Vancouver jockey Mario Gutierrez returned to Hastings Racecourse Monday for his first race at his home track since his valiant attempt to take the Triple Crown.

Despite winning both the 137th Preakness and the Kentucky Derby, Gutierrez’s horse I’ll Have Another retired from racing one day before the Belmont Stakes because of a tendon injury in June.

At a press conference Monday morning, the Mexican-Canadian jockey expressed his delight to be back at Hastings Racecourse.

“I couldn’t wait to be here, I feel so happy to be here and I can’t wait to go out there and just do what I used to do,” Gutierrez said. “Just here, being at Hastings is such an honour.”

But Gutierrez doesn’t need to race at the track that gave him his start six years ago. Since winning the first two jewels in the Triple Crown, he’s become a hot commodity.

He says he owes it all to Hastings Racecourse and his horse I’ll Have Another.

“I go see him very much, every day and he's great. A lot of people, a lot of fans go and pet him, take their picture with him,” Gutierrez said.

As I’ll Have Another is set to move to a stud farm in Japan for his retirement, Gutierrez says the race horse won’t be easy to replace.

“As a jockey we're always going be looking for the next one, right? But for me, what I’ll Have Another bring to me is special. It’s something that I will never forget,” he said.

But while riding a new horse called the Devil in Disguise on Monday, Gutierrez finished first in the Chris Loseth Handicap at Hastings Park.

Racecourse spokesperson Howard Blank told CTV News Gutierrez’s story has raised the horse racing industry to another level.

“Luck is where preparation meets opportunity. Certainly, he fits that bill and shows that anybody can make it with hard work and determination,” he said.

The jockey has also brought international attention to the Vancouver track.

“It’s a little track that could. We’ve produced outstanding jockeys here that have gone on and he’s just one of many, but such a forefront in the limelight because of his recent run,” Blank said.

With files from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson