Paco Lopez Birthdate: October 18, 1985 Birthplace: Veracruz, Mexico Residence: Hollywood, FL Family: Single

2008 Gulfstream Record

 Career:

• Aggressive, fresh face landed a riding title at Calder a year into his United States career and was the leading apprentice at Gulfstream in 2008.
• He was born on a farm in rural Veracruz, Mexico and left home at age 12 to work on a ranch where he started riding Quarter Horses.
• He came to the U.S. nine years later, hoping to become a Quarter Horse jockey getting a job in South Florida and within a year was exercising Thoroughbreds at Palm Meadows Training Center.
• He started riding in the afternoons at Calder, winning his first race July 13, 2007. By that September he won his way to five-pound apprentice status, tied for 11th overall last winter and pulled clear to win Calder's summer season while winning 13 stakes in just four months.
• He's flashy run makes him a contender for the 2008 Eclipse Award as top apprentice.
• Other: His background with Quarter Horses left him with an aggressive style that ran afoul of stewards at Calder. Despite appealing more than 30 days of suspensions, he was banned from riding at Calder for the final two months of 2008. He was leading the Tropical-at-Calder standings at the time. Credits guidance from Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado with avoiding getting discouraged and focusing on improving.