Jockey Jose Riquelme
Born: 05/26/1972, Arequipa, Peru
Resides: Bossier City, Louisiana
Family: Gloria, wife; Nathalia, daughter; Jose, son
“Like Edgar Prado, Rafael Bejarano, Miguel Mena and Jorge Chavez, I am from Peru,” Jose Riquelme chatted on a recent afternoon. “I rode some 10 years in Peru, Panama and other South American countries, before coming to the United States.”
The record shows he left Peru to ride in Brazil, returned to Peru, then rode in Argentina, back to Peru, then Chile and finally seven years in Panama.
Name some famous tracks in South America such as San Isidro, La Plata, Club Hipico de Santiago, Hipico de Concepcion and Presidente Remon and Riquelme has ridden there.
“A most beautiful track is Hipodromo de San Isidro, some 22 kilometers north of Buenos Aires. I always liked to go there,” recalled Jose.
Riquelme said he rode the longest in Panama. “One year I won the three stakes that racing people there insist should be called a Triple Crown.”
“I was invited to come up here, so accepted. I arrived during the 1999 Saratoga meeting,” said Jose.
Today Jose speaks excellent English.
“Not so when I came to America. I watched a lot of TV just to hear English. I took a course in English. Also I would mingle in crowds just to hear English. It was a big day for me when I could hear a conversation in English and know about what the speakers were talking,” recalls the jockey.
One thing he liked about South America is that the scales of weights run higher than in the U.S.
“Down there, they are maintained in kilos. I remember once riding in a race where my horse carried what was actually 155 pounds. I had trouble carrying my saddle,” he insisted. He said races are at longer distances down there.
“For older horses you don’t see any five, or five and a half furlongs. Three quarters of a mile is the minimum. And two mile events are not uncommon,” the jockey said.
Riquelme’s main track now is Louisiana Downs. He is new to Oaklawn, but hopes to form himself a circuit, using Oaklawn and Louisiana Downs.