Congrats to Bejarano
 

On winning the Santa Anita riding title.

does he read derbytrail?

I'm not as big a fan of his than most here, but he gave two of my bets yesterday spot on rides. He's riding well after his injury.

Just an add in comment, winning the So Cal riding title is not as prestigious as it used to be. Really he's competing against journeyman riders out there without any real up and comers.

What kind of meet did Joe Talamo have? Tyler Baze?

With missed time and all, Bejarano did an excellent job.

Just kiddding, LOL.

Eric

Talamo made the top ten. T. Baze was a close third. Anytime you beat Gomez over a meet, it's well earned.

Talamo made the crucial mistake of firing his agent, he needs to get out of California and maybe go back at a later date, think he pissed some people off with that move.

Tyler didn't have that bad of a meet, he rode his ass off as far as total mounts wise. It is good for him.

The up and comer of California is Joel Rosario, as Vic Stauffer said about a year ago, the kid can ride, and he finishes like the old Solis used to. Not to mention about 5-6 tickets recently that he knocked me out of.

Alex Solis is really a shadow of his former self, sorry to see that as I always thought he was one of the best riders in NA.

It's a long way down from the days of Mccarron, Eddie D, Antley, Stevens, Pincay, Kent D, Solis, Flores, Nakatani were all on the track at the same time.

the same can be said about the horses, its a long way down when you have Big Booster winning graded turf events

Yes. Again, I didn't want to open a Pandora's box or instigate anything, so like I said, I was just kidding. All I remember is the overwhelming great majority of people saying that EB was the one who made a mistake, Joe Talamo made an intelligent business decision, EB was wrong, Joe was right, how could EB not stick with Joe, Joe is a superstar, and so on. I certainly don't want to oversimplify it, however -- this was not reall a case of Joe pissing people off; as much as it was more people realizing (ex post facto) that Joe was getting himself into the spots he was, and it was EB who got him into those spots. There's an entirely different dynamic there.

Anyway, as I said, there is a lot more to that side of the game than meets the eye. There was a drastic shift in Joe's "spots" from before and after. Tyler was the beneficiary of that as well. EB got Tyler riding more than before, and while that was by design, Tyler ended up riding big price horses. You were dead spot on -- Tyler rode almost 20% more than any other top 10 jock. If you very closely followed CA racing, there was money to be made here.


From DRF --

Gomez G K 274 63 38 49 22.99 54.74
Bejarano R 292 61 59 38 20.89 54.11
Baze T 372 51 55 53 13.71 42.74
Rosario J 314 45 40 44 14.33 41.08
Flores D R 311 44 42 35 14.15 38.91
Solis A O 246 41 22 35 16.67 39.84
Baze M C 319 37 49 23 11.60 34.17
Espinoza V 255 34 24 33 13.33 35.69
Garcia M 308 34 33 33 11.04 32.47
Talamo J 316 33 26 37 10.44 30.38


Eric

I also always felt Alex was one of the best riders in the US. He was often overlooked when people would talk about "the best" and there doesn't seem to be too many people these days who like what he's doing on track. I don't direct my comments toward the poster who I quoted above of course, but I think there is a lot more to this discusssion.

So, you know what, I am going to be accused to defending Alex because he's my friend, I like him, think he's a nice guy, etc. So be it. The critics will say that Alex is older, getting older or what have you. Yes, so are we all, LOL. They will also say he's not the same rider he was after his horrific accident, which should have ended his career. So here's the deal that most people don't understand -- No, he's not the same rider. He's not supposed to be. Not for a period of time at least. Every jock for the most part comes back from a bad accident, one that could have killed you, a little bit gun-shy. It's human nature. It's all back out, around and go wide -- rather than shoot the rail, get in tight, etc. The exception of course was Cordero, LOL.

Anyway, I am not going to get into names, but look at every jock in this type of situation. There are plenty of others, who were in their 20's and 30's and came back very hesitant and were for quite some time. The older you are, the more cautious and longer the recovery time is.

To me, as an owner, I would have no problem putting Alex on a stakes horse, regardless of the surface, purse, stake, etc. When the money is down you are still talking about a strong, knowledgable, versatile jock -- who many qualified opinions thought was one of the best in the game -- who CAN and WILL shoot the rail and get in tight when neccessary. I also think he rode well this past meet, making the most of the opportunities he was dealt. Maybe he's entering the late "Jerry Bailey" stage of his career as some might see it. Richard Migliore talked about this a lot and riding 10 claimers.

Anyway, Alex will keep riding, I think you will see him get back a bit more to what people would call his old self.

Eric

Did Headly and Solis part ways....noticed he was not riding first call at the end of the Santa Anita meet.

I also respectfully disagree, Solis has changed for the worse. He will not go back to what he once was. That being said, he gets way to much crap as he is not as bad as what everyone says...he just isnt what he used to be. I would take him ont he turf but never on a speed horse.

