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[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

Can you regale us with your Lumpkins story from when you represented him?

I couldn't get him licensed here, so he never rode a race with me.

Just look at the ROI numbers he put up at Thistle, Mountaineer, Golden Gate, Bay Meadows, The No Cal fairs, and Turfway Park -- year in and year out for a run of several years. He won a few big races shipping into Saratoga and Southern Cal ... but he never made any attempt to establish himself on a big circuit.

He was a tremendous jockey and a big difference maker in route races. He dominated wherever he went. Baze did edge him out at meets, but he had a monster advantage on him and was getting the choice mounts.

Even though he was basically a crack-head and came off as very unprofessional in so many way to seemingly everyone else, I always liked him a lot. I was a huge fan of his before I met him. I was only around him for a week or so, but he was actually a listener and a fun guy to watch races with. The next jockey I dealt with, almost instantly made me want to slit my wrist. I only wish he couldn't get licensed.