Jockeys

[DerbyCat]

I went to Golden Gate Fields today to see some of the top jockeys in California compete in the California Derby. These were some of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet. Russell Baze, Michael Baze, Victor Espinoza, Martin Garcia and Joe Talamo were great to a huge horse racing fan like me. All of them were happy to sign autographs and have their pictures taken with me - they even seemed pleased that someone would ask for that from them! I found all of these guys to be awesome and today really increased my respect for each of them. So many professional athletes won't give their fans the time of day without getting paid for it - if I tried to ask this of Barry Bonds he probably wouldn't even acknowledge my presence, but these guys were great.

And once again I have to emphasize, Joe Talamo is absolutely one of the nicest and coolest guys you'll ever meet in racing, I became a fan of his after today - he's a real credit to the game!