A pair of jockeys reached milestones – albeit very different ones – Wednesday in the Mid-Atlantic.

Veteran rider Angel Rodriguez earned the 2000^th win of his career during evening racing at Penn National, while earlier in the day, 10-pound apprentice Anthony Radcliffe earned win number one for his career at Delaware Park.

Rodriguez finished second in the day’s first race, but he didn’t have long to wait to reach his big victory. In the second, a $5,000 never-won-two claimer, he piloted even-money favorite Gurt’s Warrior to score by a diminishing neck to reach the mark. Trained by Brandon Kulp, Gurt’s Warrior now has won two straight and finished in the exacta in five consecutive races.

For Rodriguez, the victory gave him 2,000 wins from 11,754 career starts. His mounts have earned more than $43 million.

According to Equibase statistics, Rodriguez began his riding career with eight winless mounts in 2001 but didn’t resume riding until 2006. That year he won 72 races while riding primarily in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

In 2013, riding primarily at Penn National, Rodriguez broke the 100-win barrier for the first time, recording 128 wins from 654 starts while generating over $2.6 million in purse earnings. That kicked off a streak of seven consecutive 100-win seasons for Rodriguez, snapped only by the Covid-marred 2020 campaign.

In each of the years since 2020, Rodriguez has won at least 100 times and is on pace to do so again this season. His biggest season of all was 2019, when he won 113 races for purse earnings of over $3.8 million.

The two most productive mounts for Rodriguez have been Ruby Bleu and Jet Away Jane. The former never won a stake but did win 23 times in 99 starts $938,000. Rodriguez was aboard for more than $300,000 in earnings.

And he and Jet Away Jane combined to win nearly $300,000. Jet Away Jane won five stakes in 2007 and 2008.

Rodriguez leads all jockeys at the current Penn National meet with 46 wins. He has finished in the top three by wins at the Grantville track in each of the last three full years.

The bearded Radcliffe lodged his first win in only his fourth career start and first of 2024. Radcliffe and 4-5 post time favorite Bar Down Express pressed the early pace before drawing away to a 5 ½-length win in Wednesday’s second at Delaware, a $12,500 maiden claimer. Trained by Kieron Magee, Bar Down Express now has a win from nine starts.

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