Daniel Centeno

Born: December 18, 1971

Birthplace: Caracas, Venezuela

Residence: Miami, FL

Family: Wife; son, Daniel, Jr.

First Win: Big Jack,1990, Venezuela

Started Riding: 1990 (Venezuela), 2003 (Ohio)

Circuit: TampaBay Downs, MonmouthPark

Daniel Centeno Tampa Stakes Wins
Year	Race	Winner	Trainer	Owner
2009	Sophomore	Bee Cee Cee	Edward Plesa	Robert Harris
2009	Sophomore Turf	Tambarim	William Mott	Haras Santa Maria de Araras
2009	Turf Dash	Castles in the Sky	Jamie Ness	Balkrisna Sukharan
2009	Challenger	Fierce Wind	Will Phipps	Minor Stables
2009	Manatee	Rising Fever (BRZ)	Christophe Clement	David Soifer
2009	Minaret	Dream Rush	Will Phipps	Minor Stables
2009	Sandpiper	Dr. Zic	Joan Scott	Derby Lane Farm
2008	Chris Thomas	Revved Up	Christophe Clement	Live Oak Plantation
2008	Turf Distaff	Bayou’s Lassie	Christophe Clement	Jacks or Better Farm
2008	Turf Classic	Soldier’s Dancer	David Vivian	Herman Heinlein
2008	Sophomore Turf	Repenting	Jamie Ness	Balkrisna Sukharan
2008	Turf Dash	Lookinforthesecret	Jamie Ness	Balkrisna Sukharan
2008	Super Stakes	Lookinforthesecret	Jamie Ness	Balkrisna Sukharan
2007	Turf Dash	Lookinforthesecret	Jamie Ness	Ness Racing Stable
2005	Gasparilla Stakes	Cool Spell*	John Hennig	Mr.&Mrs. Burris
* Stakes Record

Daniel Centeno Tampa Season Stats
Meet	Starts	Winners	Money Won	Wrank
2008-09	528	138	$1,974,333	1^st
2007-08	555	144	$2,145,528*	1^st
2006-07	583	125*	$1,667,752	1^st
2005-06	475	72	$870,481	2^nd
2004-05	276	32	$376,102	10^th
* Record

Daniel Cen teno, a 39 - year-old native of Caracas, Venezuela, is no novice to the racetrack or to Tampa Bay Downs: in the 2007-2008 season, Centeno won the Tampa Bay Downs Jockey Title, booting home a record-setting 144 winners. This includes six stakes wins over the course of Tampa’s 82nd season. He amassed $2,145,528 purses, setting another Oldsmar oval record for purse money won in one meet by a jockey. He was once again the winner of the jockey's title here in the 2008-2009 meet, scoring 138 wins.

Centeno started his career with horses at a very early age: his father was a jockey’s agent in Venezuela, and Centeno grew up in the racing world, spending time at the barn and building a deep relationship with horses. Centeno began race riding in Venezuela in 1990, assembling a successful career that eventually took him to the United States in 2003. Once stateside, Centeno began riding at Calder Race Course. Arriving at Tampa Bay Downs in 2004, Centeno established himself by finishing tenth overall in the final jockey standings for that meet; the next year, Centeno was second leading rider at Tampa Bay Downs. Centeno cites Cool Spell as the most notable horse he has ridden so far; and indeed, he rode the filly to a stakes-record-setting time in the Gasparilla Stakes. The Gasparilla was the first American stakes win for Centeno, whose major influences in the racing world are Eibar Coa and Ramon Dominguez, with whom he grew up in Venezuela. Both have gone on to become highly successful jockeys, and Centeno is quickly following in their hoof prints.