Jockey Reyes ‘Very Happy’ to Resume Riding Thursday

Venezuela Native Sits Three Shy of 1,000 North American Wins
Thursday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $150,000

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Coming off the longest absence of his successful career, both here and abroad, jockey Leonel Reyes is eager to get back to work.

Reyes, who turns 40 on Sunday, has one mount Thursday at Gulfstream Park, named on 3-year-old filly More Than a Shadow in Race 3, a one-mile maiden claimer on the main track, for owner-trainer Javier Gonzalez.

It will mark the first race for Reyes in 159 days, since he sustained an open fracture of his left ankle in a Nov. 2 spill at Gulfstream. The injury came nearly six years to the day after breaking his right wrist and jaw in a Nov. 1, 2019 accident at Gulfstream Park West that sidelined him for 146 days.

“I feel great. I am very happy to be getting back on the horses,” Reyes said after working horses this week at Gulfstream. “There was a lot to do.”

A year-round presence at Gulfstream who was a two-time national champion in his native Venezuela and a nine-time meet titlist at National Racetrack Valencia before venturing to South Florida in 2016, Reyes ranked among the Sunshine Meet’s leading riders at the time of his injury with 22 wins including three stakes – the FSS Affirmed on Khozalite, Hallandale Beach with Willow Case and Jet Propulsion overnight handicap aboard Private Thoughts.

Reyes underwent surgery before undergoing 2 ½ months of rehabilitation to strengthen the ankle joint. He began getting on horses again March 24, during the final week of the 2025-2026 Championship Meet, and started breezing horses the first week of April.

“The recovery was long, but I feel very good,” Reyes said. “I am ready and excited to ride.”

Represented by agent Jose Sanchez, Reyes is named on three horses Friday and Saturday and six horses Sunday at Gulfstream. A winner of more than 1,400 races in Venezuela before making his U.S. debut Feb. 21, 2016 at Gulfstream, Reyes sits three wins shy of 1,000 in North America.

Among his comeback mounts is Orlyana Farm’s Great Venezuela in Saturday’s $75,000 Golden Beach overnight handicap, scheduled for five furlongs on the grass. It marks a reunion for Reyes, who has ridden the 5-year-old mare in 13 of her 17 career starts with eight wins led by the 2025 Lightning City at Tampa Bay Downs and Nicole’s Dream overnight handicap on Gulfstream’s all-weather Tapeta course last summer.

Reyes has never run off the board on Victor Barboza Jr.-trained Great Venezuela, finishing second three times including the 2025 Sunshine Filly & Mare Turf at Gulfstream and Incredible Revenge at Monmouth Park, and third twice, the first coming in Gulfstream’s 2023 Wait a While.

“She is a very good horse. It’s special for me because I won a lot of races with her,” Reyes said. “I’m going to try to win again.”

Reyes has won 100 or more races every year since 2021 with a personal best 166 in 2022, finishing 2025 with 100 wins from 771 mounts and purse earnings of $3.96 million. He owns four graded-stakes wins in the U.S., all at Gulfstream – Gladiator King in the 2019 Hutcheson (G3), Cool Arrow in the 2020 Smile Sprint (G3), Three Witches in the 2023 Princess Rooney (G3) and Little Vic in the Jan. 24 Fred Hooper (G3).

In 2023 Reyes won a career-high $5.99 million in purses and earned his only U.S. riding title, leading Gulfstream’s Royal Palm Meet standings with 93 wins, 18 more than runner-up Edwin Gonzalez, and a $2.89 million bankroll.

The previous year Reyes ranked second to Miguel Vasquez at the Royal Palm Meet while simultaneously competing at Colonial Downs in Virginia, a rare instance away from Florida where he finished as runner-up to Mid-Atlantic-based Jevian Toledo for the riding title.

“Every day I feel better and better. I’m good now, no pain. Everything is OK,” Reyes said. “I want to thank everybody who helped with my recovery and for all their support.”

Thursday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $150,000

The Royal Palm Meet resumes with an eight-race program Thursday at Gulfstream Park, with a 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool estimated to reach $150,000.

First race post time is 12:50 p.m.

Last returning multiple mandatory payouts of $41,654.20 March 29, closing day of the 2025-2026 Championship Meet, the Rainbow 6 has gone unsolved through the first four days of the Royal Palm stand, which runs through Aug. 30.

Thursday’s sequence spans Races 3-8, starting with a maiden claimer for fillies and mares 3 and up going a one-turn mile on the main track where Soda gets back on the dirt looking to break through after registering three seconds and two thirds in her first nine races, the last four over the all-weather Tapeta course. The 7-5 program favorite is Trill, runner-up as the favorite last out at the course and distance March 19.

The feature comes in Race 6, a maiden special weight for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting 5 ½ furlongs on the Tapeta. Favored at 9-5 from outermost Post 8 is Bodacious Queen, a 3-year-old bay daughter of Munnings that most recently ran third by 1 ¼ lengths in a five-furlong maiden sprint Feb. 14 over the Gulfstream turf while in for a $50,000 tag. Trainer Mike Maker sends out first-time starter Rookie Move (Post 2, 5-2), a $150,000 daughter of Not This Time.

In the Rainbow 6, the jackpot pool is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool. On mandatory payout days, the entire pool is disbursed to the bettor or bettors holding tickets with the most winners in the six-race sequence.