What a day!

It was an outstanding day yesterday for the young rider MC Baze. Mike was able to boot home four winners on the card at Hollywood Park. He is currently ranked 17th on the 2007 leader board for money earned. His four wins has him placed 3rd in the Hollywood Park standings just two behind Garrett Gomez and six behind leading rider and first cousin Tyler Baze. Mike has taken home two riding tittles this year. As the riding colony has strengthened through the year, he remains in the top of the standings on a consistent basis.

How many Times is To Many?

Through the years I have watched many jockeys make extraordinary comebacks. Just recently jockey Tyler Baze came back from dealing with some personal problems and has risen to the top of the racing scene once again. However, no one has made as many successful comebacks as jockey Patrick Valenzuela. Considered one of the most naturally talented jockeys to ever ride, he has had a career that has been plagued with personal problems that have caused him to miss a lot of time in the saddle. Despite these problems he has always been welcomed back by trainers and owners who have given him the opportunity for success which he has been able to capitalize on. Time after time Pat's natural ability on horses has led him back to the top of the standings. His numbers stack up well against any top rider who has been able to ride many more years than Pat. He has ridden some of the greatest horses and won some of the greatest races. Even that being said his problems have always led him away from the sport of kings. There are hundreds of jockeys who would love to have the chances that Pat has thrown away. Just one of his many horses could have changed the life of a struggling jockey who gets up every morning and works hard everyday just hoping for that one big opportunity. It makes for feelings of bitterness and jealousy to see someone given chance after chance just to throw it all away. Of course with each return there is the promise of change. Now Pat Valenzuela is back again only this time things have changed. Having trouble getting licensed in California, Pat began his return at Zia Park in New Mexico. With his first two rides ending up in the winners circle it looked as though he was ready to make another great return to racing. From there Pat went on to finish with two wins from 30 starts. Not the results you would expect from him. He was then able to secure a license in California which appeared ready to give Pat one more chance. He has since started riding at Hollywood Park. Surely being back in California where he has had so much success would lead him to another big comeback. It seems, however, that with only 2 wins from 29 starts things are not going as planned. That brings me to the question of how many times is to many? Pat is not as young as he used to be so is his age a factor in this. Could it be that the natural gift he had been given is gone. Maybe he has finally used up all his chances. It is still to early to tell, but it will be interesting to see how it unfolds. The shame of it all is that all those opportunities could have helped so many other small time riders make big time careers rather than be wasted away.

Turf Festival

It's been a long Thanksgiving weekend. Lots of Racing mixed in with football, family, Christmas decorations ect.. I am going to focus on Hollywood Park's Turf Festival Weekend and some of the stand out Jockey's there for this week. Topping my list is new comer Rafael Bejarano who capped off his first week at Hollywood Park with five victories including the Grade 1 Matriarch aboard Precious Kitten. Rafael is quickly staking a claim in the already tough Southern California riding colony. My next stand out performer has to be the young and talented leading Rider Tyler Baze. Coming off of a self imposed time out from racing, Tyler's time was well spent refreshing his body and mind leading him to an outstanding come back. Tyler won seven races this week including the Hollywood Turf Express aboard upset winner The Unusual Suspect. Riding against such greats as Garrett Gomez, Rafael Bejarano, Mike Smith, Patrick Valenzuela, Victor Espinoza, Aaron Gryder, Mark Guidry, and so on it is a great feat for such a young rider to be a top of the standings. Hall of fame rider Mike Smith took home a pair of stakes including the big one, the Hollywood Derby with Daytona. He also won the Milesque stakes with horse Sea Chanter. Other stakes winners included Garrett Gomez and Leopard in the Generous stakes, Jon Court and Lang Field in the Citation Handicap, and Kent Desormeaux won the Hollywood Prevue stakes on Massive Drama. It was an exciting weekend of racing at Hollywood Park.

Welcome Rafael Bejarano!

Today Rafael Bejarano made his presence known in the southern California riders colony. Adding to an already talented field of jockeys, such as Mike Smith, Garrett Gomez, Pat Valenzuela, Victor Espinoza, Richard Migliore, Tyler Baze, MC Baze, Joe Talamoe, Alex Solis, Cory Nakatani, ect...
Sorry if I've left anyone out as the list just goes on and on. Watching his first few rides I could see that he would face the same challenge that all east coast riders coming west find. Speed! The horses in California are primarily trained for speed. There is not a lot of time to sit back and wait. There were a few times Rafael ran into this problem. He had the horse to be more forwardly placed and took to much of a hold. I am confident that he will adapt to the change in riding styles. He picked up his first winner on a horse I loved trained by my good Friend Melody Conlon. He will be a welcome addition to an already tough line up of jockeys.

