1000 wins for Ruben Silvera * The Racing Biz

1000 wins for Ruben Silvera

Frank Vespe
December 14, 2022

With a win aboard Angelus Warrior in Tuesday’s sixth race at Parx Racing, jockey Ruben Silvera registered his 1,000^th career victory.

SIlvera had gotten to the cusp of the milestone with a win December 7 but then lost 14 consecutive races until breaking through with an easy score aboard the even-money favorite.

“I feel really happy,” Silvera said in a post-race interview by Dani Gibson of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. “It was my goal.”

Silvera was the leading rider at Parx in 2021 and owns a well-nigh insurmountable lead for top rider honors at the track this season. Silvera has 153 wins at Parx this year, 29 more than Frankie Pennington, his nearest competitor. His mounts have earned more than $4.9 million at the Bensalem, PA track.

Overall this season, Silvera has 175 wins from 959 starts, and his purse earnings are nearing the $6 million mark.

Silvera began riding professionally in 2011 but took a few years to gain traction. He didn’t win more than 40 races or top the $2 million mark in purse earnings until 2016. Since, he’s continued on an upward trajectory, reaching a career high with 225 wins in 2021, while his earnings this season are the highest of his career. This is the fourth consecutive year in which he’s won more than 100 races.

For his career to date, Silvera has 1,000 wins from 6,710 starts to go with a bankroll of $30.4 million.

In Tuesday’s contest, Silvera put Angelus Warrior, trained by Jamie Ness for Madison Avenue Racing Stable Inc. and Jagger Inc., on the lead early and didn’t look back. The five-year-old ridgling took the claiming event by 5 ½ lengths.

What’s next, now that he’s reached this milestone?

“I hope in a few years more to get to 2,000 wins,” he said.