Home History About Us The Jockeys Articles News Newsletters Contact

Jockeys Guild News and Articles

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Garrett Gomez Named Jockey of the Week

The Smart Strike colt provided $180,000 of the $330,856 Gomez earned last week.

Lookin At Lucky, the top-ranked horse in the latest THOROUGHBRED TIMES Road to the Triple Crown poll, has won six of seven career starts, all with Gomez as his rider.

Through Monday, Gomez ranks fourth by purse earnings among all North Americanjockeys for the year with $1,975,574.

Gomez is a two-time winner of the Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey, capturing the award in 2007 and ’08. He also secured the earnings title in 2009 on his final ride of the year. Thoroughbred Times TODAY

Monday, March 15, 2010

CALVIN BOREL ACCEPTS 2010 SANTA ANITA GEORGE WOOLF TROPHY

Borel won the award via a vote of his peers, outpointing other finalists Garrett Gomez, Randy Meier, Gallyn Mitchell and DeShawn Parker. A 43-year-old native of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, Borel is one of the most beloved and highly respected jockeys in American racing history.

“Calvin’s probably the hardest-working jockey in the world,” said fellow Cajun and 2005 Woolf winner Ray Sibille…I had the bug with Calvin’s brother Cecil and he could have been the greatest rider to ever come out of Louisiana, he was that good…Cecil saw that Calvin had the ability to be a top rider and he saw to it that Calvin learned everything he could about the business. I’ll tell you one thing, when Jerry Hissam (Borel’s agent) gives you a call, you’re gonna get a really good, honest ride.

“There’s no doubt this means a lot to Calvin. When your peers vote on something like this, it means a lot. It’s a great honor and Calvin deserves it.”

Santa Anita Communications Department

Monday, March 15, 2010

A 'Timeless' Victory for Vitek Family

Timeless Fashion is the last horse ridden to victory by jockey Justin Vitek, who died Jan. 28 at age 36 after a two-year battle with cancer. Vitek was in remission long enough to return to riding for a short time, but last year went back to Texas for treatment.

Lopez and Vitek were friends. It all made for a very emotional winner’s circle ceremony on a day when Turfway hosted an after-the-races memorial service for Vitek, who for many years was based in Kentucky and worked horses for Tom Drury Jr., trainer of Timeless Fashion.

“It means the world to me,” Lopez said after the Tejano Run. “Me and Justin were close, and that was for him. I can’t explain it; it’s very emotional.”

Timeless Fashion broke his maiden in the winter of 2008 in his second career start with Vitek riding. It was Vitek’s last victory.

More than 20 members of Vitek’s family and friends traveled from Texas for the memorial service. Vitek’s mother, Kathy, presented the stakes trophy to Timeless Fashion’s owners, Bob Liedel of R-Cher Family Farms LLC and Judy Miller.

“Everybody’s fighting tears,” Drury said after the race. “This was a whole lot more than just a horse race.”

“It was amazing,” said Jo Lynn Johnston, a longtime friend of Vitek who helped arrange the memorial service. “Kathy Vitek presented the trophy, and then the owners told her to keep it. When James came back (after winning), he lost it, and so did everyone else.”

The owners, Drury, and Lopez had pledged 10% of their earnings from the Tejano Run to the Bree Vitek Education Fund. Bree Vitek is Justin Vitek’s 6-year-old daughter and only child.

Johnston said the memorial service, held in the Racing Club, was standing-room only.

“It was important that it was a celebration of Justin’s life, and that’s what it was,” she said. “(Turfway director of operations) Chip Bach and Turfway did a knockout job putting it together.”

Despite his health, Vitek remained in good spirits and was hoping to return to riding again.

Timeless Fashion, a 6-year-old gelding by Sly Classic out of the Formal Gold mare Added Ruffles, has won four stakes, three of them at Turfway. He has a become a popular horse in Kentucky, never having run a poor race with eight wins, two seconds, two thirds, and two fourths in 14 career starts.

Timeless Fashion was bred in Kentucky by David Hager II. The gelding has earned $271,056 for his connections. The Blood-Horse

Friday, March 12, 2010

Jockey James Lopez Gets Win No. 1,000

A native of San Antonio, Lopez, 32, grew up on the Louisiana and Kentucky racing circuits as his father, also a jockey, plied his trade. His grandfather was a jockey as well. Lopez began galloping horses at 12, and at 16, against his father’s wishes, quit school and took out his jockey’s license. He rode his first winner in 1996 at Retama Park.

