Florent Geroux is among one of two jockeys in this country that are on the rise. Taking the next step to superstardom could very well be on the agenda as both should have stellar years in 2017. Paco Lopez is the other chauffeur that has been giving quality rides to his mounts.
The French-born Florent Geroux watched his father Dominique become a quality rider before his eyes. Florent was not enamored by the game as a kid but as the teenage years approached, he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps.
After a successful apprenticeship when he was a leading bug boy, he decided to try America and was connected with trainer Patrick Biancone, who took him under his wings.
Biancone has seen better days as far as a trainer. He did handle All Along, who as a Horse of the Year back in the day, but the trainer has had some recent ups and downs, as has Geroux.
Tragedy hit Geroux when he was seriously hurt in a spill about 10 years ago. By the time he returned to America the rider had to basically reboot the computer. He started at the bottom but finished in the top 10 in the standings at Arlington and he was off to the races.
Things really started to turn right for Florent Geroux when he guided Work All Week to win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 2014. He was the regular rider on the stellar grass runner The Pizza Man, who delivered it hot to his fans 17 times in 33 starts including the Arlington Million. In 2015 Florent Geroux was just outside the top 10 in purses won and owners and trainers were made aware of his talent.
Last year, fans that bet on Florent Geroux cashed a ton of tickets. He won over 200 races and rang the bell at a 19% clip. Maybe more importantly, Geroux has gained the trust of some of the top trainers in the country. Geroux is winning races in bunches at the Fair Grounds meeting right now. He has won with 27 of his first 96 mounts this meeting and when he is partnered with trainer Brad Cox, it’s time to get down.
So far at the Fair Grounds stand, Cox has ridden Geroux on 38 of his runners and he greeted 21 of them in the winner’s circle.
Monmouth Park always will hold a special place in my heart because that is where I learned the nuts and bolts of horseracing. For Paco Lopez the sentiments have to be similar since he dominated the meeting last season.
Lopez had 325 mounts during the New Jersey’s track season last year and he won 105 races for a nifty 32% success story.
Paco is no one trick pony either. He won the Eclipse Award in 2008 as the leading apprentice and is hoping for bigger and better things.
Lopez is hoping to follow in the footsteps of others like Julie Krone, Craig Perret, Jose Lezcano, Jorge Velasquez, Bill Hartack and Don MacBeth that soared at Monmouth and parlayed that to national prominence.
Paco did not have an easy go of it either. He grew up in Mexico and money was always tight. He left home at the age of 12 to live with one of his sisters and was hustling to make a buck. He shined shoes and worked at a car wash when a customer asked him if he wanted to work on a ranch,
In Mexico it’s common to stage races that are not recognized but agreed upon by the owners and staged at bush track. Lopez became one of those legends on the bush tracks winning thousands of races.
Now plying his trade at Gulfstream in a very tough jockey colony but Lopez is holding his own. After winning at 24% in 2016 he has won with 21% of his mounts at the current Gulfstream meeting and he is working for some solid barns. He has had good success with solid Florida trainer Eddie Plesa and won at a 23% mark for that conditioner in the last year.
When Lopez rides for Jason Servis, get the wallet opened. In the last year, Lopez has won 47% of the time Servis put him on a horse.
