Lauren Vannozzi

[JimH]

Congratulations to Lauren on her first riding victory this afternoon at Philadelphia Park! Here's hoping it's the first of many!!

[smf]

What happened to the the tradition of stripping the jock naked and tossing eggs (and such) on the jock after their first win??

All I saw was water being tossed on her when she got to the top of the stairs. I feel cheated ;).

Congrats to Lauren.

[melman]

smf, they hold those things behind closed doors nowadays. LOL Congrats Lauren and many more.

[JimH]

From what I've been told, most jockeys look back very fondly on the events which follow their first victory. I'm sure Lauren will treasure this one as well. No matter how many races she wins in her life, there will never be another first one.

As an aside, Lauren is one of the genuinely good people in racing. So, rooting for her is very easy.

[melman]

Jim today at the PHA. Tara Hemmings (70.00) AND Mary Brock (10.00) had winners. Are they first timers also as I am not familiar with either.

[JimH]

Mary Brock isn't a bug rider, so she's obviously been SOMEWHERE. I have no idea where she's ridden or even if her prime was some years ago. She could be another Abigail Fuller (top rider in the 1980's who rides about 10 races a year now)--I just don't know.

Hemmings has been around since at least the early summer. The first time I ever saw her was at Monmouth on Memorial Day weekend, but she had ridden some races prior to that. She has at least three wins now. I think it's three on the dot, actually.

[smf]

about Mary Brock;

The winner's pp (Monday) shows she has 2 wins in 17 sts this year. Her ride was pretty good actually on Sumja's claim-winner today. Looked like the frontrunners caved but I didn't think she had a ghost's chance in the stretch, but she booted her filly home.

She looked >really pleased when she got off the winner in the WC.

I didn't bet her winner. She only had one mount at the PHA before today so I passed. I won't pass another good one she gets (off a claim).

[ranchwest]

I remember years ago a female jockey riding one night after having lost something like 671 consecutive races, never having won. None of my friends would bet her horse. The horse should have been 3/5 and was 5/1. I bet her because I figured it out -- she was on the outside and I figured they'd tell her to just stay clear in this one turn sprint at a bullring. She went around the turn in a five wide position without a horse inside of her. At the top of the lane, she tried three times to hit the horse and every time she simultaneously pulled the reins and got the horse going sideways. Finally, she just got on his neck and let him run. He cruised in to win by several lengths. The line at the window was short.

[JimH]

Yes, smf, 2 for 17 this year. But she's obviously not a first-year rider since if she only had two wins she'd be carrying a 10-pound allowance (Hemmings and Vannozzi both have the 10-pound weight allowance as they are in fact newcomers). I know quite a few female jockeys who at one time rode full-time, but are now part-time riders (for various reasons). A couple who come to mind are Abigail Fuller and Kendra Taylor. My guess is that Mary Brock falls under that category, although I honestly cannot tell you where her career started or any of her history.