Up coming events!

This Thanksgiving weekend there will be plenty of racing action. Beginning Friday November 23 with first leg of the Hollywood Park Turf Festival. Hollywood Park will have a million dollar pick six guarantee Sunday. The six turf races will be held between November 23rd through November 25th. Hollywood Park will also be hosting the $5,000 Turkey Shoot Out handicapping contest Friday night November 23rd along with an umbrella giveaway Saturday November 24th. TVG will also be hosting the 2.5 million dollar Japan Cup Dirt on Friday night along with the 4.8 million Japan Cup on Saturday night. The 300,000 Hill and Dale Cigar Mile will run on Saturday November 24th at Aqueduct Race Course. The weekend line up is chalked full of great races to bet on. TVG hosts Todd Schrupp and Simon Bray will be on set live in Japan to bring you all the racing action.

Christmas

Yes it is true, Christmas is right around the corner. Are you looking for horse racing gifts for that special handicapper in your life. Well check out my store and browse through the wide variety of handicapping books and movies. There are many items for the horse player in your life.

Monday Racing

It's Monday and the racing doesn't stop. Most the tracks I look at are off on Monday and Tuesday, however, I was looking at Portland Meadows and leading rider Joe Crispin has won the first four out of six races. Pretty darn good no matter where your racing at. Sandi Gann wins the Knoll Lake stakes at Turf Paradise aboard Beacon Falls. Turf Paradise was one of my old stomping grounds. I loved it there but I don't miss the freezing bone chilling mornings and the blistering hot afternoons. My roommate and good buddy Kelly Bridges has hung it up and I miss that guy. He was like a brother to me and one of the nicest guys you'll meet. I've been wondering what the heck happened to Scott Stevens. Man I used to really look up to that guy as he dominated the standings during the years I was around there. He was on top for a long time and now he has just been knocked right off the mountain. I remember helping him move into his new house and going to watch his son wrestle. For all you Steven's fans don't you worry another will be on his way.

Weekend Round Up

A recap of the stakes action has Hunting with jockey Alan Garia winning the Stayvesant Handicap, Criminalogist with jockey Johnny Velasquez winning the Cardinal Handicap, Foxy Danseur with jockey Mike smith up winning the Sharp Cat stakes, True Metropolitan with jockey James McAleney winning the Autumn stakes, and McCann's Mojave with jockey Frankie Alvarado winning the All American stakes.

Jockey Raul Rojas went down in the sixth race at Aqueduct fracturing two vertebrae. MC Baze ended the weekend with three winners on Sunday giving him a total of five for the weekend. Patrick Valenzuela won his first race back at Hollywood Park on Sunday. The first one is always the hardest. Once you have that confidence back the wins seem to come with it.

Los Alamitos

Not having a real good day with my picks, so I am returning to my very own track to come up with a winner. Race 3 #8. Lets hope our luck changes before tomorrow as my Redskins are facing their rivals the Cowboys. I gotta have this game or I'll never hear the end of it from my brother. So I am starting fresh with tonight's pick and wiping the slate clean.

Hollywood Park Race 7

Ok sorry about that one we are 0 for 1 so lets make it up. Race #7 the 4 horse Caddymaster with jockey Pat Valenzuela up. It's important that Pat shows he still belongs here and plans on staying. Good luck with this one.

Hollywood Park pick 11/17/2007

I once did a Breeders Cup show with a trainer by the name of Sam Scolamieri. We had lots of fun doing it. After the taping we talked about horses of course and Sam told me I always save one for Christmas. Well Christmas is almost here and Toppers Moment in the 2nd race just might be that horse. Race 2 #5 is todays free selection. Good Luck to everyone today.

Tarra Hemings

I just wanted to give a shout out to Tara Hemmings who won the female jockey challenge at Hoosier Park. Congratulations. Looking over the field in the All American at Golden Gate I can't find anyone to beat Buzzards Bay. I know he will be a short price, but I'm not going to try and beat him. www.youbet.net is a fun site where you can play the races for fun. They start you out with 500.00 and you bet whatever you want all day. So on those days when the funds are low and you just want to test out your handicapping skills give it a try.

