($6.40) in the ninth race to raise his encounters to a total of 26.
A 45-year-old Chilean native and cancer survivor, Gonzalez has won nine straight meet-up titles in Maryland since Laurel’s 2019 summer game. It was the 17th career meet-up championship at Laurel and two at Pimlico for Gonzalez, who finished as Maryland’s top coach five years in a row since 2017.
“I feel really good. Like I say, to win a race is very difficult and winning the title back is a good feeling,” Gonzalez said. “I have to thank all my people, my laborers, all the assistants I have, the groomsmen, the walkers, the gymnasts, the blacksmiths. Everyone does their job well, not just me. If you don’t have good help, you won’t succeed. I try to explain to all my workers that it’s the little things that make the difference. That’s why you have to pay attention to every little thing and sometimes it makes a big difference.”
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This story was posted in Top News and tagged Claudio Gonzalez, Jevian Toledo, Laurel, Maryland Racing.
