Carlos Leon, who presses shirts for a North Miami dry cleaner, needed to get out of work, so he said he had a doctor’s appointment.
What he actually had was an appointment at a race track.
He went to Gulfstream Park on Monday, climbed on top of a 25-1 long shot named Stormy Lord and won the day’s third race-his first win as a jockey.
“I just started learning to ride last year,” said Leon, a 30-year-old Peruvian and a father of three. “It’s a nice feeling.”
Leon was not permitted to carry a whip, per regulations for a first-time rider, but managed to guide Stormy Lord to a 1 1/2-length victory.
“Fantastic,” said Leon’s boss, Forrest White, manager of A Cleaner World. “I’m not mad. I’m really happy for him.”
Leon has worked at the laundry for 14 years. His father, Francisco, is a former jockey whose last victory was at Gulfstream in 1984.
Stormy Lord lost his past two races by a combined margin of nearly 40 lengths. The horse paid $53.60 to win Monday.
