As a representative for the Jockeys’ Guild at Tampa Bay Downs, Daniel Centeno’s day-to-day responsibilities extend beyond trying to win races and working horses in the morning.
“I’m here whenever they (other riders) want me,” said Centeno, who is in his 21st season competing at the Oldsmar oval. “I don’t like to chase them, and some don’t like to listen, but I’m always open to talk and help them improve, or suggest how to do something different in a race and keep everybody out of trouble.”
Centeno, a 53-year-old product of Caracas, Venezuela, is tied with Mike Manganello, the jockey on 1970 Kentucky Derby winner Dust Commander, with a record six Tampa Bay Downs jockey titles. The track’s other Jockeys’ Guild representative, Antonio Gallardo, has five. They are 100-percent invested in seeing their colleagues – who turn into fierce rivals when the gates open – follow safe-riding protocol while striving for success.
Over the years, Centeno has found the younger riders eager to absorb his knowledge.
“We have riders here from different colonies every year, and this season we have more first-time (Tampa Bay Downs jockeys) from all over,” he said. “They’re good riders, and they make the races better and more competitive.”
Like he does every season, Centeno keeps finding a way to win his share. He is tied for sixth in the Oldsmar standings with 18 winners, and his recent performance has earned him the Mother’s Restaurant Jockey of the Month Award.
Centeno has no desire to rest on his laurels. With 3,403 career U.S. winners (he won 847 races in Venezuela before coming to the United States for good in 2003), he trails only Javier Castellano, Ramon Dominguez and Eibar Coa for most U.S. winners among Venezuelan-born jockeys. Centeno holds the record for most victories by a jockey at Tampa Bay Downs, with 1,569, and most Oldsmar stakes victories, with 59, including three last season.
He has won the Tampa Bay Derby twice: in 2009 on Musket Man, when it was a Grade III event, and in 2014 on Ring Weekend as a Grade II.
The old saying about success resulting when preparation and opportunity come together applies, according to Centeno’s agent John Weilbacher.
“I don’t know any jockey who comes more prepared to a race than he does,” Weilbacher said. “From working horses to watching video, to handicapping races, he wants to get to know his horses as well as he possibly can. He is very steady and conducts his business professionally. He’ll show up at a trainer’s barn to breeze a horse at least 10 minutes early.”
Centeno has enjoyed plenty of success recently with Gerald Bennett, the nine-time Tampa Bay Downs leading trainer. In addition to teaming on four winners since Jan. 4, they finished third with 4-year-old gelding Life Is Precious in Saturday’s $125,000 Pelican Stakes, beaten a neck and a head by Nutella Fella and Caramel Chip.
Bennett has always found Centeno to be a thorough and willing student of a horse’s traits, quirks and personality, all of which go into getting the best response on race day.
“He’s at our barn every day, working hard, and we’re having good luck winning races,” Bennett said. “That is what it is in the horse industry – out of sight, out of mind. Especially with your young horses and the babies, I want a rider who has worked a horse out of the gate and gotten familiar. A horse needs to get used to a rider to have confidence in a race.
“Danny knows pace and is very good with a horse on the front end, especially one he has been on before. I’ve ridden him for a lot of years and if he has been on a horse working, he can usually get the job done the first time,” Bennett added.
Despite the demands of the racetrack, Centeno enjoys balancing the responsibilities of his job with his roles as a husband and father. His wife Brooke, whose father is trainer Richard Sillaman, is a chiropractic physician’s assistant. They have a 3 ½-year-old daughter, Sophia, and are raising Centeno’s older daughter, 16-year-old Jazmyn, who enjoys singing and performing,
Older son Danny, 25, is an online marketer, bartender and model.
Now, in case you’re wondering. … the life of a country squire doesn’t appeal to Centeno – not yet, anyway. He wants to keep going as long as he’s getting on the kind of horses that can take him places, such as Power Squeeze, the horse Centeno rode to victory in last season’s Suncoast Stakes.
After that victory, trainer Jorge Delgado kept Centeno aboard for the Grade II Gulfstream Park Oaks, which they won at odds of 11-1. That earned Centeno the mount on Power Squeeze in the Longines Kentucky Oaks and his first-ever assignment at Churchill Downs. They finished sixth in the race won by eventual Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, but what an experience.
So no, Centeno isn’t planning to go anywhere.
“I’m still getting good opportunities,” said Centeno, who has scored six of his 12 career graded-stakes victories since 2020. “I’ve been winning races, I’m working hard and I’m healthy and fit – that’s the main thing – so it (retirement) has not crossed my mind. My goals are the same as they’ve been, to keep working, try hard on every horse I ride and try to get on good horses.
“When you’re riding well, those kind of opportunities find you.”
Party at the Paddock. College students are invited to participate in the tradition, excitement and spectacle that make up Thoroughbred racing on Saturday during the annual “Party at the Paddock.” Admission is free with a college student ID, regardless of the school. Students are requested to arrive at the main Grandstand entrance, where they will receive a raffle ticket for prizes and can sign up for a cornhole tournament.
The party will take place outside at the Winner’s Terrace next to the VIP Room, where students will receive a wagering guide and a tip sheet. Students who are 21 or over and wish to drink beer or alcohol must present a state-issued ID to receive a wristband. In addition to giveaways, drink specials and the raffle, US Foods is donating a supply of chicken wings.
Other event sponsors include MacDinton’s Irish Pub, Pepin Distributing, Celsius Energy Drinks, Grove Soho and 3 Daughters Brewing.
Around the oval. Samuel Marin won today’s first three races, all on longshots, to wrest the lead from Samy Camacho in the jockeys race by a 53-51 margin. Camacho is suspended through Sunday.
Marin won the first race aboard Thank the Academy, a 6-year-old mare owned by A and LGY-SE Racing and Henrik Lilius and trained by Arthur Agostini. Marin won the second on 12-1 shot Litigant, a 9-year-old Florida-bred gelding owned by GOP Racing Stable and trained by Gerard Ochoa. The early $1 3-1 daily double paid $63.80.
Marin next won the third race on first-time starter Fondly, a 3-year-old filly owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and trained by H. Graham Motion. The early 50-cent Pick 3 combination of 3-1-1 paid $343.10.
Mikhail Carmichael won his first race as a trainer, scoring with 5-year-old Florida-bred gelding Bar Down Express in the sixth race. Apprentice jockey Christian Maragh was aboard for Carmichael and owner Andrew Wilson.
Thoroughbred racing continues Saturday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:15 p.m. Tampa Bay Downs races each Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and is open every day for simulcast wagering, no-limits action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and golf fun and instruction at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.
