Smart Move By Valdivia

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

How many guys riding at racino dumps with similar "ability" - if you can call it that - end up later regretting that they didn't try to make it at a major circuit like Valdivia did?

How many, at best, meat and potato jocks wish they could have ridden excellent horses like Big Jag, Val Royal, Aldebaran, Heat Haze, Singletary, Rail Trip to wins in major races?

He's 6th in the standings at Delaware where the meets leading rider is Anna Rosie Napravnick. I agree that it was without a doubt the right move to make and he's making more money now ... but he got over for a long, long time in So. Cal.

Think of a guy like Kerwin John ... he rode regularly at Mountaineer Park in 2003 and was a 3% jockey there. You could have taken a poll of trainers asking to rate the top 20 jockeys at MNR and no one would have named Kerwin. The very next year - he's 8th in the standings at Del Mar and has more wins and a higher win percentage than a very accomplished jockey like Mike Smith.

He goes from a 3% win percentage and having no luck finding a decent mount anywhere in West Virginia in 2003 - to having three mounts on the Breeders Cup card in 2004. One of them, Island Fashion, was like 5/1 or so in the $2 million BC Distaff off her win in the Lady's Secret last out.

Maybe you can be an agent for him.