TOP 9: John R. Velazquez

Hall of Fame Friends 

Johnny V and his Hall-of-Fame mentor Angel Cordero, Jr. were seen as the Batman and Robin of thoroughbred racing for decades. The story of how their fates became intertwined begins with Tico Garcia and a VHS tape of Velazquez racing in Puerto Rico  

When Velazquez was 14, his friend Tico Garcia introduced him to horse racing and he was hooked. Velazquez was eager to learn and had no proper training at the time, and he would race on streets and ride any horse that was available. Two years later, Velazquez applied to the state-run jockey academy at Puerto Rico’s Camarero Racetrack, Escuela Vocacional Hipica, with a recommendation from Tico Garcia. 

Garcia was proud of Velazquez and sent Cordero a tape of Johnny riding at El Commandante racetrack. He described Velazquez as “a very nice, serious kid” and told Cordero that Velazquez was going to be a star. Cordero was initially unimpressed, but changed his mind when he watched the tape again with his friend Richie Allen. Allen was impressed and told Cordero that Velazquez’s performance reminded him of how Cordero rides. Allen agreed to serve as Velazquez’s agent when the jockey moved to the US in 1990. 

Cordero was at the height of his career at the time, but he remembered how he had struggled when he first moved from Puerto Rico to the US in the 1960’s and how he was often forced to sleep in his car. He allowed Velazquez to live in his house with him, and he began teaching him everything there is to know about racehorses and how to survive life in the US. Just like Cordero, Velazquez didn’t speak English when he immigrated. However, he would often babysit Cordero’s daughter Canela during the three months they lived together, and the two watched The Little Mermaid on tape over and over until Velazquez learned the language. 

In 1992, Cordero was forced to retire from riding due to an injury, and he spent a few years as a horse trainer, although he wasn’t very successful. Velazquez invited Cordero to be his agent in 1998, and he agreed. Of course, Cordero had been mentoring Velazquez for several years at that point, but becoming Velazquez’s agent made it “official”. Johnny learned a lot from Cordero, saying, “He’s so sharp, he knows everything. I learned a lot from him – not just about riding, but the whole package you need to survive.” 

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher started training on his own in 1996 and was using a variety of riders at that time, including Velazquez. Velazquez rode Pletcher’s first New York winner on April 12, 1996, a first-time starter named Rare Rock that was owned by Todd’s father, Jake Pletcher. Cordero approached Todd Pletcher about the prospect of using Velazquez as his primary rider in 1998. 

Pletcher and Velazquez would go on to find great success regularly working together for over two decades before Velazquez moved to the West Coast in 2021. Pletcher often relied on Velazquez’s judgement, saying, “Any good rider is going to be able to give you some feedback, what he learned about the horse from riding him. Certainly, John is very good at assessing a horse’s ability after breezing him.” The two formed a partnership based on trust and mutual respect, and still work together whenever possible; most recently, Velazquez won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile race aboard Fierceness (trained by Pletcher) in November 2023. 

In 2020, Velazquez parted ways with Cordero as his agent on good terms. Johnny’s reasoning was that he just wanted to try something different after so many years with Cordero. He hired Ron Anderson to be his agent in February 2020.