150,000 All American

Golden Gate Fields will be hosting the grade 3 All American stakes this Saturday. The 9/5 favorite Buzzards Bay will return to racing guided by the hands of Jose Valdivia. Bobby Frankel will send out Hello Sunday with red hot Smoking Joe Talamo. The 1 1/8 race for 3 year old and up goes off as the 8th race. Interestingly enough leading rider Russell Baze is without a mount. Golden Gate Fields will also be giving away a long sleeve t-shirt.

California Riding Colony

The California riding colony is looking to become a lot stronger with Garrett Gomez recently returning and Patrick Valenzuela also returning tomorrow. Now adding to the group will be Raphael Bejarano who is moving his tack west and will be riding at Hollywood Park starting November 21rst. Once again southern California is shaping up to be the place to be. With past greats such as Bill Shoemaker, Johnny Longden, Laffit Pincay, Chris Mccarron, Eddie Delahousay just to name a few have all made their names on the west coast. Up and coming talents Joe Talamoe and MC Baze are going to find it much more difficult to stay atop the standings.

Free Picks for November 15th

OK we started off with a winner yesterday with Masterpiece in a 3 1/2 length victory. Masterpiece payed 7.00 to win. Today's pick is in the 5th race #7 La Tormenta. Love it when I see Peter Miller horses running. With Tyler Baze up I feel really good about this one. He also has one in the 7th which looks good as well. I have to give the nod to La Tormenta though. Good luck today hopefully we can parlay the money we made yesterday into a little more.

Patrick Valenzuela

Patrick Valenzuela will return to ride at Hollywood Park on November the 17th. Pat returned to riding at Zia Park where he had 3 wins from 20 starts. Not exactly what I would call stunning for a jockey of his caliber. I assume he got tired of riding cheap claimers really quick. When you ride in California you get spoiled at the major tracks by riding good horses. It's sorta like cars. In California even the 20,000 claimers are like driving a Mercedes and else where is like driving Toyota's. It's a whole different class. Pat is not about to drive a Toyota. When it comes to Pat I have mixed feelings. Here is a guy who in my opinion is the most naturally talented rider there has ever been. The fact that he wasted all that talent doing drugs and what not is sad. I don't think Pat will ever really change or learn any different since the racing industry always makes it easy for him to go straight to the top. There are so many riders who get up and work hard everyday that would love to ride the kind of horses he gets to ride. Lets face it, he has a great personality that owners love and when they have an opportunity to ride Patrick Valenzuela they can't resist. For pats sake I hope he stays clean and does well.

Free Pick for November 14th

Hollywood Park Race 7

#1 Masterpiece Alonso Quinonez

I really found this to be an ugly race, but I have to give the edge to Masterpiece and I like the connections of Alonso and Peter Eurton. Good luck!

Warning Guild Members!

Jockey's guild members outside of California please be advised that the guild is asking all members to secure their own health insurance. Due to the chapter 7 filing and its continuing financial problems the guild may have to cut off medical insurance coverage as soon as December 31rst. I know how badly this will affect so many families who rely on this insurance and I am hoping that the racing industry will help us with this crisis. What people need to understand is that for the riders themselves it is impossible to get health insurance outside of the guild as most insurance companies will not insure them due to the high risk of the profession. In other news Santa Anita will be changing its racing schedule from its usual Wednesday - Sunday race week to a Thursday - Monday race week. The change is being done in an effort to raise on track attendance. I have a new link that I think you will find beneficial, especially if you play tracks back east. HorseRacingBlog.net is a new website I found that has racing information on it and gives free picks. Please stop by and take a look around. Good luck betting today and lets pray everyone ( jockeys and horses) has a fun and safe day of racing.

Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Veterans Day to all the veterans who have helped our country become the great country that it is. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to live in a country where we free to live as we chose and believe in what we want. Our freedoms are our most precious things and it is thanks to the great men and women who serve in our countries military. May God Bless the soldiers who are fighting right now to keep us safe. I thank you and your family for the sacrifice you are making. OK so now for some racing info. Congratulations to Garrett Gomez on becoming the new record holder for the most stakes wins in one season. With his 71rst stake win yesterday he passed up Jerry Bailey's record of 70. This is an amazing feet especially for a jockey with the troubled past of Garrett. Good for you brother. Zia Park had an awesome day of racing yesterday hosting a day of stake races. I don't know what the story is with Patrick Valenzuela, but when I find out I will certainly let you know. I hope you all are taking the time to click around on some of the links and of course visiting the store for books, videos, and music.

