Jockey Joe Steiner wins 1,000 at Emerald Downs

Jockey Joe Steiner rode his 1,000th career winner Sunday afternoon at Emerald Downs.

Jockey Joe Steiner rode his 1,000th career winner Sunday afternoon at Emerald Downs.

Steiner, 50, notched the milestone on his first mount of the season, riding long shot Gold Boom ($24.80) to a 2 ¾-length victory in the day’s second race for owner/trainer Arturo Arboleda.

“Honestly, I thought that my best chance was to get it on Boss Lori in the (third) race, but this horse pulled through for me,” said Steiner, a Renton native back home after several years in Southern California.

Coincidentally, Arboleda celebrated his 91st birthday Sunday. A former boxer, Arboleda and Don Munger are the track’s two nonagenarian trainers this season.

Steiner, who learned the ropes under the tutelage of legendary Hall of Fame jockey Johnny Longden, began his riding career in the 1980s. While most of Steiner’s wins have come in Southern California, he occasionally rides in his home state and was pleased his family could witness No. 1,000 Sunday.

“I’ve ridden at 52 tracks in my career,” Steiner said. “I didn’t think it was that many until I actually counted it. With family here, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to get this win.”

The Steiner family is a mainstay at Emerald Downs; Joe’s parents, Joe and Sally, operate the Quarter Chute Café in the stable area, and jockey Joe plans to ride the 70-day meet here.

Gold Boom, like Steiner, was returning to Emerald Downs after stints up and down the coast. An 8-year-old Virginia-bred mare, Gold Boom debuted at Emerald Downs with a second-place finish September 16, 2011, her 10 subsequent starts were at Golden Gate Fields, Pleasanton, Turf Paradise and Portland Meadows.