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A jockey's life.

Aug 13th, 08
At first glance, it looks like a mismatch.

An adult who weighs no more than your eighth-grader tries to control a 1,000-pound animal that zips from zero to 40 mph in less time than it takes to read a few paragraphs of this article.

Jockeys are short, stick-thin athletes on powerful thoroughbred horses -- from a distance, the equine equivalent of a hood ornament on a Ford Bronco.

But the compact, muscular jockeys are the drivers and tacticians who make split-second decisions in and around traffic while travelling at top speeds in a race to finish and glory.

"Nobody has a greater respect for riders than me. They're probably the most underrated athlete on the face of the earth," says David Frizzell, racing secretary at Presque Isle Downs & Casino.

A behind-the-scenes look at these athletes in Presque Isle Downs' first full racing season reveals some of the obstacles that these athletes face as they try to stay within weight limits, recover from career-threatening injuries and work split shifts of exercising horses in the morning and running them at night.

What drives them to this dangerous profession?

"I like the rush of being out there, and the money's great," said 5-foot-1-inch Rex Stokes III, a Louisiana native who on this day weighs 106 pounds -- after eating an Arby's Rueben sandwich and jalapeno peppers in the jockeys' room at the Downs.

Stokes, 25, whose 66 first-place finishes through Friday leads the jockeys this season

at Presque Isle Downs, says annual earnings have averaged $300,000 over the last couple of years. He and his wife are staying in a campground this summer.

But there's a great swing in what jockeys earn in the United States -- from $10,000 a year to $1 million and more, says Dale Beckner, 35, the third-leading jockey this season at Presque Isle Downs, who prefers to keep his earnings private.

"It depends on what level (of track) you're riding at, how many races you ride and how many you win," Beckner says.

Beckner sometimes rides in all eight evening races at Presque Isle Downs. More typically, trainers and owners hire him to ride on four to seven horses per evening.

Making weight

Stokes and Beckner count themselves among the lucky ones.

Unlike some other riders, they don't have to do anything to stay light enough to ride based on weight limits set by racing officials.

"I eat healthy. I'm very fortunate," says the 5-foot-3-inch, 105-pound Beckner, who's single. "I can eat whatever I want." Beckner's favorite food is steak.

Jockey Ryan Fogelsonger, 27, whose weight fluctuates between 108 and 112 pounds jokingly raises his middle finger to Beckner as he stands in front of his locker.

Fogelsonger, tied for the fifth-leading jockey at Presque Isle Downs, isn't like Stokes and Beckner.

Fogelsonger, who's also single, eats one meal a day and sweats off about 3 pounds by running two miles on the track on hot afternoons. And he loads up the clothing -- skintight Under Armour pants and long-sleeve shirt, long socks, a windbreaker sweatsuit, turtleneck, and hooded sweatshirt.

"I'd much rather run than sit in a box (sauna) for two hours. At least I'm getting some exercise and not twidling my thumbs," says Fogelsonger, who lives in Baltimore but is staying in Erie this summer. The 5-foot-3-inch "Fogie," as he's known in the jockeys' room, runs with iPod on random play, listening to everything from rockers Green Day and Fall Out Boy to rapper 50 cent.

Other jockeys prefer to sweat off the weight in the saunas. Rob Radak, Stokes' valet, said jockeys find another way to get rid of fluid while in the hot box -- the suck on Jolly Rancher hard candy and spit out the saliva.

"It speeds up the process," says Radak, whose duties for Stokes include saddling horses, cleaning his boots after a race and washing his riding clothes.

Caution from the Jockeys' Guild

Heriberto Rivera, Jr., a former jockey based in Tampa, Fla., who's now the regional representative for the Jockeys' Guild, says he thinks many jockeys across the nation regurgitate their food to shed pounds. "I tried. I wasn't very good at it," he says.

Jockeys and racing representatives interviewed by the Erie-Times-News say they don't know or don't think any jockeys at Presque Isle Downs induce vomiting, also known as "flipping" and "heaving."

