Tyler Gaffalione, a 21-year-old native of Davie, Florida is a third-generation jockey. In his short but electrifying career he has earned two riding titles capturing the spring and summer meetings here at Gulfstream Park as an apprentice and is a strong contender for the Eclipse Award as Leading Apprentice winning 208 races. Tyler has continued to expand on his success since losing his “bug” or apprenticeship in October, increasing that number to 245 (as of December 30, 2014) while basing most of his riding engagements at south Florida tracks.
It was a natural path for Tyler to pursue being the son of Steve Gaffalione who won more than 800 races in a 20-year span and grandson of Robert Gaffalione who rode over 3,000 races. Race riding was inevitable. Tyler grew up around the racetrack and attended school locally. He spent summer vacations galloping horses in Ocala while learning necessary skills and getting physically fit. After graduating high school, he rode his first race at the age of 19 on his third career mount on September 7, 2014.
Gaffalione has had four wins in one day on four occasions with the most recent on December 12. He bagged five wins with trainer Ralph Nicks in September. Tyler won his first stake on Celebrity Star in the Sunrise Stakes on May 3, 2015 then scored 5 more stakes including the Grade 3 Rampart Stakes on Cali Star for trainer Martin Wolfson.
Based in South Florida year-round, Gaffalione credits his talents and skills to the benefits of family influence and the opportunity to ride amongst some of the greatest riders of our era. Gaffalione plans to stay at Gulfstream long-term. A winning combination thus far, his agent, Walter Blum, Jr. is a longtime horseman, exercise rider and son of Hall of Fame jockey, Walter Blum.
