Toronto Ont.December 1, 2018.Woodbine Racetrack.R10 Souciologist Jockey Eurico Da Silva captures 222 win at Woodbine to eclipse jockey Mickey Walls for thoroughbred race wins by a jockey in a single race season. michael burns photo
Four wins on Saturday and Eurico Da Silva sets new meeting record
222 wins in 118 racing dates at Woodbine (he missed 6 to start the year)
When Woodbine’s leading jockey Eurico da Silva got off the filly Agosta in race 1 on Saturday after finishing second to favoured Place the Blame, the energetic horseman wasn’t sure he was going to have a big day.
Always bubbling over with confidence and determination, Eurico thought he could have won with Agosta but there were still plenty of mounts to go.
It didn’t take long for a roll to begin. He guided second time-starter and 2-year-old filly Blezniatka to her maiden win around 2 turns in race 2 (so many 2’s would be a foreshadowing for later).
He managed to keep Golden Vision straight in the stretch run as that filly, making her first career start for Gord and Liz Lickrish and trainer Kevin Attard, won at 11 to 1 in race 5 and odds-on Avie’s Link won her maiden in race 6.
Three more races went by and Eurico had a 3rd and 4th and then he climbed aboard Bill and Al Ulwelling’s SOUCIOLOGIST, an Ontario bred gal trained by Kevin Attard. Yes, the Gemologist filly bred by Bill Graham was odds on but things were tight for the impressive looking gal coming around the turn.
Well, watch the race here:
Agility, patience and plenty of confidence brought this filly and 221 winners before her this year to the winner’s circle.
Eurico had beaten the record of 221 wins after just 118 days of riding, getting past a longstanding record of 221 set by Mickey Walls in 1991. (Mickey won 286 races that year as an apprentice for the most part plus he had 2 Greenwood meetings. Mickey won his 221 races in 136 racing day meeting at Woodbine.)
in the last 100 races he rode, Eurico was winning at a 34% rate, simply unheard of. Of the top 100 rider in North America he has the highest win percentage of 28.
After the race Eurico posed for pictures holding 222 in saddle towel numbers and threw them in the air with a loud ‘Yeah!’
“I’m very, very excited, but in the meantime, I want to say thank you to all the horses I rode, trainers, grooms, exercise riders and owners,” said Da Silva. “I’m very grateful to be at Woodbine. I love Woodbine and I feel like this is my home; I come here and I don’t feel like I’m working. All the time I feel happy to be here and I feel like everybody here is my family. I also want to thank my wife and my mom – without them, I never could do that.”
As for the filly Soucioloigist, a Woodbine Oaks prospect for the Ulwellings and Attard, Eurico said, “I had no chance to get outside so i was lucky Luis had an opening. This filly was running like a 5-year-old, I had lots of horses.”
Trainer Kevin Attard said, while chuckling, “he trip wasn’t what I envisioned but he’s Eurico da Silva so what can I say?
He kind of stays out his horses way, he tries hard and most of the time he puts them in good spots.”
Eurico was joined by his mother, wife Dr. Orlaith Cleary and their two children and for my photo below his valet Nick Nolan and trainer Nick Gnozalez joined in the festivities.
