Gary Stevens Wins 5,000th North American Race Aboard Catch A Flight

ARCADIA (CBSLA.com) — Hall of Famer Gary Stevens won his 5000th North American race Friday aboard Catch a Flight in Santa Anita's $58,000 allowance feature.

The Gary Mandella-trained horse won by a neck while covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.09.

"It's very special," said Stevens. "The owners, the trainers have been nice enough to put me on all these good horses
through the years. It's been a lot of hard work, a lot of fun, and obviously, I love it or I wouldn't be out there."

Stevens is winner of three Kentucky Derbies, nine Santa Anita Derbies and 10 Breeders' Cup races.

Stevens returned to racing in January 2013 after retiring from racing in 2005 after collecting 5,000 worldwide wins.

During his comeback year, Stevens won the second leg of the Triple Crown with Oxbow at the Preakness Stakes.

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