For Immediate Release – Oklahoma City, OK – September 03, 2024 – When Sofia Barandela is in the winner’s circle at Remington Park, she often thinks about when she was a little girl of 4 years old spending time with her grandpa in Mexico.
Tears well in her eyes as she recalls how he was such an inspiration in leading her to where she is in life as a Top 10 rider at Remington Park. She has ridden three winners here in 12 mounts this meet, two seconds and one third. Her 25 percent win rare is second only in the top 10 to leading rider Stewart Elliott’s 30 percent.
“My grandpa is the one who showed me everything about animals and horses,” Barandela, 38, said. “He wasn’t happy when I became a jockey. He grew up in a time when girls are not to be jockeys.”
Barandela grew up in Mexico, but when she would visit her grandpa, he would see the love in her eyes for horses and even as a young child, she was not afraid of these behemoth creatures.
“So they asked me if I wanted a pony,” she said. “I said, ‘No! I want a horse.’ My grandpa had a painting hanging on his wall of Hyperion (a Triple Crown winner in Great Britain in the 1930s) and he would tell me bedtime stories about him. But he would tell me I was not going to be a jockey; that I was going to grow tall and beautiful.”
Her grandpa was wrong, but not right away. She didn’t become an official jockey in North America until 2021 at the age of 35. For years, she went to school in Mexico and Germany to become a veterinarian and was happy helping animals of all sizes survive illnesses and injuries. Some of her favorite stories are saving horses, many street dogs and chickens. Yes, chickens.
“That’s your reward; not the pay,” she said.
No matter how fulfilling that life was for her, she still had an itch she couldn’t scratch in that profession. She said she asked God to give her a sign, be a vet or a jockey. She knew she couldn’t do both. That’s when she came back to North America and settled in Phoenix, Ariz. At first, she was reticent about whether her prayer had truly been answered.
“It’s just so different in Europe, so much more eco-conscious,” she said. “I arrived in Phoenix and the first thing they did when I went to Wal-Mart was give me about 45 plastic bags to carry things in and everything over here smelled like fried food.
“But I still had this dream of being a jockey. Yes, at that age, I would hear, ‘Here comes the old bug (apprentice rider, meaning someone just starting out that gets weight allowances for their horses),’” she said with an eye roll. “It wasn’t easy as a female rider at first. I was waiting for them to say, ‘when is she going to go back home and cook.’”
As it turns out, at Remington Park, as the meet opened this year, the only thing cooking was her talents as a rider, winning three right off the bat with few opportunities.
Barandela feels she has the talent to win for anyone, but understands that some owners and trainers may be frightened away because of her gender or a rough patch she went through at Canterbury Downs in Minnesota (1-for-33 there, riding alongside her fiancé Serafin Carmona).
“We are very competitive with each other; I want to beat him,” she said. “I just don’t get as good of horses up there as I do at Remington Park. I understand that you go through phases as a rider. The thing I like about coming back here is that people believe in me more and the other jockeys, like Stewart Elliott and Harry Hernandez, among others, are so supportive.”
Last year at Remington Park, she brought in winners that were 10-1, 14-1 and 38-1. Barandela is one of the best longshot jockeys in the room. This year, she has continued that trend. Her three winners (Arsonist, Empire’s Best and Fella’s Sister) have gone off at odds of 16-1, 15-1 and 5-1. She came within a nose of winning with 21-1 Flyin Withthe Boss on Aug. 24 at Remington Park. Barandela clenches her fist and speaks with disgust when talking about that one. She had the lead every step of the way in that race except the last jump.
Regardless of the times she has experienced the prejudices of being a female jockey, the tough losing streaks and the concussion she experienced at Sam Houston Race Park that kept her out of riding for a couple of months, Barandela thinks the sign God gave her was true.
“He knows what’s in my heart and what’s the best for me,” she said. “And every time I decide to make plans of my own for my life, God has better plans. So, for now, I ride like every day could be my last and am happy with every decision I’ve made.”
Barandela has three mounts on Thursday night with Captain Jack in the second race, Fella’s Sister in the third and Back in Charge in the fifth.
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Remington Park has provided more than $357 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District, Remington Park presents simulcast racing daily and non-stop casino gaming. The 2024 Thoroughbred Season continues through Dec. 13. The Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby takes place on Sunday, Sept. 29. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
