Golden girl Sutherland rides 1,000th winner

Chantal Sutherland, the golden girl of US racing, reached a notable career milestone on Saturday when she partnered her 1,000th winner in North America.

The popular 41-year-old Canadian achieved the feat aboard the Jeff Mullins-trained Giro Candito in the third race at Santa Anita, a $22,750 maiden claimer on the dirt.

According to Equibase statistics, Sutherland – who has twice announced her retirement before returning to the saddle - has ridden in nearly 8,000 races, her mounts earning a career prize-money total in excess of $50 million. She won her first race at Woodbine in Toronto in October 2000 before going on to win the Sovereign Award as Canada's champion apprentice the following year.

Aside from her work as a model and TV personality, Sutherland is best known for her association with the Bob Baffert-trained Game On Dude, with whom she became the only female rider in history to win the storied Santa Anita Handicap in 2011 before repeating the feat in the Hollywood Gold Cup in 2012. She has ridden seven winners from 57 mounts in 2017.