Chow time! Paco the Taco Man takes Laurel co-feature
Paco makes first start back in Ness barn a winning one
Frank Vespe
April 26, 2026
Five-year-old Paco the Taco Man is in career-best form right now. And today, back in the barn of trainer Jamie Ness for the first time since early 2024, he delivered the biggest win of his career to date.
After five prior failures at the level, the Maryland-bred gelding zipped to a two-length score in a $48,000 Maryland-restricted allowance that served as a co-feature on Laurel Park’s Sunday card.
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“After the start, he kind of got confident, and he’s a game horse,” said winning rider Mychel Sanchez.
Paco the Taco Man broke perhaps a beat slowly, and Creed’s Vision, the 6-5 post time favorite, cruised up to take the lead in the first jumps out of the gate. But Sanchez encouraged his mount forward, and the son of Bandbox moved up inside to seize a half-length advantage after an opening quarter-mile in a modest 23.10 seconds.
Paco the Taco Man extended his lead to 1 ½ lengths after the first half-mile went by in 46.50 seconds and kept finding more in the lane to take the race in 1:11.63 for six furlongs on a fast main track. Creed’s Vision chased throughout but settled for second, two lengths behind the winner and two ahead of show horse Change My World.
“I was gonna go [to the front] no matter what,” Sanchez said. “If he wanted to go 21 [seconds], I was gonna go 21. So it was either him or me.”
Paco the Taco Man is a homebred for Ness’s own Jagger Inc. He broke his maiden at second asking for Ness and won his next start, as well. But two races later, trainer Horacio De Paz claimed him for $20,000 on behalf of DEA Thoroughbred Racing LLC.
That was in January 2024. Subsequently claimed by Annette Eubanks, Paco the Taco Man tried five times to knock this condition down, finishing second twice and third another time. Eubanks entered him for a $30,000 tag last time out, on April 11, and Ness reached in to take him back.
“I broke his maiden, and I rode him a few other times,” Sanchez said. “He’s been running great against tough company. He’s been knocking on the door, knocking on the door, and then Jamie got him back.”
The win was Paco the Taco Man’s seventh from 28 career starts and pushed his bankroll to $216,405. Paco the Taco Man paid $6.80 to win and topped an exacta that returned $9.90 for a buck.
The win was one of two on the day for both Ness and Sanchez.
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