Of course he's changed and as I said he's not the rider he once was. And he might not ever be -- not day in day out, race in, race out, 10 claimer, riding 6 or 8 horses a day.

I think his business is evolving. I think he's going to ride as much as he can to get his business activity rolling again, and then he'll ride a bit less. Perhaps more selectively, more strategically, etc. I don't think it will be far too long before we start to see glimpses of the Alex Solis of old. And if we don't and he doesn't want to be that kind of jock, he'll retire someday.

As jocks get older, come back from injuries, move their tack, etc., there business evolves. We're not talking about some no-name, never was, third-rate jockey here. I think as the colony in Southern CA settles a bit, Alex will have strong summer and fall meets, and come spring time . . . you just never know, LOL.

Thanks.

Eric

You make a great point Eric, it's easy to nitpick why a Jockey would go outside rather than save ground and go inside sitting from where we are sitting. The fact is these guys have very difficult jobs, one that I would be the 1st to admit one couldn't pay me enough to risk my life of being trampled by a 1000lb animal. I don't know if many ever make it all the way back. Nakatani prior to his horrific spill to a horse named Candice in Spring I think at Delmar I would have rated as one-two-three at the time as the best Jockey in NA. I don't think he is near the level as he once was also. To be honest I don't blame these guys one bit. Sometimes we take for granted these guys risk their lives out there on a daily basis.

It wasn't hard to beat Gomez when he was out of town so much, Bejarano had 45 more mounts and only beat him by 4 on the last day, with Gomez out of the picture who is there to challenge him? Solis better retire now if he wants to make the HOF, the ride on Brother Derek was awful and those kinds of rides are occuring with alarming frequency.

Her name was Candace in Paris, and she was a tremendously talented daughter of Theatrical that Simon Bray trained for Paulson.

I believe Nakatani had the mount on Generally Challenged in the Pacific Classic that same day - and lost it to Laffit Pincay Jr. because of the injury he suffered in the spill.

Jockeys are all just easy to hate.

The best field of horses, from top-to-bottom, I've ever seen assembled for a race was the '98 Breeders Cup Classic. The "all-star" collection of jockeys riding in that race turned it into an absurd spectacle where no one was riding their own horse... and everyone was trying to ride someone elses horse.

If you didn't know what exactly was going on - you'd think all the riders near the front of the pack in that race had all lost their collective minds.

You are right -- I forgot her name until you mentioned it, but I remember the race and the spill. I also think you are right about the Classic, but I'd have to do some google searching to check it out.

Eric

I'm 100% sure about it.

Pincay wasn't named to replace C-Nak on GC until about 25 minutes to post.

Yet another reason Awesome Again was one of the most underrated horses of this generation.

You are correct, I was there that day and Laffit got a nice ovation from the crowd when his name was announced as General Challenge's replacement rider, unfortunately it was won by Skimming the Del Mar track loving Frankel runner, his first of 2 Pacific Classic scores in a row.

Joe made the right choice when the opertunity come to sign with Scotty and if Joe sticks to his word and shows up to work in the morning he could move to the top.

The top 10 in So Cal could ride anywhere in the country and do well, with the right agent.

P.S. Solis needs to find another line of work. He ain't never coming back

I guess we'll soon see what "direction" Joe goes in and if there is a change in direction. Scotty is without question a good agent and he picked up a hot commodity. This is not a function of Scotty however and I am sure Joe's work habits are not behind the recent results. His work habits are his work habits, and he'll either work in the morning or he won't. I don't think EB was a better babysitter than Scotty could prove to be, not that a babysitter is needed here, but we are not talking about rookies here either.

Time will tell.

Eric

race 7 Santa Anita 12-30-07

Look at Solis on Yasinisi.If you're an owner,you really want this guy giving away 3rd at the end of a stakes race? Bejarano kept riding hard,and Solis didn't(and he cost an owner some money.)

and people pose the question of why allen jerkins rides up and coming jocks. they're hungry, they'll try harder, even for show or below money.

I wouldn't call the jocks Allen Jerkens sometimes rides "up and coming" - in most cases more like "down and going" or "professional excersize riders"

yeah, maybe i was being too generous.

blame it on me splitting my time between this and listening to the caps. four-two.

alex the great learns he can score in philly. life is good.

The Caps have been on the slide ever since they got rid of the great enformer Craig Berube...

Who also shares a nickname with Allen Jerkens by the way....and also coaches a Philly AHL team

i'm just sorry i was out of town this weekend, and missed ovies' hip check of a flyer--sent headfirst into his bench. i read it in the paper yesterday, and was much disgusted.
i should have gone to hooters saturday like i said i was....

I haven't been a big fan of Joe Talamo, but the kid is very likable ( please dont let him turn into a Cory Nakatani )and when givin a horse that is fit and ready to win he does a good job. The rider that I think has a big future is MC Baze, you dont see him fighting to get a horse to rate and they seem to run for him.

Thanks that's right, I was going off the top of my head.

I knew it was Candace in Spring, Aspen or Paris. Remember that race well.