From a family devoted to racing, Cory started out at an early age running his father’s (John (JJ) stable then moved on to Central Florida breaking yearlings; In early to mid 80’s took a job galloping horses for the Evergreen Stable with trainer Lucien Laurin at Arlington Park.
Moving on to another career as a horse seller and buyer in the mid-1980’s, Cory’s diverse clientele included a majority of New York trainers. In the early to mid-1990’s some of Cory’s sales were winners of graded stakes, including the Sanford stakes at Saratoga for trainer Patrick Byrne, and for trainer Steve Klesaris who won 7 races after the purchase of “Yourmissinthepoint” including a couple of graded stakes. Cory sold him to Klesaris’s owner Mark Parezo for a very modest price which made him over a half a million dollars.
Cory also sold a filly named “Ponche de Leona” who won her first start after purchase in the Anoakia stakes at Santa Anita for owner Charlie Cono. She later foaled Triple Crown hopeful “Mucho Macho Man” who was a multiple G1 stakes winner who won the (G1) Breeders Cup Classic and also ran third in the 2011 Kentucky Derby.
Among other top runners Cory has sold are:
- “Buzzards Bay”- winner of the (G1) Santa Anita Derby & Golden Gate Derby
- “Vineyard Haven”- became the top two year old in the US in 2008 with victories in the (G1) Hopeful at Saratoga and the (G1) Champagne at Belmont: Cory sold him to the former New York Yankee’s manager Joe Torre with restaurateur Louie Lazzinnaro soon after his Calder debut win for a modest price considering he was later sold to Godolphin for a reported 12 million dollars after his Champagne win. Vineyard Haven trainer was Bobby Frankel;
- “Brook’s Halo”-winner of the (G2) Hollywood Oaks(for owner Michael House)
- “Sweet Win”-winner of the (G2) San Clemente@Santa Anita in her first start after purchase.
The number of winning horses Cory has bought for his clients is endless and the prizes they’ve won amass to millions of dollars for their owners.
Besides his success to select horses and mediate between current and new owners, Cory is also very successful as a jockey agent, helping many young riders win prestige titles in the MidWest and on the East Coast. Currently, he is responsible for winning jockey titles with eight different jockeys. Cory has won over 20 leading riding titles with his jockeys between nine different tracks.
Here are some of his notable achievements as a jockey agent:
- Won Eclipse Award as Nation’s Best Apprentice Jockey (Shaun Bridgmohan)in 1998;
- Won Tropical @Calder meet (shattering the record in wins previously held by Cornelio
- Velasquez) in 2006 with apprentice jockey Jermaine Bridgmohan;
- Won Calder Race Course meet 2008 (Paco Lopez wins riding title)
- Won Eclipse Award as Nation’s Best Apprentice Jockey (Paco Lopez) in 2008;
- Won Meadowlands riding title with Paco Lopez (53 winners and 1.3 million – 2009)
- Won Gulfstream Park riding title 2010(Paco Lopez wins with 74 wins and over 1.8 million);
- Won Monmouth Park’s (Elite Summer) 2010 meet (Paco Lopez 69 winners and over 3.5 million);
- Won Monmouth Park’s (Fall Meet) 2010 meet (Paco Lopez wins with 44 winners);
- Won Gulfstream Park 2011 (Paco Lopez wins for the second consecutive year-despite absent a month due to injury-with 84 winners-18 more wins than Johnny Velazquez); Paco was the best percentage rider of the meet with earning of more than 2.1 million;
- Won Monmouth Park 2013 (Paco Lopez won the 61 day meet with 99 winners with including 14 stake winners)
- Won Meadowlands 2013 meet (Paco Lopez)
- Won Monmouth Park 2014 meet (Paco Lopez dominates the meet with 120 wins, more than double the 58 of runner-up Gabriel Saez;
- Paco Lopez wins a record 7 races on May 17 and came back to have another 7 win day on June 6th @Monmouth Park 2014;
- Paco Lopez wins four stakes @Saratoga; G1 Woodward (Itsmyluckyday), G2
- Prioress (Stonetastic), G2 Honorable Miss (R Free Roll), Taleofthecat (Bern Identity);
- Cory teams up with jockey Joe Bravo from 2015-2016: within the two years together won a total of 31 graded stake races (11 grade 1 stake winners, 10 grade 2 stake winners, 10 grade 3 stake winners) along with many other ungraded stake winners.
- Won Monmouth Park 2015 (Paco Lopez wins his fourth consecutive Monmouth Park title; leader in stake wins and earnings);
- Won Monmouth Park 2016 (Paco Lopez wins his fifth consecutive Monmouth Park riding title);
- Won Monmouth Park 2019 (Paco Lopez wins his sixth Monmouth Park riding title with 109 wins);
- Won Gulfstream Park West 2019 (Paco Lopez leading rider)
- Won (G1) 2 Million Breeders Cup Sprint (Paco Lopez)(Roy H.)-2018
- Paco Lopez wins 7 races for the third time in his career on March 21, 2020 during the Gulfstream Park Championship meet.
- Won Monmouth Park 2020 (Paco Lopez leading rider)
- Cory teams back up with jockey Joe Bravo in 2020 winning the (G1)United Nations and (G3) Molly Pitcher @Monmouth Park along with 11 other stakes during the short season.
- Paco Lopez won 7 races(on a card) for the fourth time on August 28,2021 @Monmouth Park
- Won Monmouth Park 2021 (Paco Lopez leading rider) (11 stakes)
- Won Monmouth Park 2022 (Paco Lopez)
- Won Monmouth Park 2023(Paco Lopez)
- Won Meadowland 2023 (Paco Lopez)
- Won Monmouth Park 2024 (Paco Lopez)
