Five Days in July

And JFK thought 10-days in October were rough. It's been quite the year already but the last five days have been something else.

July 2

Horrible breakdown at Canterbury Park that resulted in the death of a racehorse and severe injuries to jockey Scott Stevens as well as major back injuries to Paul Nolan and Don Proctor. The single greatest factor in the severity of the accident was that the horse on the lead was the one that went down. I don't care what your reaction time is, at 40 mph on suddenly spooked and scared 1100 pound racehorses when the horse in front of you breaks down the result is in God's hands. It was a miracle that no jock was killed and that fourth jock in accident, Dean Butler, was able to walk away with minor injuries.

I'm not going to preach about the perils of race riding (I've done that already) but they are folks with families and livelihood and the Don McBeth Fund was set up years ago to help injured jockeys and their families. Rachel Blount in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune had a nice column on this accident and the work of the Fund. Try to ignore the many ignorant trolls that commented on her work. David Miller over at View From the Quarter Pole has a good take on this as well.

July 4

Tabby Lane gets railroaded in a $10,000 Starter Allowance. It was a race she should have been competitive in but she was not. I was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan visiting family for the 4th and was unable to watch the race live. One of our partners texted me the details of the race and it wasn't pretty. Bernell and I talked and have some ideas for changing things up for her, though she made need to get away for a few months and then we can start from scratch. While not heartbreaking, it certainly was disheartening. I still have been unable to bring myself to watch the replay.

July 6

I was meeting one of our partners at the track in the early morning hours to visit One for Zetta (as well as Tabby). It was his first time on the backside and it happens to be his first time owning a racehorse. We get there and Zetta seems relatively antsy in comparison to when I usually go by and see her. Turns out she's going to gallop in an hour so we stick around which is no real sacrifice for me. She heads over to the training track and Frankie warms her up and turns her to pick up her pace. No sooner does trainer Christine Riddle get the words "She's had some problems at this point over the track" out of her mouth than Zetta decides that she's all done, puts on the breaks, rears and goes, as my mom would say, ass over tea kettle. Thankfully horse and rider are fine but Zetta is free and she's going home and tears out for her barn. There are few things scarier than a horse loose on the backside and, to my horror, it's my horse!

Zetta gets back to the barn and Frankie and Chris settle her down, dust her off and up he goes to get her back on the track for the work. She needs to learn that her antics don't reward her with a bath, lunch and her stall and they handle it like champs. There is no retribution, just a patient return to the training track where she's taken around three times (looking like a horse that's never seen a racetrack rather than one that worked like a champ through the gates just days before!!) and then Frankie patiently takes her to her problem area and moves her around and makes her stand still from point to point, all the while talking in her ear. I can imagine him telling her, "See, it's OK. Nothing is going to hurt you here." She leaves the track much more settled (and having learned a little something) but her connections a bit shaken.

Will all this work out? Of course it will. I look forward to the day when I write about the best five days that I've ever had racing. This game can take you to great highs but it also makes sure that it keeps you humble.

Above and Beyond the Call

by Sandra Warren


In the 6th race on July 2 at the Pleasanton County Fair, Jose Contreras had the mount on the 2yo Warren's Truly Art (no relation to me). The chart says he was fractious in the post parade, but that does not begin to describe it. When they left the paddock and started the post parade, Warren's Truly Art shied away from the pony and bolted across the track, directly perpendicular to the safety rail. I feared a crashing accident, but Jose managed to turn the horse at the last second so that he only bumped hard against the rail, unseating Jose. The horse also tumbled over, then got up, ran off only a few yards and was caught, while Jose rolled under the safety rail to protect himself while he gathered his wits. He sat under the rail for several seconds, holding his head and in obvious discomfort. I expected a scratch of either jockey or horse.


After a while, Jose got up and immediately walked over to be remounted. This surprised me quite a bit. He got back on and a handler led the horse over to the outer rail, where Jose carried on a conversation with two EMTs. All he had to do was say, "I don't feel so good," and he would have been off of the troublemaker. Instead, he indicated that he would continue. He turned the horse around and started to head down the track, and once again, the horse bolted at the pony and headed for the same spot, once again turning at the last second and unseating Jose again. I thought for sure this time he'd beg off, but instead he remounted and tried again. This time the pony maintained his distance, and a handler walked the horse a few yards, then released him. Jose immediately put the horse into a canter and rode off toward the seven-eighths pole while the crowd cheered a bit too loudly. The horse tried to bolt again at the turn but was unsuccessful.


