Gutierrez Getting Reacquainted with Gulfstream

[Wandering Eyes]

Edited Press Release

Prior to riding his first race on the Thanksgiving Day opener of the 2025-2026 Championship Meet, Mario Gutierrez hadn't been part of the action at Gulfstream Park since he rode Nyquist to a popular victory in the $1-million GI Florida Derby April 2, 2016.

“I was going to stay in Kentucky, but I got a great opportunity from Mr. Brian Lynch to come here for the winter,” Gutierrez said. “I'm extremely happy with the support I'm getting from the local trainers. I'm very, very happy. I'm relatively new to the circuit in Miami, and I'm getting a lot of support from the trainers.”

Heading into Friday's program, Gutierrez had won seven races from 39 mounts for an 18% strike rate. The 39-year-old veteran guided Lynch-trained Sister Troienne (Munnings) to stakes victories in the Jan. 3 Ginger Brew and Nov. 27 Wait a While.

The son of a jockey, Gutierrez started riding quarter horses in his native Mexico at the age of 14 before emigrating to Canada in 2006 and venturing to Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver, where he won titles in 2007 and 2008.

After relocating to Santa Anita in 2011, he caught the attention of prominent owner J. Paul Reddam, a Canadian businessman who had become aware of his riding prowess at Hastings.

Gutierrez won the mount on Reddam's I'll Have Another, whom he guided to victories in the 2012 GII Robert Lewis Stakes, GI Santa Anita Derby, GI Kentucky Derby, and GI Preakness Stakes.

“That was one of the happiest times of my life. I was very new to the United States circuit and to be able to go to Kentucky and get my first Kentucky Derby win was very amazing for me,” Gutierrez said.

Four years later, Gutierrez, Reddam, and trainer Chief Stipe O'Neill would team for a second Kentucky Derby victory with an undefeated Nyquist, who prepped for the first jewel of the Triple Crown with a 3 1/4-length win in the Florida Derby with Gutierrez aboard.

Gutierrez readily recalls Nyquist's Florida Derby score that prepared the son of Uncle Mo for his 1 1/2-length victory in the Kentucky Derby.

“It was a very good course. He was undefeated at the time. We wanted to see how he stacked up against the best of the best at the time,” Gutierrez said. “We came for the victory and from there we went on to win the Kentucky Derby. Again, it was a part of my life I'll be forever grateful for.”

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