By Dick Jerardi
Paco Lopez simply loves to ride horses, and there is almost nothing that can keep him from what he loves.
Exactly 45 minutes after winning the $2 million Preakness on Napoleon Solo Saturday at Laurel Park, Lopez was in the starting gate on 3-5 Grant the Great in a maiden special weight with a $52,000 purse. He took his horse gate to wire for trainer Kelly Breen.
Seventeen hours later, Lopez was at Monmouth Park to ride seven races. The only reason he did not ride all eight is because his mount in the seventh race was scratched. He won four that afternoon.
Twenty hours after winning the finale at the Jersey shore, Lopez was back at Parx to ride the opener and the rest of the card.
Was there any time to celebrate?
“I went to dinner with Kelly Breen,” Lopez said in the Parx paddock after the first race. “After that, I drove to Jersey.”
That last win at Monmouth was No. 4,400 in his 20-year career. He has won nine Grade I stakes, including the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Roy H. He is the regular rider for 2025 Eclipse Award winning sprinter Book’em Danno.
But the Preakness for trainer Chad Summers and owner Al Gold? That is just different.
Lopez first rode Napoleon Solo in the Wood Memorial and admits he felt a lot of pressure because they were trying to get enough points to get the horse into the Kentucky Derby.
“In the Wood, Chad told me ‘Paco, you are in hole 1, I want to be in the Kentucky Derby so (try) to get 1-2-3,'”Lopez said. “I got the point…I rushed too much, and he didn’t finish very well.”
When you watched Lopez ride the Preakness, it was the same confident Paco that had been out there 21,143 times before the biggest win of his life. He was as relaxed as his mount. And when he won it, he absolutely acted like he had been there before, with an almost imperceptible fist pump after the wire.
“I was in perfect position and very comfortable with my horse,” Lopez said.
It showed like it always shows when Lopez rides. He is absolutely thrilled to ride race horses.
“Everybody has a hobby,”Lopez said. “I really, really enjoy it when I ride one horse. If I have a bad, bad day and I ride one horse I forget my day. I understand the horses.”
The jockey was going to lead the country in wins last year before a controversial 6-month suspension over 10 whip violations that, it was decided, by HISA were “similar” to an incident where he struck a horse after a race at Parx on December 3, 2024. At that time, he was suspended until Jan. 22, 2025.
Lopez won No. 300 last year on Sept. 22 at Parx. He had 89 wins at Parx, good for second in the standings behind Mychel Sanchez. He was suspended the next day for the whip violations. He took more than five weeks off and then re-emerged at Delta Downs in Louisiana, a state where HISA has no jurisdiction. He finished the year with 325 wins, second only to Irad Ortiz and his 352 wins.
Lopez rode the Fair Grounds meet this winter and was going to be second in the standings behind Jose Ortiz until he missed nearly two months with a broken ankle. With his ankle healed and his suspension over, Lopez returned in April with rides at Tampa Bay, Gulfstream Park, Oaklawn Park, Laurel Park and, finally, on April 20 at Parx. He also returned to Monmouth Park when it opened. He is going for his record-tying 13th riding title and eighth straight there and will be going for his first Haskell Stakes on July 18 with Napoleon Solo.
Meanwhile, he will be at Parx Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Monmouth on the weekends and wherever else his work might take him. Lopez wins everywhere, but has been especially effective at Parx from 2023-2025 with 251 wins.
And why not after hopefully winning his first Haskell at his home base come back to his home away from home and try to win his first Pennsylvania Derby Sept. 19 on his Preakness winner.
