Influx of top jockeys gives needed boost to Southern California tracks
It has been a busy week for jockey news, and all of it is good. Two of the nation’s best riders, Rafael Bejarano and Julien Leparoux, will be moving their business to Hollywood Park in late November. They plan to stay through the spring until Keeneland opens in April.
Amazingly enough, before Garrett Gomez returned from New York two weeks ago, none of the top 11 jockeys in national purse earnings was riding in Southern California. With the arrival of Gomez, Bejarano and Leparoux, three of the top 11 will be based at Hollywood Park.
Also, Pat Valenzuela is hoping to be licensed again by the California Horse Racing Board. If so, he could return within a week or two. He was licensed in New Mexico and is currently riding at Zia Park.
This influx of outstanding veteran riders is great for horseplayers. At any racetrack in America, the top 10 jockeys in the standings win 90 percent of the races at the meet. The competition for mounts, much less wins, will be ruthless in a deep and talented jock’s room.
Riders such as Michael Baze, Victor Espinoza, Corey Nakatani and Joe Talamo figure to hold their own with existing trainer clients. But others, such as Jon Court, Aaron Gryder, Clinton Potts and Mike Smith, will need things to go right to make the bottom half of the top 10.
This creates a positive scenario for horseplayers when live long shots will be ridden by good riders hungry to create more business. It’s a shot in the arm to have Bejarano and Leparoux here. This has the makings of the best Southern California jockey colony in the past decade.
• PINO — Mario Pino on Oct. 31 at Laurel Park became the 15th jockey in history to win 6,000 races. I had criticized Pino this year for a premature move on Hard Spun in the Preakness. Trainer Larry Jones apparently agreed when he replaced Pino with Garrett Gomez for the Belmont Stakes.
Some fans mistakenly thought I attacked Pino’s ability. Not so. He is an outstanding rider who I would never hesitate to bet on. I just happened to disagree with a riding decision he made.
• STEVENS — Gary Stevens will be leaving TVG to join HRTV on Jan. 1. This is akin to Alex Rodriguez leaving the Yankees to play for the crosstown rival Mets. Of all the on-air talent at the two horse racing networks, Stevens is by far the most recognizable name to newcomers and casual fans.
Ever since Churchill Downs Inc. moved its stable of racetracks exclusively from TVG to HRTV, the pendulum of power has swung to the formerly smaller channel. The racing industry needs to bring the two networks together to maximize their strengths, the way the NFL and NBA utilize multiple networks to showcase their products.
Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com.