Born: July 29,1979                                                                                                    
Birthplace: Venezuela
Residence: Bedford Heights, OH
Family: Son, Edward Rafael
First Win: Tu Yeur, 1994
Started Riding: 1994
Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Delaware Park
 
Born in Venezuela on July 29, 1979, Irwin J. Rosendo began demonstrating his love for horses at an early age. “I had one race track close to my house, and I’d walk a half an hour every day to get there to watch the horses,” he explained.  Rosendo parlayed that dedication and love of horses into becoming a jockey in 1994; he rode his first winner that year with a horse called Tu Yeur .
 
In 2001, Rosendo captured the Histórico del Gran Premio Clásico Simón Bolívar aboard Rodes in his native Venezuela. After the victory, Rosendo moved his tack to the United States for the first time.  “In 2001, I came from my country to the States, and I returned again (to the U. S.) in 2003.” Since then, Rosendo has become a successful stakes winning jockey. 

On Festival Day, March 15^th of this year, Irwin Rosendo piloted Awesome Chic to victory in the Grade III $200,000 Florida Oaks.  Rosendo had been in the irons in every one of the three-year-old filly’s five starts, piloting her to her fist victory in Maiden Special Weight company, two stakes wins and two third-place finishes.  Awesome Chic’s owner, Jose Acero of Aurora Springs Stable, said of Rosendo, “He knows better than anybody about that filly. If we go to the (Grade I Kentucky) Oaks, he will be the rider.” Rosendo said of his winning trip, “I like the rail, and the filly – she’s good inside (by the rail). We won inside with one race, so I said yeah. We saved ground.”
 
After the Tampa Bay Downs season, Rosendo will return to DelawarePark. He has a son, Edward Rafael, who is five years old. In the current meet, Irwin J. Rosendo is the eleventhleading rider through April 11, 2008 with 24 wins, 14 second place finishes and 15 thirds from 166 starts.