Mena misses big win
 

Mena misses big win : Jockey Miguel Mena missed a flight to Mountaineer Race Track, which cost him the biggest win of his career when 23-1 shot Soul Warrior triumphed in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby on Saturday. Substitute rider Dale Beckner got the mount instead.

Steve Elzey, Mena’s agent, suggested Sunday that a drinking problem caused the jockey to miss the race. Elzey said Mena will attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and will pay his agent the amount of money – approximately $20,000 - the agent would have made had the rider fulfilled his commitments.

“I told every trainer here this week, he has a little issue. If he has one drink, he gets stupid,” Elzey said. “But ability-wise, there’s nobody better. And when he keeps his act together, all the trainers want to use him. If he quit doing what he does today, he could be leading rider at any of these top tracks in the next 12 months.’’

Mena, 22, is riding in his first Spa meet and won the Grade II Sanford with Backtalk on Thursday.

Elzey will continue to manage Mena’s book and the rider will remain at Saratoga, but the agent said his jockey is treading on thin ice in his first full summer at the Spa.

Mena also recently failed to fulfill his commitments on six mounts at Churchill Downs, when he missed his flight back to Kentucky on June 7, the day after the Belmont Stakes.

http://blog.timesunion.com/horseraci...notebook/2193/

This is ALMOST as bad as making Cowtown Cat your Derby horse. :tro: :tro:



oh ****.

Ha ha, I guess I'm never going to live that down. :p

I thought the story was interesting - I didn't write it.

Its very interesting. I wonder if Mena is giving his agent 20K because he feels bad or if the agent has a legal right to that money? It seems very hard to prove that had Mena ridden that horse the results would have been the same. What if Beckner riding, moved that horse up? Its not like this horse was Rachael Alexandra and she was supposed to win and anyone could have ridden her. I wonder if there is a clause in Mena's contract that says if he misses a mount because of drinking, he pays him the commission on how the horse finishes.

Flip side- what if Beckner gave the horse a horrible ride and finsihed 4th? Could the agent still go after the first place prize saying that if Mena ridden him, he would have won?

Mena ought to learn to drink immediately after the races and do the Happy Hour thing. Be home and passed out by 10pm instead of 4am.

Sounds like Mena's agent isn't doing him any favors.

Not doing him any favors?

He buried him.

Time for a new agent and a case of Bud.

Big win for Beckner, Mena's done at Toga

I think it's great to see a local jock like that pick up a winning mount in a Graded Stakes race.

Good for Beckner:tro:

Wow, Elzey is some good agent/guy. Takes 20k from Mena (no gaurentee that Mena would have gotten the horse home) and then tips the whole world off to Mena's issue. If Mena is so talented why isn't Elzey attached to Mena's hip 24 hours a day keeping him straight. You would think that he's eventually going to learn the hard way that this isn't Turfway and that the Jockey colony is pretty damn deep up there. I thought as an agent you were supposed to protect your clients, not embarrass them publically while potentially hurting his buisness.

I would find a new agent right after I found the nearest AA meeting room. Its one thing for the agent to get help for his client but for him to call him out publicly on a private matter is a bit much!

With agents like this you dont need enemies!

Mena deserves it. There is no excuse for not taking care of business.

The truth is that Elzey has done very well with Mena and Mena knows it. Elzey also was responsibile for Bejarano coming from nowhere to where he is today. There is also a story behind the story that wont be made public so keep that in mind.

All the papers called Beckner a local jock ... but he's actually not.

He rides at Presque Isle... not Mountaineer.

Jose Santos was in town for a couple days to visit Beckner a week or two ago.

Agreed Chuck but I just think there is a proper way to handle things like this and in the media is not it. I dont doubt there is a story behind the story but he is a 22 yr old kid that needs to grow up and looks as though he needs some guidance with his success, I just dont thin k airing dirty laundry like an addiction in the media is the proper angle here.

Chuck is spot on...
I would guess his career is in serious trouble unless he gets some help asap with the drinking.

You BUT do you KNOW the story behind the story behind the FIRST story? Its really inside dope.

:rolleyes: What does this mean?

I do know the story behind the story and told Steve about it after the WV Derby. I didn't make the story public in the paper and hopefully the original story won't be made public because what happened to Mena originally is embarassing enough. Mena has a long list of indiscretions but this one takes the cake. I had warned people prior to meet that Mena was the #1 choice as first jock to get in trouble at meet and was worried that he could bring down his party buddy Alan Garcia with him. But luckily Garcia has been behaving and has been seen in town with at least one responsible person and not with Mena. This was a very expensive lesson for Mena, now lets see if he finally learned it or not. BTW, his agent Steve Elzey takes no crap. He dumped Bejarano after CD banned him and other jocks during the Dr. G fiasco at CD with Shane Sellers and others a few years ago.

I would like to know the original story ?