Ramon Vazquez walk (rode?) off with the riding title at Prairie Meadows this summer.  Vazquez amassed 94 wins out of 366 starters and $1,870,287 in purse money.  His winning percentage was an astounding 26%, well clear of any jockey with over 50 starts.

Last year jockey Dave Mello became the first jockey to notch 100 victories in a Prairie Meadows meet, a number thought to be nearly impossible to equal, but Vasquez made a strong run at the century mark, riding consistently all summer long.

Last year’s leading rider, Mello, was seriously injured in a paddock accident in late April and missed the majority of the season.

The rest of the top five were a tightly bunched group with Ken Tohill (64) second, Alex Birzer (63) third, Shane Laviolette (61) fourth and Alex Canchari (60) fifth.

Federico Villafranco led all trainers with 51 wins out of 150 starters.  Close on his heels was Lynn Chleborad with 48 and Tim Martin with 42.  Rounding out the top five were Jon Arnett and Chris Richard.

Chleborad led all trainers in money won with just over $1.3 million dollars in earnings.

Amongst owners, Danny Caldwell led the way with 50 winners, nearly doubling the total of second place finisher Poindexter Thoroughbreds (26).  Maggie Moss was third (22) and Toby Keith’s Dream Walkin Farms Inc was fourth (19).

Sumting Wong was the top Iowa bred at the meet, taking three of four races including the Mamie Eisenhower and the Hawkeyes Handicap and totaled earning of $126,570. Trained by Doug Anderson, Suming Wong was bred and owned by Shady Bend Thoroughbreds.