Sterritt, Ramos win Leading Apprentice award

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Nov. 7, 2019) – Each year, Indiana Grand honors the top apprentice of the season with the Juan Saez Leading Apprentice award. This year, the track honors two recipients as Kendal Sterritt and Joe Ramos tied atop the standings with 25 wins apiece. The presentation was made during the final racing program Wednesday, Nov. 6 at Indiana Grand.

Kendal Sterritt began her riding career just a month before arriving in Indiana last spring. The native of Mesa, Ariz. grew up loving horses and found a way to get involved through a non-conventional manner.

“I begged and begged my mom for a pony,” said Sterritt. “She finally bought me one and I started riding lessons. Then, I started competing on the jumping circuit which took me all across the country. When I graduated from high school, I went to college for one year and decided that wasn’t for me, so I got a job galloping at Hidden Springs Ranch in Yarnell, Arizona under trainer Duane Grissom.”

From that first experience with Thoroughbreds, Sterritt was hooked and later went to Turf Paradise where she galloped for a year and a half before she took out her jockey’s license. She rode the first three weeks of her career at Turf Paradise, winning two, before ending up in Indiana in May.

“I had several people telling me I should go to this track or to this track, but it just didn’t feel right,” continued Sterritt. “Then, someone suggested Indiana and it just felt right. Coming from Turf Paradise just riding three weeks, I didn’t expect to do this well, so this is a nice surprise.”

Sterritt accomplished several goals during the meet. In addition to winning 25 races, the 23-year-old apprentice also scored her first career stakes win aboard Rooster in the $75,000 ITOBA Stallion Season Stakes this fall. Sterritt ended the season among the top 10 jockeys at Indiana Grand with accumulated purse earnings of more than $626,000.

“I thank everyone who gave me a shot and believed in me and let me ride their horses this year,” said Sterritt. “This is a true honor to win this award.”

Joining Sterritt for the Juan Saez Leading Apprentice award is Joe Ramos Jr., who also started his professional career earlier this year. A native of Puerto Rico, Ramos graduated from Jockey School in his native country Jan. 1, 2019. He rode in 17 races, winning three, before venturing to the United States and forming a partnership with Agent Julio Rijos in mid-March with a plan to ride at both Belterra Park and Indiana Grand during the summer, a goal that turned out well at both facilities.

“I always say thanks to God first, then family then the hard work we’ve put into it,” said Ramos through his agent Rijos. “A special thanks to all the owners and trainers for their support this year and I hope to be back in the spring.”

Ramos adds the Juan Saez Leading Apprentice award at Indiana Grand to his Leading Apprentice award received at Belterra Park earlier this fall. There, he finished fifth in the overall standings with 45 wins. He completed the 2019 meet at Indiana Grand with 25 wins to be among the track’s top 10 jockeys and accumulated in excess of $561,000 in purse earnings. To date, Ramos has 78 career wins in only eight months of riding in the United States and his purse earnings have surpassed $1.2 million.

Ramos becomes the first member of his family to be involved in horse racing. As a kid, his grandfather had an affinity for the horses and passed that love onto Ramos.

“He (Ramos) is the only jockey in his family,” added Rijos. “He has been very passionate about horses and racing since he was a little kid. He went home to visit his family in Puerto Rico and will come back for the meet at Turfway this winter, and then we plan to be back in Indiana next spring.”

Ramos won two races at Mahoning Valley Wednesday, Nov. 6 before boarding a plane home. Due to his riding commitment in Ohio, he was unable to be part of the winner’s circle presentation for the Juan Saez Leading Apprentice honors at Indiana Grand, which was presented by Jon Schuster, vice president and general manager of racing, and Kevin Greely, director of racing.

“Juan Saez was a bright, young jockey that always had a smile on his face and had such a bright future,” said Schuster. “Unfortunately, his life tragically ended in a racing incident at Indiana Grand in 2014. By naming this award in his honor, it is a small thing we can do to keep his name alive, and we want to congratulate both Kendal and Joe for being part of an exclusive group to win this award.”

Past recipients of the Juan Saez Leading Apprentice Award, which was implemented in 2015, include Cheyanna Patrick, Eduardo Gallardo, Katie Clawson-Ramsey, and Edgar Morales.