ESPN.. hard-hitting investigative source that they are..
 

ESPN to Examine “Track Tragedies” Wednesday & Sunday This week

Outside the Lines (Wednesday, 3 p.m., ESPN; Sunday, 9 a.m., ESPN)

PRESS RELEASE: The Belmont Stakes could produce the first Triple Crown winner in 34 years. But the sport of horse racing has not had much to celebrate of late, particularly at a venerable New York race track just 10 miles from Belmont. A deadly season at Aqueduct Racetrack claimed the lives of more than 20 horses and prompted intense scrutiny of the dangers and the drugs involved in the sport of kings. Jeannine Edwards reports.

I guess this just proves that if you print it and say it often enough, people believe it regardless of the actual facts.

I suppose if you don't have coverage of the tc or bc events anymore, you don't have a vested interest in not bringing up the controversial tabloidish stuff anymore either. Sucks that Edwards is the one doing the reporting though. I've always liked her work

If they want to do an Outside the Lines on the drugs -- get private investigators to follow the true move-up artists and get them to connect with the important attachments of these trainers.

As far as the dangers of the sport -- jockeys are the humans who mostly have to face it.

Even with the danger they can face, they are still the most overpaid group of professional athletes known to man. The difference between the best jockey and the 75th best jockey isn't very much.

i dont know man, those jocks have huge huevos

You need to have great nerve, weigh 110lbs, and know how to ride a horse -- and if you're healthy and get a decent agent -- you'll make very good money as a jockey.

I've watched my youngest brother ride a motorcycle about 40 MPH where he is standing straight up on the seat. One slip, and he's dead. He also knows how to ride a horse ... he's just too heavy. Being small is the true payoff.

they say that bravery and stupidity are not that far apart. i had thought about being a jock when i was a kid...and i'm probably dumb enough, and have enough of the ten feet tall bulletproof mentality to have done it had i not gone the navy route instead. god knows i'm the right height. weight wouldn't have been a problem...
but hey, all my bones remain unbroken, so there's that!!

I don't think they're overpaid at all. The very best jockeys make about as much in purse money in a year as Zach Johnson did for winning the Colonial two weeks ago.

I hate golf as much as anyone -- but guys like Tiger Woods, Michelson, etc. are guys with exceptional skills.

Chantal Sutherland is a terrible judge of pace and tactics ... and she can pass as a top level rider.

I know you're a sharp guy, NTamm. If you tried to work with an avg mid-level circuit jockey -- you'd want to kill them in less than two weeks.

I remember the first time my rider was on a post-time favorite in a race. The horse was 8-to-5 on the morning line, went off at about 4-to-5, and was lone speed from an outside post in a paceless race at a time when a huge inside-speed bias was in play.

The trainer, Mike Rodgers, told the jockey he wanted to rate the horse -- because he thought the horse ran its best races from off the pace.

I told the jockey that the trainer has no idea what he's talking about. Just make the lead, get to the rail, and you'll crush them. The jockey agreed with the trainer and he told me not to 'worry about telling me how to ride' -- he got the horse off slowly, raced wide throughout from off the pace, and finished 4th by about 5 lengths.

A 15/1 shot who looked hopeless on paper and had no early speed wired them from post #2.

That night, when I met the jock upstairs, I asked him "how many lengths would we have won by if you rode a smart race?" -- he blew up on me and claimed that the horse wouldn't have won no matter what he did.

This was a guy who was a top 10 jock at Del Mar and Hollywood Park when he had his bug. He seriously didn't know anything about anything.

Oh you certainly don't have to sell me on some of them not being the brightest lights in the chandelier. What would David Cohen be doing if he wasn't riding? That's a frightening question.

I think they have incredible athletic ability, but as you initially said, it is a product of their size. The best riders combine balance, strength, and at least the wherewithal to understand what makes horses go, what doesn't, etc. I don't disagree that trainers and agents will have the greatest impact on a rider's success. However, I don't think relative to the money that is thrown around in the game that they are overpaid.

Yeah.

Kent Desormeaux and Calvin Borel both have 3 Kentucky Derby wins -- the former won 598 races in a year as a bug -- those two intellectuals would probably be jockeying a cash register at a gas station in Louisiana along with Robby Al if they weren't as small as they are.

I think if you look around at a lot of jockey colonies across the country -- the best jockey in the room and the 10th best guy in the room aren't separated by much...if anything at all.

