Local horse jockey receives prestigious award

Local horse jockey Luis Quinones has received the prestigious George Woolf Memoriall Award. The honor is given to a jockey whose career and personal character exemplify the sport.

The Poland resident received news of the award this morning and is voted on by his peers.

Quinones has been racing for 21 years, including at Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley, Mountaineer, and Thistledown.

He has 1,901 career wins, including 314 last year. That was a single-season record for him, and his mounts earned more than 3.6 million.

Seven jockeys were nominated for the honor, including Hall of Famer Javier Castellano.

Quinones will receive the award next month at Santa Anita.

A jockey can only win the award once, and it has been handed out every year since 1950.