Rain Rain go away!

As if we weren't spoiled enough here in California, now we can't even race when it rains. After several days of canceling its race card due to wet weather and track conditions, Santa Anita is back up and running. Today a full morning workout took place as the track is scheduled to undergo some surface changes which will hopefully help with tracks ability to absorb and drain water. If you have never had the opportunity to ride a horse around the Santa Anita oval in the morning, you are missing out. Watching the sun rise over the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains is like watching God hand paint a picture of what Heaven must be like. I've spent many mornings on top of race horses and pony horses and it is something I will never forget. The feel of the cool morning air blowing on your face as you make your way around there, gliding with every stride the horse takes. It is as though you are floating on air. To even stand at Clockers Corner and watch as many horses pass by you going to and from the track is amazing. I can still picture it and almost feel it in my mind. I was always mindful of the risks we take as jockeys and made sure to take in every morning as if it were my last. For that I am lucky as in my mind I can picture all the different scenes I have been blessed enough to see. In case any of you have been wondering, jockey Cory Nakatani is on the sidelines after breaking his collar bone in an accident during a morning workout. As you make your wagers please remember the risks that these men and women make to bring you the excitement you enjoy. It is easy to get mad at a jockey for a poor ride or losing on a favorite. I just ask you to remember that every jockey wants to win every race and when they don't they are just as disappointed as you.

Drinkers and Daughters of the wind

The Drinkers of the wind and the Daughters of the desert stakes races were run this past weekend at Los Alamitos Race Course. For those of you who are not familiar with these races, they are the two big races of the year for 3 year old Arabians. As a jockey who rode Arabians I did and do look forward to these races every year. This weekend the comeback kid Dihigi Gladney won one of the two races. Stars The Limit trained by Maureen Spellman took the Daughters of the desert stakes placing a stamp on Dihigi Gladneys return to riding. After several years recuperating from a broken back he has been actively riding and winning races at Los Alamitos. He is currently ranked fourth in the Arabian standings and third in the thoroughbreds. Gladney is an all around horseman who in his spare time takes care of horses down at the river bed while teaching young kids how to ride. He also runs a pony business which he inherited from his grandfather. Dihigi also like to team pen and can be found riding an occasional quarter horse at Los Alamitos. Dijigi is one of my good friends who at the moment I am a little ticked off at because he did an interview for Los Alamitos and mentioned our other friend Jorge Bordieux and not me. Of course I was the one who always had his back at the track. The Drinkers of the wind stakes was one by Walk the line by a whopping nine lengths and setting a new stakes record. Ridden by Otto Arriaga and trained by Chuck Treece Walk The Line took command of the race out of the gate and never looked back. The horse was a riders dream. No way you can mess up when you have a horse like that under you. Although the winner of the Daughters was qualified by leading rider Ramon Guce, he chose to ride his other qualifier Ange De Gargassan who finished a disappointing ninth beating only one horse. Ouch! that's gotta hurt. It is not always up to the jockey who he tides in a situation like this. There are a lot of reasons behind the decision where a jockey ends up. You have the agent, the trainers, the owners all to consider in these decisions. Sometimes riding the lesser horse keeps you in good standings with a trainer who will give you more rides and more winners in the long run. Congratulations to my brother from another mother Dihigi and to Otto on their big wins this weekend.

The Results

Yesterdays races turned out to be very chalky, but it is better than tearing those losing tickets up. Marks picks had 7 winners on the day and a couple of place horses. I'm telling you people you gotta read his book. Overall it was an exciting and fun day of racing between the two tracks. Winners for the day were:

Santa Anita

Filly and Mare Turf Sprint - Dearest Trickski, Mike Smith for trainer John Saddler

Filly and Mare Turf - Quite a Bride, Garrett Gomez for trainer Bill Mott

Dash - Bob Black Jack, David Flores for trainer James Kasparoff

Classic - Go Between, Garrett Gomez for trainer Bill Mott.



Gulf stream Park

Sprint - Benny the Bull, Edgar Prado for trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.

Oaks - American Country, Edgar Prado for trainer Dale Romans

Distaff - Ginger Punsch, Rafael Bejarano for trainer Bobby Frankel

Turf - War Monger, Kent Desormeaux for trainer Bill Mott



Congratulations to all the winning jockeys especially Garret Gomez and Edgar Prado who had an extra nice day of racing. Also trainer Bill Mott who enjoyed three winners on the day. Hope you had a good day cashing tickets and thanks to Mark Ripple and RE Sports for their winning selections. Mark's tips and picks can be found at
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=171147942 .
You can also find a link to RE Sports and his selections.

Sunshine Millions Day!

