Riders based in California, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia are the five finalists for the 2023 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, which will be presented at Santa Anita early next year. The nominees are Javier Castellano, Daniel Centeno, Terry Houghton, Edwin Maldonado, and Willie Martinez. They have combined to win more than 19,990 races. The Woolf Award is determined by a nationwide vote of jockeys and is based on career achievement and personal character. :: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now! The winner will be announced in February. All appear on the ballot for the first time, except for the New York-based Castellano. Castellano, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017, won the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding rider four consecutive years, from 2013 to 2016. Through Tuesday, Castellano, 45, had 5,588 career wins, including the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Classic on Ghostzapper and 2017 Preakness Stakes on Cloud Computing. Centeno, 50, is a six-time leading rider at Tampa Bay Downs, where he is currently riding. Earlier this year, Centeno was among the top 10 in the rider standings at Delaware Park. A native of Venezuela, Centeno had 3,205 wins in North America through Tuesday. Houghton, 52, rode at both Mountaineer Park in West Virginia and Mahoning Valley in Ohio on Tuesday and was scheduled to ride at both tracks again on Wednesday. Houghton has won 6,137 races through Tuesday. Houghton, who has overcome several serious injuries in the last 20 years, won his 6,000th race in 2020. Maldonado, 40, is a fixture in Southern California, riding at Del Mar, Los Alamitos, and Santa Anita. He won his first Grade 1 race earlier this year on Defunded in the Awesome Again Stakes. Maldonado had 1,456 winners through Tuesday and has won riding titles at Fairplex Park and Hollywood Park. Martinez, 51, has been a leading rider at Turfway Park in Kentucky on nine occasions, and has also won titles at Ellis Park, Hialeah, Keeneland, and Tampa Bay Downs. Martinez, who has not ridden since late October, has won 3,606 races, including the 2012 BC Sprint on Trinniberg. The Woolf Award is named in honor of George Woolf, who rode Seabiscuit to win the 1938 match race against War Admiral. Woolf died as the result of injuries sustained in a spill at Santa Anita in 1946. The Woolf Award was first presented in 1950 and can be won only once. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.