BOOKEND DOUBLE CARRIES MYCHEL SANCHEZ TO 2,000 CAREER WINS
Posted on August 7th, 2026
(Credit: Coady Media)
Princess Summer’s score in the 9th race at Colonial Downs on August 6 gave jockey Mychel Sanchez his 2,000th North American victory. (Credit: Coady Media)
NEW KENT, Va. (Aug 6, 2026) — Mychel Sanchez recorded the 2,000th victory of his North American career Thursday at Colonial Downs, reaching the milestone by winning the day’s first and last races.
Sanchez entered the afternoon with 1,998 career wins and moved one step closer when Call Me Andy upset the opener at odds of 8-1 for trainer Jamie Ness.
He completed the milestone in the finale aboard Princess Summer, a 12-1 filly trained by Mike Maker. After settling near the back of the field, Sanchez guided Princess Summer to the outside turning for home, and the filly responded with a sustained rally down the center of the Secretariat Turf Course to win going away.
A native of Venezuela, Sanchez has spent more than a decade competing primarily on the Mid-Atlantic circuit, where he has been a fixture among the leading riders at Parx Racing while maintaining a regular presence during the Colonial Downs summer meet.
His strongest season came in 2025, when he won 307 races to rank fifth nationally by victories and finished 18th in North America by purse earnings. Entering Thursday, Sanchez had amassed nearly $70 million in career purse earnings.
His career highlights include multiple riding titles at Parx Racing, Grade 3 victories aboard Dixie Serenade in the Victory Ride Stakes and Uncle Heavy in the Withers Stakes, and stakes wins with Maximus Meridius, Determined Kingdom and Pont Aven. Sanchez has also earned national recognition as the Jockeys’ Guild’s Jockey of the Week on multiple occasions, including after safely helping stop a runaway horse to protect a fellow rider.
Colonial Downs has been one of Sanchez’s regular summer stops since racing resumed at the New Kent track in 2019. He won the first race conducted following the facility’s reopening and has consistently finished among the meet’s leading riders.
With Thursday’s double, Sanchez’s career record stands at 2,000 wins, 1,704 seconds, and 1,495 thirds from 11,065 starts.