Today's Sunshine millions race card will be run at Santa Anita Race Course Today. Santa Anita has cancelled its last two days of racing due to rain and the tracks drainage problems, but with a big card planned for today they are going to go ahead with the racing. We are delighted to say that we have the race picks of the very talented Mark Ripple (author of the book Handicapping The Wall Street Way), and RE Sports. Together they have collaborated to give us their picks for Santa Anita and Gulf stream Park. Marks book is available for purchase through my site for those of you who are interested. Last time we posted Mark's picks he had 5 winners and three place horses on the day, so pay attention.
GPX # 7) 6 Furlongs 4YO/UP Nongraded $300,0006 Benny the Bull 4 Finallymadeit2 Mach Ride 3 Praying for Cash
SAX # 4) 6 Furlongs F/M 4YO/UP Nongraded $300,0008 Dearest Trickski4 Tiz Elemental1 More Angels6 Cher Ami
GPX # 8) 6 Furlongs Fillies 3YO Nongraded $250,0005 Blitzing4 Yogi'ssplashofgold1 American County11 Robbie's Gal
SAX # 5) 1 1/8 Miles Turf F/M 4YO/UP Nongraded $500,0006 Nashoba's Key7 Quite a Bride1 Somethinaboutlaura5 Gentle Charmer
GPX # 9) 1 1/8 Miles F/M 4YO/UP Nongraded $500,0002 Ginger Punch9 Prop Me Up8 Bayou's Lassie10 Memorette
SAX # 6) 6 Furlongs 3YO Nongraded $250,0007 Bob Black Jack2 Johns Grooms6 Georgie Boy3 Winsome Charm
GPX #10) 1 1/8 Miles Turf 4YO/UP Nongraded $500,00010 Epic Power7 Soldier's Dancer6 Icy Atlantic12 Presious Passion
SAX # 7) 1 1/8 Miles 4YO/UP Nongraded $1,000,00012 Gottcha Gold1 Diamond Stripes9 Go Between6 Now Victory
Good Luck.
Just a note: We have been discussing the issue of track surfaces and the role they play in handicapping races. So far we are not sure as to how running on a synthetic track affects horses who have never run on it and vice verse. Garrett Gomez recently stated that the kick back from the track was extremely hard where as horses were reluctant to want to run behind it. The jockeys themselves are wearing newly developed shields to protect their faces. I will blog more about this tomorrow.

Daily Racing Forms Mike Watchmaker Picks

The Daily Racing Form's Mike Watchmaker at drf.com gave out his video picks of the day. Starting with the Tulza Handicap at Santa Anita his pick was the 1 horse Good Mood at odds of 6-1. The American Beauty Stakes from Oak Lawn Park was next where he chose to go with the 2 horse Classify at odds of 9-2. Though I respect trainer Steve Asmussen exceptional winning record , I am taking the shorter priced horse # 3 Country Diva at 5-2. Moving on to Turfway Park and the Cincinnati Trophy Stakes Mike picks #8 Conjuress at 6-1. Conjuress broke her maiden in her last start at first asking. Her winning effort was impressive enough to make her a real contender in today's stake. You can visit the Daily Racing Form to see Mike's Weekend Warrior video and get the races of the week past performances for free at www.drf.com .

Patrick Valenzuela

It is no secret that I am not a big fan of all the chances that Pat Valenzuela has been given through the years. I always believed the many opportunities he has been given by trainers and owners could be given to a hard working jockey who keeps his nose clean and does his best everyday. That being said I am amazed at what I've heard about his latest incident. When the CHRB issued Pat his conditional License apparently there was to be no consumption of alcohol. Now the last time I checked alcohol was still legal. I have never heard of an instance where an employer has told its employee they cannot consume alcohol on their own time. OK, yes when you are on the job there should be no alcohol in your system and you cannot have any alcohol on the work premises, so for that you have random testing to make sure he is clean while at work. Telling him he cannot consume alcohol at anytime I think is over stepping your boundaries. Pat is a grown man well over the legal age to drink. If the guy wants to get tanked on his off time and it doesn't affect his ability to do his job during working hours I don't think you can put this restriction on him. I mean who does the CHRB think they are in this. They are not the mans parents, and even if they were, at his age they couldn't stop him. I guarantee you that 90 % of the jockeys have a few drinks after a day of riding. Should they all be suspended. I think Pat has a good case to fight and I hope he gets help, but this ruling takes the cake.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone. I'm back after sometime away for the family and holidays. I got a call from The Jockeys Guild a few days before Christmas to let me know that my families health insurance was going to be canceled as of December 31rst, 2007. The Guild receives 1,000,000.oo annually from uncashed tickets to be used to insure California riders and their families. past years that included retired and disabled jockeys. This coming year the board members felt it necessary to cut some of those riders out. Darryl Haire was given a stack of files to review and cut out those who didn't meet certain requirements. The requirements they came up with were that you had to have ridden at least ten years with the last five of them being in California. Forced retirement due to injury was not considered. So of the six permanently disabled jockey's in California only one qualified. Laffit Pincay. So much for the little guy. I find it very sad that the organization would do this to those who gave up so much for this sport. I can only hope they realize their mistake and search their conscious.