By Dick Jerardi
Irad Ortiz has won 157 races in 2026. Younger brother Jose Ortiz has won 134, Flavien Prat 131. But none of those great jockeys has the most wins in the country this year.
That would be Yedsit Hazlewood who turned 18 in March, the teenager who arrived in the United States from Panama in November 2024, rode his first race on March 21, 2025 and was scheduled to ride 36 races this week – 15 at Parx Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, three at Delaware Park Thursday, one at Penn National Friday and 17 at Laurel Park Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a fairly typical week for the rider who has 161 wins this year after winning 137 times in 2025.
I spent a few minutes in the Parx jocks’ room Monday afternoon with Hazlewood who is still learning English and the top jock at Parx, Mychel Sanchez, who helped translate when Hazlewood was unsure.
If his English is a work in progress, his riding skills are progressing so fast that he is going to have no problem maintaining all this business when his apprentice year ends June 29.
So, why horse racing?
“I got family (in the sport),” Hazlewood said of his brother, now retired jockey Angel Rodriguez.
He has a sister who works at Fair Hill for trainer Arnaud Delacour. He got his start there galloping horses for trainer Keri Brion.
When he first started winning a lot races, Hazlewood described it as “amazing.”
Leading Parx trainer Jamie Ness first noticed Hazlewood last year at Delaware. “Luckily, in my stable I get to ride the top riders,” Ness said. “I don’t really pay a whole lot of attention to bug riders because they just don’t fit in my program…I saw a kid that was beating me a lot. I started watching a little more and said ‘damn, this kid’s all right.'”
So Ness went down to Laurel, spoke with Hazlewood’s agent and told him: “the kid’s very talented. He shouldn’t be riding three days a week at Laurel. He’s got his apprentice. Bring him to Parx. I’ll give him a shot on my horses and see what happens. I can’t say a whole lot other than I’ve never seen a kid that young that talented.”
That actually says more than a lot.
Hazlewood is the leading rider at Laurel Park with 84 wins and second at Parx with 70 wins to 90 for Sanchez.
“Right before he started winning a lot, he was in my corner at Laurel,” Sanchez said. “We talked a lot…he got too good too fast.”
Hazlewood learned to ride at the famed Laffit Pincay Jr. Technical Jockey Academy in Panama. Pincay, a Panama native who would be on any Mount Rushmore of the greatest jockeys ever to ride in America, is an inspiration for young Hazlewood.
Hazlewood said the majority of what he knows is through the jockeys’ school where he had to sacrifice and get his weight down.
“I tell people left and right maybe 2, 3 years, you’re going to see him on the first Saturday in May, barring an injury, if he keeps his head on straight,” Ness said.
Ness, of course, is not talking about the first Saturday in May at Parx. He is speaking about that track in Louisville and that race that begins with the state name where Churchill Downs is located.
On Preakness Day at Laurel, with the Ortiz brothers and Prat there to ride, Hazlewood won three races, including the Sir Barton Stakes. Jose was second on a 3-5 shot in Hazlewood’s first win, Irad second on a 1-2 shot in the Sir Barton.
When Hazlewood loses the 5-pound apprentice allowance, Ness does not think that will change anything. If you can ride, you can ride.
“Five pounds means nothing to me,” Ness said. “Obviously, it’s important. I ride him on stake horses (when there is no weight allowance). I never rode a bug boy on a stake horse in my life until this kid came along.”
Hazlewood was a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the leading apprentice last year even though he barely got a half year of full-time riding. The same thing is going to happen in reverse this year, but he may have such a big lead at the end of the month that no jockey can catch him for the award.
“I’m working hard to make that happen,” Hazlewood said. “Hopefully, I keep going and winning. We’ve got a shot.”
And if there is also the chance to lead the country in wins, he will go for it.
“I think I will ride every day,” Hazlewood said. “Seven days a week…It’s incredible to have so many mounts. I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
