Laurel Park: Latest jockey ratings through March 14

Jorge Vargas, Jr. exults as Ms Locust Point wins the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park. Photo by Dottie Miller.

by Frank Vespe

While there’s been some shuffling in the Laurel Park jockey rankings in the last couple of weeks, one thing remains unchanged: Jorge Vargas, Jr. is at the top, and he’s all alone there.

Our system takes into account wins, win percentage, earnings per start, and wagering return on investment. The trainer leading the colony in each category receives a score of 100 for that category, with other conditioners getting a percentage of that. That would give a trainer leading in all categories a perfect score of 400.

In brief, the rating system rewards those who win often and in the biggest races. We applied the stats to every jockey at Laurel Park who’s made at least 25 starts and won at least one race.

Vargas has an overall score of 355.11; that’s about 70 points clear of his nearest rival, Feargal Lynch (285.14). Vargas led by about 37 points in the most recent prior ratings.

Vargas scores highly in all four categories, finishing in the top five in each. His 35 wins and strike rate of 24.14 percent both are tops in the colony. His earnings per start — $7,431 — trail only Lynch’s $8,331. And he returns $1.74 to bettors for each $2.00 they wager on his horses, good for fifth in the colony. Vargas won 10 races during the two weeks between reports to extend his wins and ratings leads.

Lynch, away in Ireland during last weekend’s racing, has won once in six starts since our last report. In addition to leading the colony in earnings per start, he’s also third in win percentage (21.05 percent).

Though Lynch won only once in six starts in the most recent period, that was enough to allow him to pass Jomar Torres, who has labored through a one-for-17 skein that dropped him to third in the standings with 265.38 points. Torres ranks in the top five of all four categories, though he’s no higher than third in any of them. His highest standing is in wins, where he’s third with 19.

The top five are rounded out by Elvis Trujillo (250.17) and Edwin Gonzalez (235.60).

The meet leader in wagering ROI is Carlos Lopez, Jr., who ranks ninth in the overall rankings with a score of 197.81. His ROI of $2.60 per $2.00 wager comes from just three winners from 25 starts. Two of his three winners, however, paid over $30.00 to win.

The report covers racing action through March 14, 2018.