In March 2005 at Turfway, Lopez shattered a collarbone when a horse fell on him leaving the gate. The injury not only forced Lopez out of the saddle but also forced him to acknowledge that he was unhappy, burned out on riding. He left racing, and after the collarbone healed, he worked building scaffolding for oil rigs and laying ceramic tile. He also used the time to study for the General Educational Development test and earned his high school equivalency diploma. He returned to riding in 2007 at Ellis Park and won with his first mount back.

Lopez has riding titles at Oaklawn Park, Louisiana Downs, and Turfway.

The Blood-Horse

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR JOCKEY JUSTIN VITEK

Justin's last win was aboard multiple stakes winner TIMELESS FASHION. The gelding will be running in the Tejano Run Stakes at Turfway Park on the 13th with jockey James Lopez aboard. If he succeeds, owners Judy Miller and Bob Liedel, trainer Tom Drury and Lopez will be donating 10% of their winnings to the Bree Vitek Education Trust Fund. Bree is Justin's six year old daughter and only child. "It's just our way of giving a little back to the guy who gave us everything he had, every time," says Miller, an owner and friend who Justin rode for regularly.

Florence mayor Diane Whalen and KY State Senator Damon Thayer have both made official proclamations that the 13th be dubbed, "Justin John Vitek Day" in the city of Florence and in the KY State Senate.

All friends and family of Justin are invited to attend the service. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to The Bree Vitek Education Trust 7601 Rialto Blvd. #1717 Austin, TX 78735 or The Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund P.O. Box 18470 Encino, CA 91416

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Javier Castellano Named Jockey of the Week

Bernie the Maestro won a $51,000 allowance race at five furlongs on the turf on Sunday, providing a $35,400 of Castellano’s $208,810 in earnings last week.

Through Tuesday, Castellano, 32, has won 39 races, including five stakes, from 185 mounts.

He thrust himself into the Triple Crown picture on February 20, riding Discreetly Mine to a front-running victory in the $300,000 Risen Star Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds. Also that day, Castellano won the Fair Grounds Handicap (G3) aboard Blues Street.

Since moving to the U.S. from his native Venezuela in 1997, Castellano has won the 2006 Preakness Stakes (G1) aboard Bernardini and the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (G1) on eventual Horse of the Year Ghostzapper.

Castellano has been based in New York since 2001 and concentrates his efforts on the New York Racing Association and Florida circuits. Thoroughbred Times TODAY

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Former banned jockey Houghton still battles image

Since December 2006, when Tampa Bay Downs excluded Houghton and six other riders from the track when their names came up in a race-fixing investigation, Houghton

essentially has had to prove his innocence to gain permission to ride at various tracks.

Each time he decides a new track might offer a career opportunity, he first faces extensive review from track officials and/or regulators, essentially forcing him to prove his innocence.

Tampa Bay’s decision followed an FBI investigation that would lead to three indictments. Information from the FBI and Thoroughbred Racing Protective

Bureau led Tampa Bay and other tracks to ban the riders. Tracks that have refused to let Houghton ride have not given a specific reason. Houghton never was charged with a crime or suspended by any racing regulator. His name does not appear a single time in the 34-page indictment filed on May 6, 2009, in a U.S. District Court in Michigan.

Still, Houghton faces scrutiny. The latest chapter occurred on February 25 as the License Review Committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission considered him. Noting Houghton was not planning to ride in Kentucky immediately, it left the case open.

Committee member Burr Travis noted the Michigan court cases of the three men charged have been continued to August 3 and could be settled that day. The committee preferred to wait for that possible settlement.

“I’m hoping to eventually put all of this behind me,” said Houghton, who plans to ride this year at Mountaineer Race Track in West Virginia. “It would be nice to have it over with.”

The investigation led to the indictments of Ghazi Manni, Mitchell Karam, and jockey Ricardo Valdes. They allegedly participated in a conspiracy from December 2005 through December ’06 to fix races at Tampa Bay Downs and Great Lakes Downs. Wagers were placed at Delaware Park. Allegedly, some jockeys received bribes.

Investigators have documented numerous phone calls between Manni, an alleged bookmaker, and Valdes. Manni and Karam were also indicted last year for bribing college athletes to fix basketball and football games.

The indictment did not do the other riders, like Houghton, any favors by noting that more riders could be named in the case. Tampa Bay also banned Derek Bell, Jorge Bracho, Luis Castillo, Jose Delgado, and Joe Judice.

Houghton’s representatives believe the schemers’ efforts to affect race odds caused investigators to look at Houghton. They said as part of the coup, bettors would place $500 win bets on a horse, giving unwitting bettors the impression potentially “smart” money backed that horse. Often top jockeys like Houghton or Bell would be riding horses who received the large early win bets.

