Carlos Montalvo is February’s Jockey of the Month & Centeno Wins Three

  Carlos Montalvo was born on November 10, 1978 in Mexico City, Mexico, and began riding there at age 18.  The very first horse he rode in a race was his first winner.  The horse was aptly named Irun, and since then Carlos Montalvo has kept up his winning ways: he finished the 2005-2006 Tampa Bay Downs racing season as ninth leading rider.  In the current meet Montalvo, as of January 31, is third leading rider, having already amassed over $350,000 in purse money.  Furthermore, Montalvo is ranked 21st among the nation’s leading jockeys, only two places below this year’s Eclipse-award winning rider Edgar Prado.

Carlos Montalvo has enjoyed many victories at Tampa Bay Downs, including this year’s win on Summer Cruise in a driving finish in the Minaret Stakes and a win in last year’s Wayward Lass Stakes on Tasha Sangue.  The horse that has been the favorite of his career is Bye Bye Beylen, an eight-year-old gelding that Montalvo currently rides here at Tampa Bay Downs.

Montalvo lives in Oldsmar, and his family includes his parents and his sister Fatima.  During the Tampa Bay Downs off-season, he is a reinsman at both Hawthorne Racecourse in Chicago, IL and Prairie Meadows in Iowa.  Carlos Montalvo, when he’s not in the irons, is a dedicated dancer and says that he can’t pick a favorite dance.  He says that he loves riding here because, among many reasons, “it’s just great to be here, especially in the winter when my friends up north are freezing!”

Finish Lines….  Daniel Centeno today won three races, starting with back-to-back wins in the fifth and sixth races.  In the fifth he guided Marieval home for owner John Cummins and trainer Joan Scott.  The sixth race saw Centeno win with Precise Dancing, a filly from the stable of Joseph G. Calascibetta and owned by Teresa Badamo and Maureen Pata.  His third victory of the day came aboard Lite Brigade for conditioner Jamie Ness, who owns the gelding along with Webs Gems Stable.  Daniel Centeno is currently ranked as the leading rider in the country by wins.

Racing resumes tomorrow, February 2, 2007, with an eleven race card.  The first race will begin at 12:25 PM; the gates will open at 11:00 AM and The Silks Card Room will offer live poker action from noon through midnight.  Saturday will feature The Manatee Stakes as well as Rolling Back the Prices, with $1 beer, soda and Nathan’s Hot Dogs at concession stands from 12:00 to 3:00.