But if Joel Rosario continues to take his swings with his riding crops, Dominican sports fans are probably going to have to find a spot among the Caribbean country's sports heroes for the powerful little guy from Santo Domingo.
It could become "Move over Vladimir Guerrero; move over Sammy Sosa; move over Alou family; make room for Joel Rosario."
If that seems a stretch, just figure: He won four riding titles in his native land before coming to the United States and is fast becoming one of America’s top riders. As of August 8, he was sixth in purse earnings nationally with more than $7.5 million and fourth in victories with 177.
And this is only his third full year in the States.
So from a beginning in which he fell off the first horse he got on, he has become the go-to guy among many major trainers on the Southern California circuit, considered by many to be home to the most competitive colony in America.
The quiet, well-mannered 24-year-old with the sunny disposition is battling for his second straight riding title as he rides only his third summer at Del Mar. His first Southern California riding title came in the Hollywood Park spring-summer meet that just preceded the Del Mar season. He was second at Del Mar in 2008.
Growing up on his family's small farm in Santo Domingo, Rosario was always around horses, but he had never laid eyes on a racehorse until one of his older brothers, who owns a grocery store in Santo Domingo, suggested he attend the Dominican jockey school.
Asked if he ever entertained thoughts of joining the many Dominicans populating major league baseball rosters, the smiling Rosario laughingly said, "Oh, no, I play merely for fun." So it was off to the jockey school. When he fell off that horse, he recalled, "I thought maybe I can’t be a jockey, after all."
He got over that, though, and after spending nearly a year at the school, he went into riding. Following five months of galloping horses for trainers and riding races, he scored his first victory in 2000 and went on to win 67 races over the next six months at the country's only racetrack, located in Santo Domingo. In the Dominican, racing is year-round, but only 18 races are run each week.
His natural abilities took over at that point and he won riding titles in 2001, '02 and '03 before finishing second in '04. He came back in 2005 to win again, and then it was off to the United States in 2006, riding initially in Northern California. Of his choice to ride there, a realistic Rosario said, "I went to Northern California first because I didn't want to come to the big tracks [in Southern California] until I learned about riding in California. And I couldn’t speak English so good."
Well, both of those hurdles have been put behind him.
Rosario came south in mid-summer 2007 to contest the final two weeks of the Hollywood Park meeting and prepare for Del Mar, where the newcomer finished 12th in the standings.
Of his win at Hollywood Park, Rosario said, "It felt very good to win. It made me very happy. I was able to ride good horses for a lot of good people."
He believes his greatest assets are his patience with a horse, an ability to help them relax and his hand skills -- soft hands, as they say in the game. "I have very good hands," he said. "I can make the horse feel good. I sit very still and give them the feeling that I am not afraid. They can sense if you are afraid or uncomfortable with them, and then they want to do whatever they want to do."
His demeanor off the horses has drawn raves from trainers as well. Says Doug O'Neill, who rides him frequently and was leading trainer at the just completed Hollywood Park meet: "He’s one of the most upbeat, positive people on the backside. Horses really run for him. He’s certainly an asset to the jockey colony in Southern California."
Rosario believes a rider needs good communication with people as well as with horses. "You have to be able to tell the truth about a horse after a race," he said.
Larry Benavidez said the John Sadler barn, for which he is assistant trainer, has reaped many benefits from Rosario’s keen instincts and observations on a horse. "He’s good coming back after a race, giving us important constructive criticism," Benavidez said. "He's never mad about a race. He always gives us something we can work with to improve with the horse."
Of his riding skills, Benavidez was effusive in his praise. "He's young and strong. He has the whole package. He can get good position with a horse -- on the lead, mid-pack or from off the pace."
His agent, Vic Stauffer, has tried to emphasize the importance of the whole experience from the paddock to after the race and the need for honing personality skills. Of this, the agent said, "It’s all well and good to have all the natural skills, but if you’re going to be truly great, and I believe Joel can be an absolutely global superstar, you have to have that experience. Because he's likely to lose eight out of 10 races he rides, he needs to make it a good experience for himself and the people involved so they can feel good about it with Joel. That's one of his strengths -- everybody likes him.â€
And the young, easy-to-be-around rider hasn't forgotten from whence he came, either. While riding in Santo Domingo he helped his family with money earned. And now with much more money available, when the 15th of every month comes, he sends a stipend home to his mother.
He hasn't been home in two years, but he’s going to remedy that at the end of the Del Mar season. He's going to take off the Fairplex meet and spend two weeks in Santo Domingo with his family. But that's no reason for his compatriots in the jockeys' room to relax, because he’ll be back in plenty time for the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita.
Gene Williams/Del Mar Thoroughbred Club Communications Department
