Ademar Santos

Born: August 27, 1975 | Birthplace: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Residence: Oldsmar, FL

First Win: The Cure, Hipodromo de Gavea, Brazil, 1993 | Started Riding: 1993, Hipodromo de Gavea, Brazil Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Monmouth Park, Colonial Downs, Delaware Park

Santos managed a 10th-place finish in last season’s Oldsmar standings with 33 winners despite being stuck in Toronto from Dec. 6-Jan. 27 after Woodbine’s racing season ended because of Canada’s Omicron COVID-19 restrictions. During his enforced “vacation,” he stayed busy galloping horses at Toronto-area farms during the day and calling his wife and agent, Rose, and their three teenage sons at their Florida home at night. Entering his 13th season in Oldsmar, Santos has developed into one of the track’s most reliable journeyman riders. He keeps himself fit by working out a half-dozen or more horses during morning training and riding an Equicizer mechanical horse at home. On July 1, Santos won his fourth $5,000 Jockeys’ Challenge at Tampa Bay Downs, more than any other rider – despite having to miss the final race to catch a flight to Toronto to ride Ironstone in the next day’s Grade III Marine Stakes at Woodbine. They finished third. Santos won the Grade II Kennedy Road Stakes in 2018 at Woodbine on Ikerrin Road.