Jockey Tied Hall of Famer and Mentor Prado for Career Wins

BALTIMORE – As a 12-time individual meet leader that has led the state in annual wins on four occasions, there is little that jockey Jevian Toledo hasn’t accomplished since arriving in Maryland more than a decade ago.

Still, the 30-year-old native of Puerto Rico managed to add another chapter to his success story when Dark Hollow Farm’s Maryland homebred mare Circle Home captured the $125,000 Maryland Million Ladies Oct. 12 at Laurel Park.

First on the also-eligible list, 5-year-old Circle Home drew into the race following the early scratch of Maryland-sired long shot Italian War Cry. The popular victory was Toledo’s 18th in Maryland Million competition, tying him with Hall of Famer Edgar Prado for most in the event’s 39-year history.

“I’m very proud of that. Edgar is in the Hall of Fame and he was my teacher,” Toledo said. “You never really think that you’re going to tie a record with such a great rider.”

The two competed together and had stalls near each other in the jockeys’ room when Prado – who came to national prominence during a decade-long stay in Maryland in the 1980s and 1990s – had a brief return to the circuit in the spring of 2016 after long and successful stays in New York and South Florida.

“We rode together and actually we were in the same corner, so that’s why I call him a teacher. He gave me some good advice,” Toledo said. “He’s a really good guy.”

A winner of nearly 1,650 career races, Toledo registered his first three Maryland Million wins in 2015 aboard Lexington Street in the $100,000 Lassie, Corvus in the $100,000 Nursery and Stolen Love in the $50,000 Starter Handicap.

Represented by agent Marty Leonard, Toledo was blanked in 2016 but has won at least one Maryland Million race in each of the last eight years with another three-win performance in 2018 and a career-high four victories in 2023 including Ain’t Da Beer Cold in the featured $150,000 Classic, his first.

“It feels amazing. I have to thank all the owners and trainers for all the opportunities they’ve been giving me all these years,” Toledo said. “My agent works really hard for this day. He hustles a lot for this day, and I love to win. Maryland is my home and this is our biggest day for the Maryland racing community so it feels really special. Just riding in a race on Maryland Million feels really good, and it’s even more important and exciting to win on those days.”

Of the eight stakes and four starter stakes that comprise the Maryland Million program, Toledo owns multiple wins in the Starter Handicap (four), Distaff (two), Turf (two), Turf Sprint (two) and Turf Starter Handicap (two), and single wins in the Classic, Ladies, Lassie, Nursery, Sprint and Turf Distaff Starter Handicap.

The only race missing from Toledo’s Maryland Million resume is the Distaff Starter Handicap. He has ridden it four times, finishing second with Breezy Girl in 2015, eighth with defending champion Chapel of Chimes in 2017, 11th with Northern Prancer in 2018 and seventh with Sommer Velvet in 2022.

“Last year was really special, and I really wanted to win the filly race this year. We got lucky and my filly drew in,” he said. “It was the only race I was missing in the stakes and now I’m only missing the starter fillies. I won all the other ones, but I never won that yet. We got the filly stake now and hopefully we get the starter next year.”

Toledo has been part of Maryland Million history before. When he crossed the wire first on Hello Beautiful in the 2021 Distaff, the Brittany Russell-trained filly became just the seventh horse with three career Maryland Million victories.

At Laurel’s calendar year-ending fall meet which began Sept. 7, Toledo is first with 17 wins and $745,418 in purse earnings. Closest to him are Jaime Rodriguez with 14 wins and Sheldon Russell with $643,808 in purses earned.

Toledo, who missed nearly three months after being hurt in an April 21 spill at Laurel, is named in 23 races over the next four days including five when live racing resumes Thursday starting at 12:25 p.m.

“I’m feeling great. I’m completely healed,” he said. “I’ve been getting big opportunities and I’ve been taking advantage of every single one. My agent has been doing a great job. He’s doing his part and I’m doing my part, too. It’s been going good so far, thank God.”