Generally I think Jockies are overrated in this sport, they can rarely win races on their own; however they sure can lose them. I guess the best jockies make the fewest noticable mistakes. That is all you can ask for when betting a race, a jockey that allows a horse a reasonable chance to win.

One thing I will note is alot of mediocre jockies take money due to their name. I will note one example Bejarano in So Cal, for the life of me I don't see how this guy is considered one of the best jockies in So Cal and furthemore in North America, he is average at most and if bettors keep betting him just because he is a so called good jockey then all the more power to the Jockey bettors. I just don't see it with him.

You may be right, alot of Trainer's do use him. Maybe it's just me then, still I think he is very average solely from my experiences betting horses he is on. I would say Gomez is one of only a handful of jockies that can make a difference on a horse. What sparked my thoughts today was Costume's win in the feature at SA. A debatable underachiever never thought she was anything special who Bejarano rode previously and under Gomez the 1st time she fulfills some of that potential. While I don't think Bejarano is a bad jockey I think his reputation is somewhat inflated just from this viewpoint.

Speaking of funny rides by Rudy, this is a doozy. Race 7 on Friday Feb 15. He was riding longshot Sneaky Deeds (#6) and got caught at the wire for third by Wildbutable (#2). When the race was first posted on Racereplays.com, they had the photo for Show posted on the site (as they do with all photos). Oddly enough it is not there anymore. The photo was of Rudy on the inside, standing up on his mount at the wire looking to his outside and watching Elliott catch him on the #2. If you watch the replay you can see Rudy standing up as they hit the wire and turned to his outside. He definitely cost the #6 show money and if I had an 8-7-6 triple I'd be bat $hit about it.