It is easy to pick out Ramon Dominguez in a crowded field. To the untrained eye, most jockeys look the same in the saddle, but not Dominguez. Taller than your average rider, at 5 feet 6 inches, he sits high in the saddle, stretches his hands onto the reins in an unorthodox manner and flashes his whip in an almost exaggerated half-windmill arc. There is an easier way to spot him, too: look for who is in front at the finish.

Dominguez, who will turn 36 on Saturday, is the best rider in the United States, at least by the metric of money earned. Based in New York, he led the nation in earnings the previous two years and is about to do so again. He received the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey the past two years, with another in store. This year his mounts have earned $24.2 million and counting, already a record.

And Dominguez is self-taught. Of his riding style, he said: “I learned on my own in Venezuela. Sometimes it looks awkward, but it feels very comfortable for me. If I could change it, I might.” He smiled. “But it’s too late to be making changes now.”

Why would he? With purses in New York higher than ever, aided by the year-old slot machines at Aqueduct Racetrack, the riding colony around Dominguez is as strong as ever. And yet he has dominated since arriving permanently in late 2008. Facing the best at Saratoga last summer, Dominguez rolled to a record 68 wins. In recent years he has piloted the champions Gio Ponti, Havre de Grace and Hansen. At the Breeders’ Cup this month, he won the $3 million Turf aboard the long shot Little Mike.