Leading rider David Flores calls time on 33-year career to start training

Veteran rider David Flores is to retire this weekend after a career spanning 33 years and during which he collected multiple Group 1 and Grade 1 victories.

Mexican Flores, 49, is set have his final rides at Del Mar before hanging up his saddle to focus on pre-training and pinhooking from his base in Ocala, Florida.

The rider made his breakthrough at the top level in in 1991 when landing the Hollywood Gold Cup on Marquetry. He went on to capture top-level races on both sides of the Atlantic, including three Breeders’ Cup successes on Tempera (2001 BC Juvenile Fillies), Action This Day (2003 BC Juvenile) and Singletary (2004 BC Mile).

In the latter stages of his career he forged a successful relationship with trainer Wesley Ward, for whom he rode Bound For Nowhere to finish fourth in this year's Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.

Ward and Flores struck in the 2013 Prix Morny with No Nay Never, while Flores also partnered the magnificent Zenyatta in the early stages of her outstanding career for trainer John Shirreffs.

No Nay Never and David Flores winning the Prix MornyCredit: Patrick McCann

Flores, who is due to ride at Del Mar on Saturday and Sunday, told DRF.com: “For me, it’s a transition from being a jockey for 33 years to doing something that is new but a full-time job.

“I want to retire. I had a great career and I want to end it at Del Mar. I started here in 1989 when I moved from Tijuana. I got my licence here and I want to end it here, too.”

To date, Flores has ridden 3,608 winners in the USA. He has also landed victories in other countries, including two in Britain at the 2001 Shergar Cup.