In 2004, Eurico Rosa da Silva grinned when he spoke of his desire to one day win the Woodbine riding title. Six years later, that grin has turned into a wide-eyed smile as he closes in on his coveted first championship.

It’s been quite the ride in 2010 for the jockey from Brazil. Aside from ruling the roost in the standings, the 35-year-old da Silva won his second consecutive Queen’s Plate, courtesy of Big Red Mike, while posting career-best numbers in almost every statistical category.

Even da Silva, who has become a bona fide fan favourite at Woodbine, can’t quite believe the year he has had.

“I’m holding the feeling back,” said da Silva, who has 187 local wins this year, including 10 stakes. “Right now, I just want to focus on riding. I don’t want to know how many wins I have. But it’s tough because I know when I have the chance to let it sink in, it will be amazing. When I leave the jockey’s room for the last time this year, it might hit me then.”

And he hasn’t forgotten the words he spoke six years ago, just days after he arrived on the backstretch at the Toronto oval. After contacting Irwin Driedger, current Director of Thoroughbred surfaces at Woodbine, former champion rider and former president of the Jockey’s Benefit Association of Canada, da Silva immersed himself in the Woodbine racing community, early in 2004.

“I don’t know how long it will take for me to be a top jockey here,” he said, then. “But that’s what I’d like to achieve. I want to win all the races I’m in. My heart is in my throat when I win.

It’s as though I am saying, ‘I can do it.’ It’s a great feeling.”

And while some might have figured it to be a longshot, da Silva remained steadfast in his belief that he’d sit atop the standings one day.

Reade Baker, one of Canada’s most successful conditioners, saw signs that da Silva could be a leading rider.

“He’s very determined,” said trainer Reade Baker, a man who da Silva rides for on a regular basis. “Early on in his career, he was riding the horses too hard early in the race. But when he learned to be more patient and not get his horses stuck along the inside, by taking them back and easing them to the outside, it was a turning point in his career.”  

The writing was certainly on the wall for da Silva to make an impact on the North American racing scene.

He won 500-plus races over a five-year span while competing in Brazil and close to 300 victories in four and a half years in Macau. He counts the Brazil Derby, a two-mile Grade 1 turf race, among his most memorable scores.

The native of Sao Paulo began his riding tenure in Canada three weeks after the 2004 Thoroughbred season started. Da Silva made his first year at Woodbine a memorable one, recording two added-money wins. He finished 13th in the standings with his first Toronto oval score coming aboard Point Hidden on May 20. 

After finishing 11th in the standings in 2005, da Silva upped his win total by 19 in 2006 and his purse earnings by nearly $400,000. 

It was a breakout campaign for da Silva in 2007, who won 83 races (22 more than in 2006), ranking sixth overall. He also netted six (more than his three previous seasons combined) Woodbine stakes wins. 

He didn’t miss a beat in 2008, including his win with Haveubeentoldtoday in the Woodbine opener on April 5.  He topped the 100-win mark at Woodbine for the first time (105), won 13 stakes races and partnered Canada’s Horse of the Year and champion sprinter in 2008, Fatal Bullet, to three stakes wins and a second-place finish to Midnight Lute in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita.  Da Silva was also a finalist for the first time for the top rider Sovereign Award.

Last year was highlighted by 16 stakes victories and a win in the Canadian classic, the Queen’s Plate, with Eye of the Leopard, as da Silva, who rode in Singapore during the winter months of 2007, 2008 and 2009, ranked third in the Woodbine title race. He was once again a Sovereign finalist.

This year, however, was even more spectacular.

With over $9-million in purse earnings (a career-best number), da Silva, who’ll compete in New York once the Woodbine meet ends on December 5, couldn’t have scripted a better year.

But it’s just what he hoped for even before he got his first leg up at Woodbine.

“If I didn’t think I could be leading rider here, I would leave,”

he admitted. “I really believed I could do it. I knew if I worked hard, it could happen. After last year, I thought we could have a big year in 2010. I was very positive.”

His exuberance for his job comes through every time he makes a trip to the winner’s circle, punctuated by a fist pump and a smile that brings a raucous reception from those in the grandstand.

It’s a scene he played out in his mind a thousand times just six years earlier, and one he knows he’ll never tire of.

“To say that I am rider at Woodbine, where everyone that works there treats you with respect, it means everything to me. And to know that the fans are behind me is very special. I love riding, but it is important to be a good human being and to be good to people, too. I feel very blessed.”

And happy, in knowing his dream is finally a reality.

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