In the meantime, the horse's odds went from 11-1 to 31-1 very quickly, and of course he ran last as anyone could have expected him to. In my opinion, the racing officials should have scratched this horse to protect the bettors. At Pleasnton at fair time, there are a lot of amateurs playing $2, and I heard all around me people saying that the horse might run well since he was so spirited. I tried to set as many of these people straight as I could, but not one of them got up and cancelled their bet. I looked like a genius a minute later when he indeed ran last.


But what hardly any of these people realized was that under CA rules, Jose was paid his losing mount the moment he stepped onto the track with Warren's Truly Art, seconds before the first dust-up. If he had scratched himself (which he could have easily done when he talked to the EMTs), he would have made the same exact amount of money as he did for struggling with that lunatic for another 15 minutes. I'm sure he knew that the horse could not run well after those antics, but he persevered for the OWNER, who was the only person who stood to make more money if the horse came out of the starting gate. We get money for shipping and money for starting, but the horse must start. Any late scratches are unpaid. I can't remember the last time I saw a jock risk himself not once but three times for a losing mount fee, just to benefit the owner. Jose Contreras deserves some props for doing a journeyman's job.

Sandra is a lifelong horseman who won her first race with her first racehorse and has been hooked ever since. She currently has horses in training in CA and DE, and also works with several horse rescue and retirement groups.

Quick Jockey's Reminder

Sure you may be tired of hearing me preview it, but I never tire of plugging a show that spotlights our game. I'm not thrilled with all that Jockey's is, but I can live with it's flaws as it celebrates the game and especially the men and women that lay it out there every day.

Overall I've been pretty happy watching the series unfold. Some things that I would have liked to see more of are emerging as the series progresses. It was good to see some race strategy discussed between jockey and trainer in the last episode. It was also good to see how a jock explains a bad performance by a horse after the race. The elation of the winner's circle - no matter the purse - is always great to see (and feel by the way!).

This week we'll see more of Brandon Meier trying to follow up his first career victory with another win and prove that he can make it in the big time. Maybe we'll see a bit more of the interaction between the son and his jockey father whose approval Brandon so desperately seems to want (though don't we all seek that in some way?). We'll also get a glimpse at the jocks unwinding after race day going out to dinner together after a day at the races. It looks to be a cross between frat brothers in the house kitchen and a union hall assembly. No matter the differences, it's still a brotherhood - you'll notice no Chantal or Kayla at dinner...interesting.

Catch the next episodes of Jockeys airing on Animal Planet on Fridays at 9PM Eastern.

More Jockeys...

Just a reminder that parts 5 & 6 of "Jockeys" airs on Animal Planet this evening at 9 PM ET.

Now I received a clip of the new show, but I could swear it was the same stuff I saw in the last episode. I know we saw Kayla fall and Jon Court's wife talking about the shoes she'll buy if Jon's longshot mount wins it's Cal Cup Day (it doesn't and she doesn't).

In any event, we will doubtlessly learn more about whether or not Kayla can start building her book of business, whether the disconnected son of a jockey can win some races and his father's love and, of course, can Mike and Chantal's love survive.

Yeah, some of it is a little goofy, but it's an interesting look at the Santa Anita jockey colony and, for the uninitiated, a glimpse at what goes on "under the hood" in the Sport of Kings. One more thing for you folks that only are peripherally interested in racing: contrary to what the series shows you, there are not accidents and spills in nearly every race and Trevor Denman (track announcer) does not use the jockey's names every time he calls a race.

Those tidbits aside, it is fast paced and exciting hour of television. I hope you'll click it on and give our sport a shot.

Jockeys 3 & 4

In a few hours we'll be able to catch parts 3 & 4 of "Jockeys" on Animal Planet at 9PM Eastern. There has been quite a bit of feedback from folks across the TBA on whether the series is a hit or a miss. I kind of fall somewhere in between. Rumor has it that ratings-wise, the show has done pretty well for a cable show. In my opinion, tonight is the real key. Did the show hold that audience or was it a one and done? Were too many viewers (like my wife) turned off by the seemingly endless shots of horses going down on the track? Or, were viewers drawn in by the Mike/Chantal love story; by Joe Talamo's desire; by the athletic prowess displayed by 110 pound athletes piloting 1500 pound animals at 35 miles per hour? If they were, were they drawn in enough to tune in another week?