Fogelsonger said he doens't see it at Presque Isle Downs. "I don't know how much it goes on anymore" in the business, he says.

Stokes, however, isn't as sure. "I don't really see it happening or anything. It's something you'd probably have to do if you had a problem with your weight," he says.

Rivera, 48, says he reduced weight by taking Lasix, a water pill that causes the kidneys to get rid of unneeded water and salt from the body into the urine. Then he would hit the sauna and hardly eat.

Rivera, who rode horses for 23 years before retiring in 1999, says he knows in retrospect that those practices weren't healthy.

The more extreme weight-reduction methods can lead to medical problems, including heart and dental issues and even death.

"When you're in your 40s you can pay for what you did in your 20s and 30s. That's the message we're trying to get across," said Rivera, whose region includes Presque Isle Downs.

Rivera suggests that jockeys go on a steady diet and use the saunas in moderation, along with keeping up their intake of fluid and potassium.

"They're hurting and literally killing themselves with the weight," he says. The practice is nothing new -- jockeys have pushed themselves for more than 100 years.

Tracks in California, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey and New York have raised minimum weights about 3 or 4 pounds to 115 or 116 pounds, the Associated Press reports. The official weight of a rider includes the jockey, boots, riding silks, saddle and other equipment, but not the whip, bridle and safety helmet.

Rivera says he's asked Presque Isle Downs to raise the minimum weights -- an issue the guild is pushing nationwide.

Frizzell, the racing secretary, says the weights are set for this year. "We're within a pound or two of what everybody else is doing (in the Northeast)," he says.

But Frizzell said he is 90 percent sure the track will raise weights 1 pound for all types of horses for 2009 racing season. Frizzell says there's a fine line between riders making weight and owners wanting their horses to carry lighter loads.

And raising the weight bar could lead heavier adults -- relatively speaking -- to think they could drop enough weight to compete as jockeys, says Jon Moss, associate executive director of the Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. "Who's going to stop striving to attain that?" he asks.

Another argument against raising jockey weight too much is that it puts more stress on the horse, increasing the chance of injury to both the animal and rider, he says.

Injury and recovery

Injuries are part of the game for jockeys -- though no jockeys have been injured this year at Presque Isle Downs and only one was hurt in the 25-day opening meet in September 2007.

The cushion of the artificial Tapeta track is a big reason, jockeys and racing officials say. Jockeys are often hurt when horses suffer catastrophic injuries while racing on harder dirt surfaces.

Through Thursday, only two horses had to be euthanized at the track since the season opened May 9. The two deaths at Presque Isle Downs -- out of 3,357 horses that ran-- represent a "breakdown rate" of 0.60 per 1,000 horses, well below the national average of 2 per 1,000 horses, Moss says.

"In this game, it's going to happen...Unfortunately, you're going to get hurt," says Beckner, outside Barn D after taking filly Run Judy Run on a morning maintenance workout.

Beckner's injuries include a broken back, broken collar bone, torn rotator cuffs and a broken ankle that sidelined him for 10 months.

Competition, communication

Despite the competition among jockeys for mounts and money, they look out for each other and communicate on the track in dangerous situation, Stokes says.

"We're the only athletes that get followed by an ambulance when we're competing," Fogelsonger says, referring to the track ambulance that trails the horses.

Adds Beckner: "It's a fine line between a competitive edge and hurting each other."

Jockeys, one of the few competitors who share a locker room, are also a close fraternity and socialize on days off. They visit Presque Ise State Park, water ski on Lake Erie and go out to dinner on Sunday nights.

More than 100 jockeys have raced this year at Presque Isle Downs. But the jockeys who work every day number about 20, Beckner says.

And they are, for the most part, a religious group that prays before races.

Beckner wears a cross necklace and necklace of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers.

In the jockeys' room, shortly before post time, Stokes takes off his shirt and reveals a tattooed back with images of Jesus Christ, Mary and the inscription: "Only God can judge me."

Stokes says he believes.

"You've got to believe in God, especially in this business. You need somebody to take care of you," he says. John Guerriero/The Erie Times-News

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