When Daniel Centeno won three races on Colonial’s eight-race opening day card, some may have done a double-take. The veteran is no stranger to Mid-Atlantic tracks, but he hasn’t spent much time in New Kent.

Centeno is a veteran jockey from Venezuela who first rode in North America is 1996 and started riding permanently here in 2003. Through July 15 he had won 3,433 times from 18,766 rides in his career.

But of the more than 3,400 starts he’s made since 2019, the year Colonial Downs reopened, only 69 of those were in the Virginia venue, producing 24 wins. While he’s no stranger to Colonial Downs he may not be completely familiar with it either. Before his opening day riding triple, his last race at Colonial Downs was on August 31, 2021.

“It’s a blessing to start like that, because it’s getting more chances to get opportunities to get better mounts on more horses during the week,” acknowledged Centeno.

Centeno has won a half dozen riding titles at Tampa Bay Downs, a venue from which many horses ship to Colonial Downs after the Florida meet concludes. Centeno is an accomplished, steady, skilled professional with a long Midlantic history, yet somehow Colonial Downs largely eluded him.

“This year, because Laurel is closing, and the business that I have, the people that I am riding for want to ride more mounts here than Delaware,” explained Centeno on Off to the Races Radio. “So I spoke with my agent, and they say we got to make a choice between Delaware or Colonial. It’s going to be probably tough, but we’ve been there. I’ve been there. I like the grass there. I love it, both surfaces. We try to follow all the people that we’re riding for, so that’s why I made the decision to come here, and we started on the right foot.”

In Delaware Centeno has been represented by agent John Weilbacher. At Colonial, Tom Stift has his book.

One of those opening day wins of Centeno was aboard Swill in a turf sprint for trainer Richard Sillaman, who is also Centeno’s father-in-law. 

“It is great when I ride for my father-in-law, because it’s family,” the rider said. “Then when we win races, it’s a family picture and a family winner.”

His other two winners on the opening day card were for Arnaud Delacour, who won three of five on opening weekend to lead all Colonial trainers.

“I’ve been riding for him for many years now, between Laurel, Delaware over the winter time at Tampa Bay Downs,” noted Centeno of Delacour. “He’s been supporting me for many years too, so that’s what made my decision to come here, because you’re going to ride most of the horses here.”

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His four wins in twelve starts to start the season actually weighs down his overall winning percentage at Colonial Downs, which is 34.8% since the reopening of the track in 2019. 

With the respite of racing in Maryland and high purse money at Colonial Downs, the jockey colony is a competitive one, this year perhaps even more than previously. Alongside Centeno in the jocks’ room is Horacio Karamanos, Colonial’s all-time leading rider; Ben Curtis, last year’s leading rider by wins; Mychel Sanchez, last year’s leading rider by earnings; and Sheldon Russell, Antonio Gallardo and Jevian Toledo, all of whom have won riding titles in the past. Since his fast start, Curtis and Paco Lopez have matched him on the leader board with four wins.

“It’s a honor to ride with them,” Centeno replied when asked about the competition. “I had the opportunity to ride with most all of them. We’ve been around many times.”

For the 53-year-old Venezuelan, the bigger the challenge, the greater the reward. 

“Being with them is great but if you beat them, then it’s way better,” he admitted. “You feel great because you’re riding with the great riders in the country. It’s really exciting to be in the race with them, but it’s better when you win.”

Colonial Downs may not be as familiar to Centeno Tampa Bay, Delaware, or Laurel Park, but he’s picked up on a few nuances of the venue quickly. 

“The main track is probably way faster than the grass,” observed Centeno. “So sometimes, you don’t want to be too far back, because you’re not going to make all the ground. The speed at times holds a lot, and on the grass it’s more even. On both surfaces, it’s a really big track, so you got plenty of room. There’s a long stretch, so you can wait as long as you can and try to have the best trip for your horse and win the race.”

Even before Colonial Downs reopened, Centeno had a cup of coffee or two at Colonial Downs. In 2012, Centeno delivered Guam Typhoon to a still-standing track-record win in the Chesapeake Stakes, covering six furlongs on the dirt in 1:07.86. It was likely the best race of Guam Typhoon’s career, according to several speed ratings. 

Johnny Velazquez is one of the riders that Centeno admires, but there are two countrymen that he also emulated in developing his craft. 

“I rode in Venezuela for 13 years before coming here to United States. I got two guys that I was following at the beginning of my career, here in USA,” Centeno said. “One was Eibar Coa, my really good friend. He’s like my brother to me, and also Ramon Dominguez. So those two guys from Venezuela that I was watching, two very different styles riding, but they were really good riders on the grass and on the dirt.”

In 2019 Centeno won 13 races in 45 starts at Colonial but in seasons since has had less than a handful of mounts while still delivering winners. This year, newly focused on Colonial Downs, he won’t be a stranger.