Nonsense. There's no way Smith, Prado or Bejarano rank higher than him. Gomez yeah, Desormeaux maybe, Leparoux maybe. It's not even an argument, Dominguez is a top five jock right now.

Does Russel Baze ride in the deepest jockey coloney in the country or does he ride on a circuit where he constantly has the best mount in 5 horse races?
What Dominguez has done in NY this year is pretty impressive.
Also, doesn't he have over 40 stakes wins this year? Didn't he win a few big races aboard Gio Ponti? He won a few with Fabulous Strike too, right?
I just don't know what point you are trying to make. Sure he's not Gomez, but then again who is. If Ramon went out there he is in the top 3 immediately. And all of a sudden Mike Smith is Eddie Arcaro? I remember a couple of years ago, Mike Smith off was a betting angle. But I guess Zenyatta has single handily brought him off that list.

Dominguez is on the top of that list because he wins a lot of races. That's because he's good. He also rides on the best circuit in America. Comparing him to Russell Baze is ludicrous.

He had a good Derby mount this year in Desert Party and hopefully his Derby mounts will get better going forward (although staying in NY is not gonna help).

He didn't have a great deal of good BC mounts because he doesn't have a big barn for which he's a 1st call rider. He had a chance with a horse like Dublin but he flopped in the Champagne. He's also in NY full-time for the first time.

He's absolutely a top tier rider. Without question.

NT

I will have to respectfully disagree with the dominguez bashers. I have been watching Ramon for years and if he isnt a top jockey at this point i dont know who is. He can ride any horse on any surface.

You would really take Mike Smith as an all around jockey at this point over Dominguez? Really?

Whats the difference of what Bejarano did in So Cal than what Dominguez did in NY?? Did they not both win all titles at thier respective circuits? Bejarano (2008) and Dominguez (2009). For some reason you think Dominguez ranks higher with regular jockeys like Prado, Velasquez, Garcia, Maragh, Desormaux moving in and out of the circuit to ride in FL and KY. You can say NY jockey colony is deeper but that can be argued.

Put Prado's resume and Dominguez resume in front of two people who know nothing about horse racing and they can tell you who has achieved more. Please! Even if Prado is in a slump right now, there is no way his entire career is tarnished because of it.

if smith rode gio ponti and ramon rode zenyatta you have a different winner last saturday at the bcc

on the pro surface track you need to be far outside and wide coming for home , ramon got trapped inside and never gave his horse a chance to see zenyatta coming

Please give up the rant on the Gio Ponti ride. The ride was completely flawless, and as a person who bet him, I couldn't have asked for a better trip for my money. Smith's ride was great as well and he had the best horse on the day that's why he won. Furthest Land and Vale of York both won their races with similar trips to Gio Ponti, so this argument that the inside wasn't the place to be is absurd.

again tell me where the best part of the track was that day and for the days leading up to the cup - if the inside was so good why did mike smith go from tracking RD to go way way wide on the far turn? why did ramon try to get outside but got blocked twice by the #3 horse - simpky inexcusible

smith knew where to go he swung way wide to the best part of the surface and jerry bailey made note of it - right after the race saying he earned every $ today for the connections with his flawless ride

Thats hard to say. I really thought Gomez should have ridden Gio Pionti but Zenyatta was all the best that day.

gio ponti never saw zenyatta , how do you know she gets bye him if ramon is right on the outside , right next to her

He went outside because there was nowhere to go after Gio Ponti went through the only open spot inside. Ramon was patient as he always is and the hole opened up and he hit it perfectly. I'm not sure where you can see him getting blocked at any point really. Do you really think that if Ramon opted to go outside, which means he would have had to go out 4 or 5 paths and was much closer to the leaders than Smith was at the time, that Gio Ponti would have warded off Zenyatta's stronger late kick? Watch his ride on Carribean Sunset this year in the Diana and let me know if that was a bad ride as well where he narrowly lost to Forever Together on an overmatched horse. That was a very similar ride in the stretch to the Gio Ponti ride.

What Prado accomplished in the past is irrelevant to who is the better rider today, and Dominguez is consistently the best rider on the NYRA circuit today. Just look at who's riding these guys. Name one outfit presently for whom Prado rides first call.

I am not going to criticize Dominguez's ride on Gio Pionti but a jockey ideally would like to take the shortest route to the finish line and for Domininguez he saw the inside to be wide wide open and he rightfully took it.

For Zenyatta, mike smith, in every race, swings her outside and stays in the outer path all the way. Zenyatta is such a big horse and its hard for anyone to split horses like smith attempted to do so instead he swings farther outside and then she was gone.

Maragh is going to be a top rider for a long time. I'd guess that his turf ROI is off the charts.

Angel is really doing wonders for JRV these days.

I was about to type pretty much the same thing, then saw your post. I couldn't agree more.

Please stop... Gio Ponti exploded through that opening and was easily gunned down by the GOAT.

I think the top 5 is clear cut right now... Ramon, Julian, Garcia, Kent and Gomez.... That's in order.

I dont know what and how you consider him better than anyone one of them. If you go by acomplischments thus far then Dominguez has to be dead last on that list. If you want to compare him in the last year or so then top 10 he is for sure. Top 5 maybe not

So because Dominguez has no Triple Crown or BC wins he's not a Top 5 rider?

Sure, I mean, why not base a jockey's standing on the results of 17 races when he rides 1700 races a year.

NT

He actually won the Turf on Better Talk Now in '04. Couldn't agree more with you though.