Those large wagers would create a “false favorite,” as other bettors—believing they were following smart early money—would continue to wager on the horse in all pools. The schemers focused their attention on the superfecta pools, where they would not place wagers on the “false favorite” in first. Moments before post time, the schemers would cancel the large win bet. Houghton’s representatives believe these betting patterns led investigators to look at Houghton and other riders who were not involved in the conspiracy.

The Jockeys’ Guild helped Houghton present his case to the Kentucky committee. Since the investigation started, Houghton has competed at eight different tracks in seven different states. Houghton said Turfway Park officials told him he could ride at the Northern Kentucky track if the commission licensed him.

Houghton received a boost in July 2008 when the Michigan Office of Racing Commissioner licensed him, noting painstaking research found no wrongdoing on Houghton’s part. But as it turned out, that victory has not been definitive.

For now, he awaits the Kentucky committee’s August recommendation. Waiting has been a familiar feeling for Houghton over the past several years.—Frank Angst

www.thoroughbredtimes.com Thoroughbred Times TODAY March 3, 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Ramon Dominguez Jockey of the Week

Dominguez, 33, posted 11 wins and $289,820 in earnings during the period. His most lucrative ride came aboard dual champion Gio Ponti as he finished second in the Tampa Bay Stakes on February 20.

Dominguez started the period with victories in the first five races at Aqueduct on February 17. He was shut out of the winner’s circle for the remainder of the day, finishing one win shy of becoming the 12th jockey to capture a record six races on a single NYRA card. “It’s unbelievable,” Dominguez said of his day. “Riding good horses without question, but things have to go right.”

Dominguez currently ranks first among all North American based jockeys by wins for the year through Tuesday with 66, 13 more than his closest competitor. His $1,844,160 in purse earnings. Thoroughbred Times TODAY

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Meet Paul Atkinson


	Caracortado and Paul Atkinson upset the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita.

The first question may be answered by a review of the gelding's form for trainer Mike Machowsky, solid build-up to a shot at the Kentucky Derby trail. The second will be answered in this article — and, if Atkinson and Machowsky get their way, in victorious post-race interviews after this year's Run for the Roses.

Racing pundits recognize that Atkinson, a native of Idaho Falls, Idaho, has been riding horses since he was knee-high. His wife Ami is an assistant horsemen's liaison at Santa Anita Park, has been for about 10 years. They have two young daughters, Makenzie (12) and Sarah (5), and they're all a respected part of the Southern California racing community, where Atkinson has done extensive work with the Jockey's Guild in the pursuit of reliable insurance and safer equipment and conditions for riders.

But that's not the nicest thing about the Atkinson story. The nicest thing is that Atkinson's recent success is all about a veteran rider getting his due. It's little guy makes good, a Facing the Giants-type of theme. And it's a reminder that all you need in this racing game is the right horse to take you places. Who doesn't love a story like that?

Let's start with the lead character, a kid who grew up out West on the bush tracks of Idaho and South Jordan, Utah. Naturally small, he started galloping horses when he was 15. His first event, in 1984, was a Quarter Horse race on the fair circuit aboard a runner named Hannell's Express. Of course, he won.

"I didn't really think I was ready," Atkinson recalled. "They kept telling me, 'Don't worry about it, you're ready, you're ready.' So then I was entered and I had no jock clothes, no saddle, no nothing. I wore blue jeans and cowboy boots and used an exercise saddle with an exercise pad, and all the other guys were in black boots and white pants and racing saddles … it was quite the experience."

Atkinson rode at the bush tracks until he was old enough to obtain his jockey's license — and some jockey clothes. His first pari-mutual race was at the now-defunct Wyoming Downs, but it wasn't long before an agent from the big city got wind of the talented country boy. Recruited to New York, he spent part of the winter at Belmont Park, working horses for Richard DeStasio.

"I didn't ride any races when I was there; I'd only ridden on the bush tracks and a few races at a recognized meet," he said. "I didn't figure I was ready yet, but I got on horses for the old man and I learned a lot from those guys, they helped me a lot. I got a little homesick so I went back home and rode that summer again at Wyoming and then I went back to school to finish high school, because I'd promised my mother I would graduate."

After high school Atkinson skipped around a little, hanging his tack at tracks in El Paso, Phoenix, Des Moin. He rode a little on the fair circuit in Northern California, didn't have much business, went back to Pheonix for the winter. In 1990, however, his focus began to narrow. Riding — and winning — at Fairplex for trainer Brian Webb, he met a lot of trainers from South Cal. Before he knew it, they were asking if he planned to stay.

