BY GULFSTREAM PARK PRESS OFFICE (Edited)
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL–Just think, Jonathan Ocasio would never have been given the opportunity to ride highly promising Squire in next Saturday’s $100,000 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Dr. Fager division at Gulfstream Park without a little help from SpongeBob SquarePants.
The 25-year-old jockey, whose boyhood dream was to ride in the United States while growing up in Puerto Rico, was well aware that speaking English would certainly be to his benefit in that quest, so he turned to SpongeBob.
“I learned the basics in school. To learn conversation, I did it myself. I watched a lot of cartoons and a lot of movies in English with Spanish subtitles,” said Ocasio, who was quick to call SpongeBob his favorite cartoon. “That’s the way I learned to have conversations and do interviews and to speak to trainers and have good conversations with them.”
Trainer Patrick Biancone said he was immediately taken aback by Ocasio’s English when he first met him at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream Park’s training facility in Palm Beach County, shortly after Ocasio ventured to South Florida last year.
“He’s a very nice and very well-educated young guy. He speaks perfect English. He wasn’t American initially,” Biancone said through his distinct French accent. “He comes here in the morning and understands what we want to achieve. He’s now part of the team.”
Biancone-trained horses achieved a 36% win rate with Ocasio aboard during the Royal Palm Meet that came to a close Sunday. Ocasio has won on 11 of 30 Biancone-trained mounts, including stakes winners Diciassette (Proud Man) and Layabout (Bear’s Den), while finishing on the board on 20 of 30 since April 3.
“Number one, we’ve had a lot of good horses, but he gets the best from the horses. He comes two or three times a week to work for me. He knows the horses. My clients like him,” Biancone said. “When he makes a mistake, we tell him. Everyone makes mistakes, sometimes.”
After graduating from the Escuela Vocacional Augustin Mercado Riverson jockey school at Camarero Race Track in 2020, Ocasio left for the U.S. to ride in the mid-Atlantic region, primarily at Parx, where he rode for five years with limited success before taking off for South Florida.
“I was trying to make new opportunities. I was riding at Parx and doing pretty well, but I thought if I moved out, I could make better business,” he said. “Thank God, the plan has worked out. I have a good agent [Roger Velez}. He was a good jockey. He’s been a good mentor for me.”
Ocasio rode under the radar at Gulfstream and Tampa Bay Downs before he caught Biancone’s attention with his English.
“Patrick has been amazing for me. He helped me in the mornings with some work and he gave me big chances in races. I’m really thankful to him. He’s taught me a lot of things. I want to take the opportunity to thank him for the chances that he gave me,” he said. “Thank God Patrick gave me the opportunity to show what I can do, and now people are looking at me and giving me opportunities. I want to make the best of them.”
Ocasio hopes to take full advantage of the opportunity to ride Squire for the first time in the Dr. Fager. The son of Leinster rallied from off the pace under Joe Bravo to win his debut in a four-and-a-half-furlong maiden special weight on dirt at Gulfstream April 18, before finishing second at a mile on turf under Luis Saez in the May 10 Royal Palm Juvenile.
Ocasio was aboard Squire for a bullet three-furlong workout in :35.70 at Palm Meadows Saturday in preparation for the Dr. Fager. He was also aboard Biancone-trained Lennilu for a six-furlong breeze on turf in 1:17.74 Friday for a possible start in the $100,000 Desert Vixen, the six-furlong FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes division for fillies that will co-headline Saturday’s card.
Biancone also plans to enter Lennilu in Saturday’s $1 million Untapable at Kentucky Downs. Ocasio has been named to ride Biancone-trained Laigina, an unraced daughter of Leinster who finished on even terms with Squire while breezing in company Saturday, in the Desert Vixen.
Thanks to Biancone—and SpongeBob SquarePants–Ocasio is living his dream.
“It’s very special for me. I know he’s been a global trainer and he’s been successful outside and inside the United Stakes,” he said. “I’ve been watching him. I have a lot of respect for the way he trains. I’m very grateful.”
Return to the Sept. 2 issue of Wire to Wire