But you do make a good point -- a whole lot of money gets tossed around in the game -- and they do actually take health risks.

Agree on both counts.

I took a photo of Jeannine at Derby...

:tro:

Calvin would probably be on Swamp People if he were a little taller. Kent would be Mayor of New Orleans during Katrina.

Calvin is so cute when his nostrils flare!!

Pat Day didn't become a great jockey until he embraced Jesus.

Now that is one incredible athlete who truly deserved his millions!

I wanted to shove an icepick through my eardrums everytime he'd get interviewed...but he was the kingpin.

Pat Day was the greatest assassin to any sensible gambler while he was on top of his game. There isn't a jockey present day who can get me half as angry as Pat Day did.

We could talk about cajun jockeys for weeks and probably come to the conclusion that the best ones didn't make it due to drugs, alcohol and women.

The number of jockeys that I've seen who were true difference makers in a positive way over the last 15 or 20 years could be counted on one hand.

When Ramon Dominguez rode delaware and maryland -- he dominated on ROI year in and year out.

When Jason Lumpkins rode Thistle, Mountainer, Turfway, Bay Meadows, and Golden Gate he dominated year in and year out at those circuits.

Kerwin Clark at Evangline Downs.

Calvin Borel had a run of eight years at Churchill Downs where he was profitable almost every meet.

That's about it.

i wanted to shove the icepick through his neck. if a racerider had his mounts, he would have won twice as often. Jesus obviously never had Pat cost him a score.

Frankie Dettori and his "flying dismount"......

Fixed.

Can you regale us with your Lumpkins story from when you represented him?

i made some good scores when "blumpkin" rode at bay meadows.

Do people really consider her a top level rider? Not saying she is bad or good, but I always thought she just got a lot of attention because she's attractive. Which really is true of a lot of athletes in all sorts of sports -- Anna Kournikova wasn't a great tennis player but she wasn't bad and she happened to look like a model, Danica Patrick is a solid racecar driver but obviously stands out among the other male drivers (and even the few fellow female drivers), and guys like Tom Brady and David Beckham are more marketable because of their appearance.

I feel like this unfairly takes a lot away from the jockeys. You could arguably say the same thing about a majority of "big men" in the NBA. They're there because they happen to be tall. Or left-handed pitchers in baseball -- they're left-handed and can throw 90 mph. Or offensive linemen in football -- where would they be if they weren't 6-3 and over and 300-plus pounds?

Every jockey gives a bad ride and every jockey gets lucky at some point in their career -- which could be the case for Gutierrez right now -- but there is a small group of elite jockeys (I won't even begin to get into exactly who belongs on the list). Whoever mentioned Ramon Dominguez at Delaware and Maryland parks offered a prime example of this. (edit: Oh, it was you that mentioned him. Note: I do agree that somewhere there just isn't that much of a difference but I do think there are at least a few who stand above the rest -- and even more who are clearly worse than most.)

I couldn't get him licensed here, so he never rode a race with me.

Just look at the ROI numbers he put up at Thistle, Mountaineer, Golden Gate, Bay Meadows, The No Cal fairs, and Turfway Park -- year in and year out for a run of several years. He won a few big races shipping into Saratoga and Southern Cal ... but he never made any attempt to establish himself on a big circuit.

He was a tremendous jockey and a big difference maker in route races. He dominated wherever he went. Baze did edge him out at meets, but he had a monster advantage on him and was getting the choice mounts.

Even though he was basically a crack-head and came off as very unprofessional in so many way to seemingly everyone else, I always liked him a lot. I was a huge fan of his before I met him. I was only around him for a week or so, but he was actually a listener and a fun guy to watch races with. The next jockey I dealt with, almost instantly made me want to slit my wrist. I only wish he couldn't get licensed.

I agree with your other points, but putting offensive linemen in that category is insane. There are plenty of unathletic big dudes working as bouncers, truck drivers, etc. The athleticism of successful OL in the NFL is off-the-charts. These are 315+ lb. guys running 40-yard dashes in the low 5s and benching 225 30+ times. How fast could you or I run the 40? Most big dudes would fall on their face even attempting it.

I thnk there are more big men that could be NFL linemen than NBA players or left handed pitchers that can throw 90.

Good jockeys are obviously talented athletes but mainly they are small