Hollywood Park opened its month fall meet yesterday. MC Baze and Garrett Gomez both won a pair of races. Mario Pino won his 6000th race yesterday at Laurel Park aboard Pass Play. He is the 15th jockey to acomplish this feet. Mark Guidry is set to retire. His last mount will be Saturday at Churchill Downs aboard Bel Air Beauty. Mark hopes to become a steward where he will still get to be close to the action and around all his peers. Florida Million Day is this Saturday. Calder will host a day of stake races equally a million dollars in purse money.

Thoughts

Today I have been thinking about my days at the track and how much I miss them. The freshness of the air in the cold dark mornings as you get ready to gallop under the lights on top of a magnificent athlete. Pausing at the entrance watching other horses train and saying hello to friends who are more like family members. I don't believe there is any more satisfying and peaceful feeling in the world than sitting on a horses back. I read an article on Tyler Baze about his time away from riding and how great it is to be back. It talked of his substance abuse problems and bolemia. It got me thinking about all my friends and the struggles they go through everyday just to have that feeling you get from riding. I was lucky that I never had to watch what I ate or spend hours in a hot box to make weight. I was a natural 110lbs always. Even as a bug when I had to make wieghts of 102, 103lbs I just needed to lay off the sweets. Most everyone else was not as fortunate. I would come to the jocks room and see guys sitting in the hot box after not eating all day or eating very little. Some were eating at the kitchen only to go and throw it up immediatly. Most jock rooms even have a special type of urenal for throwing up in. There were times when I would be using the restroom having to listen to someone gag themselves over and over. Those were the rookies. The veterans could do it on command. No need to gag yourself. Then there's the lasix that some would take. Lasix is a medication used in horses to stop them from bleedeing during a race. For humans it helps you to pee frequently so as not to retain any water. The same for laxatives ect. The extreme lengths these guys would go through for rush and excitement of the race is amazing but sad. The Jockeys Guild is always there fighting to raise the weight scale, but that won't solve this problem. If you raise the weights a couple of pounds, you will just have another group of guys who were just a little to heavy to ride before now come in and do the same things the others were doing. It's been five years since I have been to a race track and been around a horse. I miss it as if I were missing an arm or a leg. It is an empty hole inside of me that is hard to fill up.

Weekend Wrap Up

Oak Tree finishes its meet with Tyler Baze on top. Tyler won 29 races to beat out Victor Espinoza with 25 wins, and Joe Talamoe with 20 wins. A new meet begins Wednesday at Hollywood Park where everyone gets a fresh start. Kent Desormeaux is off to a good start at Churchill Downs winning Saturday's Ack Ack stakes aboard Istan. He won the race by 8 3/4 lengths and is currently the meets second leading rider. Robby Albarado also had a stakes victory with Rolling Sea who won the grade 2 Chilukki. It is good to see Kent doing so well. He is a very nice guy and extremely talented rider. I love his colorful commentaries after he's won a race, and yes he really does talk like that.

California Cup Day

California Cup Day proved to be an exciting day for California bred horses. Winning Jockey's on the day included MC Baze (2), Tyler Baze, Russell Baze (2), Joe Talamoe (2), Cory Nakatani, and Kyle Kaenel. The first leg of the million dollar garauntee pick-six started with Gentleman Charmer who payed 110.00 proving to be to much for handicappers to reign in on. Today there is a pick-six carryover of 590,499.00 with a mandatory payout on closing day of Oak Tree. The other big story was Patrick Valenzuela's return to riding. Yesterday was his first day back in a long absence from riding. Patrick has shown up at Zia Park in New Mexico where he had 4 mounts, winning 2 of them. Not sure why he chose to return at Zia Park, but if he stays he should be at the top of the standings in no time. Next weekend Zia Park will host an entire day of Stake Races. Well I have to get working on my ticket so good luck to you out there.

Garrett Gomez

As I said Garrett Gomez has shown up at Oak Tree Santa Anita and boy has he made a statement. Garrett won every single race he was in yesterday. Not bad after such a sucessful saturday. The guy is red hot these days. Still not sure if he's ready to make a stay in California, but I'm sure there's a few riders hoping he's not.