"I didn't ever think I would set up base here," he said. "Sure, I thought it would be nice, but I didn't think I'd stay."

That all changed in 1991, when Jerry Ingordo approached the jockey about taking his book on the big-time circuit.

"I moved everything I owned in November of '91, and it was pretty tough," Atkinson recalled. "I'd win a couple races — not many — and I was struggling along there and figured I'd just go back up to Northern California that summer, but before the fairs started up there my business started picking up pretty good, so I went ahead and decided to stay."

Before long, business was rolling right along. Atkinson picked up some nice mounts, including multiple graded stakes winner Memo. In 1995 he went to Hong Kong to earn a close second in the Hong Kong International Cup aboard Ventiquattrofogli. But as is the case with many talented riders, he never found his way to the top of the standings. Even as recently as July of 2009 he was on the sidelines, nearing the end of a 10-month recuperation period for wear-and-tear on his right knee.

Then along came the big horse, a speedy handful of a 2-year-old bred and trained by Mike Machowsky. The first time Atkinson rode Caracortado in a morning breeze, the grandson of Storm Cat turned loose from the pony and went to bucking down the stretch. It was like the Cat Dreams gelding's little routine, one Atkinson sat out with ease. When they entered a maiden claiming race at Fairplex at the end of last September, Machowsky knew who he wanted in the saddle.

"He was coming back from some injuries and hadn't ridden in a while, so I figured I'd put him on one that would win when we ran him," the trainer said. "He'd helped out a lot just breezing horses, and I figured that horse when I ran him would win."

Caracortado, Spanish for "Scarface," did just that. And he did it again in November in a starter allowance at Hollywood Park, and in December in another Hollywood allowance, and two days after Christmas when they ran him in a California-bred stakes race at Santa Anita. Atkinson was aboard for each victory, including the most recent, when the 5-for-5 runner overcame promising Derby contenders like Tiz Chrome and American Lion to upset the Robert B. Lewis Stakes. By that time, Machowsky figured his jockey/horse combination was a good thing.

"I've known Paul for a long time now and he knows the horse, he doesn't get rattled, he rides in the pressure races and it's like he's riding in those kind of races all the time," he said. "Even though he's ridden sparingly in the past couple years, he's ridden this horse so well." Add the fact that Machowsky has promised agent Tommy Ball that Atkinson will remain in the saddle should his runner reach Kentucky on the first Saturday in May, and you've got a nice little feel-good story on your hands.

"We've had people calling, trying to buy the whole horse," said the trainer, who owns Caracortado in partnership with Don Blahut. "The whole horse whole horse isn't for sale. We'd be interested in selling a part of the horse, sure, but one of the things we've stipulated is that he runs in Don's silks and Paul stays on him. We might not get an opportunity like this again, and Paul deserves the run."

"You know, Gary Stevens came up to me the other morning at Clocker's Corner," Machowsky added. "He said, 'Paul's got the ability above and beyond what it takes to get the job done if you're lucky enough to get there.' Years ago, no one could say who Stewart Elliott was, who Jeremy Rose was. That didn't keep those two from winning Classic races. Loyalty's gotta mean something in this game, I just believe that."

For now, the trio will focus on the March 13 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, a stepping stone to the April 3 Santa Anita Derby en route to the ultimate goal — the May 1 Kentucky Derby. In the San Felipe, Caracortado will face 2-year-old Eclipse Award winning champ Lookin' at Lucky, trained by three-time Derby winner and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and ridden by two-time Eclipse Award winner Garrett Gomez. It'll be a stiff test, but Machowsky and Atkinson believe in their horse — and in each other.

"I have all the confidence in the world that he'll run as far as we need him to run," the trainer said. "He's got great tactical speed and I don't think we've gotten to the bottom of him; he's got all these gears, and all I feel like we need to do is keep him healthy."

"I'm excited," said Atkinson. "He's a nice little horse and he's a lot of fun, and if it works out that he goes to the Derby, that would be great. But if not, I'm enjoying him now as it is."

Claire Novak is an award-winning journalist whose coverage of the thoroughbred industry appears in a variety of outlets, including The Blood-Horse Magazine, The Albany Times Union and NTRA.com. She lives in Lexington, Ky.

Garrett Gomez Named Jockey of the Week CALVIN BOREL ACCEPTS 2010 SANTA ANITA GEORGE WOOLF TROPHY A 'Timeless' Victory for Vitek Family Jockey James Lopez Gets Win No. 1,000 MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR JOCKEY JUSTIN VITEK Javier Castellano Named Jockey of the Week Former banned jockey Houghton still battles image Ramon Dominguez Jockey of the Week Meet Paul Atkinson