I know hard cores like me will still watch. I love the game, the animals and the human athletes. It's admittedly hard for me to be too critical of anything that gets more folks involved with racing on some level. I hope we see more strategy detailed going forward. I'd like to see a race dissected by owner, trainer and jockey after the fact so folks can see how split second decisions made on the racetrack affect the outcome of the race. As an example, last summer Fizzy Pop ran a game second in a race. He came from around the pack in the stretch at Canterbury and just had too much ground to make up to win. Between races one of our partners spoke to jock Dean Butler about the race and Dean was beating himself up for not staying on the rail because a hole opened up after he angled out. Had he stayed on the rail, Fiz could've won the race...according to Dean. In a way, I'm glad he felt badly because it shows his desire to win. On the other hand, if the hole did not open up we never would have made it up to second. I don't second guess those decisions and I trust Dean to make to the right ones. He may think he didn't in that instance, I will maintain that he did given the possible risks involved - I'll take a second over a fifth any day!

In any event, I don't know if we'll see some of this or not. I do know that tonight we'll get a glimpse at the hardest battle jocks have to fight: the battle with the scale. In our outmoded American model of weights (Europeans race slightly heavier - healthier for the riders, I am sure), jocks need to keep their weight at nearly absurd levels while trying to maintain strength and quickness of reflexes required to win a race and compete safely. In episode four the show will come back to the demands of having a relationship with a fellow rider (the Mike/Chantal story) as well as the burgeoning rivalry between Talamo and Gryder.

I'm looking forward to it. We'll see if the high number of viewers for episodes 1 & 2 are too...

Jockeys - The Series

Full disclosure out of the gate: I was asked if I would be interested in promoting "Jockeys" which is premiering on Animal Planet Friday, February 6 at 9 PM Eastern. I did so without compensation. I also didn't hesitate to say yes.

You may remember a while back I posted about our little corner of heaven (racing) having it's own reality show. Well, little did I know it was already in progress and the fruits of that labor start airing Friday night.

I think it's important for our game to have exposure. In my opinion it's also important that there is some story behind the scenes to help capture some public attention. I agree with the folks that argue that more has to be done on the wagering side in order to help grow handle as handle is what drives purses and keeps our engine running. But there ARE stories here. Interesting stories that can draw you in and hopefully engage you in our sport. Some of the biggest responses we get are the ones involving compelling stories of everyday heroes. Sure, the link highlighted in the previous sentence was aimed at horse people, but the response - for me - was fantastic. We need a well rounded approach to help resurrect racing and I think "Jockeys" is small step toward that end.

In summary, "Jockeys" will be covering seven jockeys in the Southern California riding colony: Mike Smith, Joe Talamo, Chantal Sutherland, Alex Solis, Aaron Gryder, Kayla Stra and Jon Court; during the 30-day 2008 Oak Tree at Santa Anita Meet.

From the Animal Planet press release:

"Cameras take viewers on and off the track – from their homes to the jock’s room where we see how these athletes physically and emotionally prepare for each race. At the starting gate, the anxious energy of the horse and jockey must be contained within their stall. With jockeys and horses fatally injured each year, the ambulance engines are on and ready for action at a moment’s notice. In the stands, revelers wait with baited breath to see which horse-and-rider team takes the lead…and if everyone finishes safely.

The drama for these jockeys doesn’t end when the race is finished. Off the track, gorgeous jockey Chantal Sutherland makes the emotional decision to leave her family in Canada for California to be closer to her boyfriend fellow jockey Mike Smith and ride at Santa Anita racetrack. Joe Talamo’s high school girlfriend ponders whether or not she can be in a relationship where each phone call could mean Joe has had a bone-breaking – or worse -- deadly fall. Family man Aaron Gryder worries that his children will grow up afraid that their daddy can be hurt at any given moment, but he’s driven by finding the next horse that will take him to “the big time.'"

The home site for the series is http://animal.discovery.com/tv/jockeys/. Click around for a bit. Check out the trailer - it will whet your appetite. If you're new to the game, my guess is that you are going to learn an awful lot and you'll gain a ton of respect for these folks and the dangers they face each and every day going to work (seriously, how many of us go to work with an ambulance following us around). If you're an industry vet, it will confirm all that you know already - these guys and gals may be, pound for pound, the best, strongest and gutsiest professional athletes on the planet. Friday night they'll be on Animal Planet. Be sure to check them out.