Congrats to Bejarano

[ArlJim78]

does he read derbytrail?

[CSC]

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.

[ELA]

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

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

Just kiddding, LOL.

Eric

[SentToStud]

Originally Posted by ELA

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.

[LARHAGE]

Originally Posted by SentToStud

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

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.

[Scav]

Originally Posted by ELA

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 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.

[CSC]

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.

[ArlJim78]

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

[ELA]

Originally Posted by CSC

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.

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

[Rootdog1]

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.

[CSC]

Originally Posted by ELA

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

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.

[ELA]

Originally Posted by Scav

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.

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

[2Hot4TV]

Originally Posted by ELA

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

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

[ELA]

Originally Posted by 2Hot4TV

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