Antonio A. Gallardo

Born: July 18, 1987 | Birthplace: Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz, Spain | Residence: Tampa, FL

First Win: Teifani, Costa del Sol | Started Riding: Costa del Sol, Malaga, Spain | Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Presque Isle Downs, Woodbine Gallardo captured his 11th career graded-stakes victory in October at Woodbine aboard Kate’s Kingdom in the Grade III Ontario Matron for trainer Armando De La Cerda. That makes seven straight years for Gallardo with at least one graded triumph. Gallardo has won five riding titles at Tampa Bay Downs, including three in a row from 2013-2014 through 2015-2016. He set the track’s single-season record in 2014-2015, posting 147 victories. Career victory No. 2,000 came on Feb. 3, 2021 aboard Do What It Takes for trainer Jose H. Delgado. That same season, Gallardo won the Grade III Florida Oaks on the Chad Brown-trained Domain Expertise in stakes-record time, one of a track-best six stakes victories that season for the rider. In May of 2018 in the United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park, Gallardo captured his first Grade I victory aboard 23-1 shot Funtastic, a Brown trainee. Gallardo’s North American career took off in 2015 when he posted 320 victories to finish second in North America to Eclipse Award winner Javier Castellano. Gallardo was runner-up again in 2016, with 332 victories, to Jose Ortiz. Gallardo has won four riding titles at Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa. He has won five races on a single card at Oldsmar a record six times. Gallardo emerged as a force to be reckoned with in Florida in 2013 at Calder Race Course by winning four consecutive stakes on a single card, three for trainer Kathleen O’Connell. He rode 35 winners last season to tie for seventh in the Oldsmar standings, followed by a second-place effort at Presque Isle Downs with 76. Stakes victories at Tampa Bay Downs last season came on Strategic Bird in the Sandpiper Stakes for trainer Mark Casse and Drop a Hint in the Minaret Stakes for conditioner Herman Wilensky.