Quote:
Originally Posted by Bogey
Except for the Ortiz brothers who have recently emerged as arguably top tier jocks, who else stays in NY for the winter. Cornelio and Rajiv could not compete in Gulfstream on a consistent basis, so they decided to take the easier route and deal with the harsh winter. Rosie is about the only exception. Paco (16 mounts at Saratoga this summer, hardly counts for often enough) riding full time at Gulfstream more than makes up for the average jock choosing an easier meet.
Having Desormeaux, Trujillo, Carmouche, JC Caraballo, Contreras, and G Saez more than makes up the difference. Although, Saratoga has the best meet throughout the year, Gulfstream winter meet has the BEST jock colony assembled.
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This has to be the first time in the history of the internet that anyone said having Jose Caraballo, Kendrick Carmouche and Luis Contreras in a riding colony made it the strongest in the country. Cornelio and Rajiv Maragh are Willie Shoemaker and Eddie Arcaro compared to those three titans of the turf. Rajiv has popped down for limited mounts at GP in the last two years and is 8-27 at the two championship meets. He did fine in the 2010 and 2011 meet, finishing in the top 10 both times.
Irad and Jose Ortiz would likely be top 10 riders for the "championship" portion of the meet and are not there. Neither is Rosie. Desormeaux? He was 6-63 at GP last year before picking up scraps in a depleted colony over a type of surface he rides exceptionally well in CA. Gabriel Saez has bounced around every winter spot possible (Aqueduct, Oaklawn and now GP) and simply followed Jamie Ness there for the winter. Saez is the 2nd leading rider at Monmouth with 4 more wins than Eddie Castro, who missed a month of the meet. His presence at Gulfstream is merely a blip on the radar.