Talented Longshot Jockey Joel Rosario Responds to Your Questions

[Turfday]

In recent weeks, there has been a lot of deserving talk on the board about young, talented jockey Joel Rosario. Not only have my Turfday.com stats shown that Joel is one of the three top "value" jockeys in the country currently, but he's also been the topic of discussion by others on the board.

Last week, I posted that I was going to have dinner with one of my dear friends of many years, Vince DeGregory, Jr. Vince is Joel's agent. Many of you oldtimers might recognize Vince's name from his previous associations with many of the top jockeys in the business such as Angel Cordero, Laffit Pincay, Jr., Chris McCarron, Darrell McHargue and, yes, even Bill Shoemaker for a short time.

I said that if any of you had some questions you would like to ask of Joel to please post them and I would give them to Vince and have him ask Joel for his responses.

Joel doesn't speak English very well, but he's learning. He's 23 years old, is married and has two young children.

Below are your questions and the responses I recieved back from Vince. I'm sorry if not everything is perfectly clear, but Vince did the best he could.

1) I hear they call him "The English Patient" as his English is spotty at best. Does he miss some mounts because of his language barrier?

Vince from Joel: the answer is yes.....

Also, how do you say longshot in Spanish?

Vince from Joel: Grande Bang Bang! Grande is large and he doesn`t know what longshot means in Spanish. So that's what he calls them. Vince even asked longtime agent Tony Matos (Victor Espinosa) that one. (I loved that. Maybe I'll start calling longshots Grande Bang Bangs !!!)

2) Please ask his agent who Joel looks up and admires in the racing, world.

Vince from Joel: Laffitt Pincay, Jr.

Who is his mentor at Santa Anita:

Vince from Joel: Garrett Gomez...

Which jockey does he admire and respect the most currently riding at Santa Anita:

Vince from Joel: Alex Solis

3) He seems to be better than most at booting home longshots. How does he get the horse to perform better than expected..

Vince from Joel: Confidence and to get the horse to relax early in the race and let the race shape up early.

4) What riding adjustments does he make for the track surface?

Vince from Joel: If speed wins early in the races, then he will try to get his horses to stay up close in the race so he can be in position to win. If speed is dying early in the races, then he will try to take his horses back so he can make one run and win.

5) What does riding of poly do to his game plan?

Vince from Joel: None

Does he change tactics?

Vince from Joel: No he said he does not.

6) What does he think about the synthetic surface itself and the blow back? Any real concerns? Fears?

Vince from Joel: There isn`t much back feed with this surface and he has no fears on riding on the surface.

7) When warming up do you think the horse will have a good chance of winning the race?

Vince from Joel: If the horse warms up good and isn`t sore, then he thinks he will have a good chance to win the race, but if the horse doesn`t warm up good, then he and other jockeys ride differently because of how the horse acts in the warm up period. Sometimes it is important to warm the horse up more than other horses, so to get the horse ready to perform freely and have a better chance of winning. If a horse doesn`t warm up good, the chances of winning many races is not too good because the horse is afraid to extend himself when running.

8) Now this was my question to Vince for Joel. "Vince, does Joel have any clue that horse racing message boards exist and that he has had some fans post on his message board about the longshot winners he has been riding"?

Vince said that Joel has no clue about it and doesn't have internet access (lol).


Thank you for the questions,

Vince DeGregory, Jr.
Agent for Joel Rosario

[Pace Cap'n]

Bob,

That was excellent. Thanks to you and Vince and Joel for sharing some great info.

[Kelso]

Such direct and informal access to connections is one of the really cool things about this board. Thanks very much, Bob.

[HUSKER55]

Thank you for that post. Do you get alot of interviews we could ask questions of?


Thanks again. :)

[Turfday]

When I plan that out, and I know when, I'll post it again so if anyone has any other questions, they can fire away.

Personally, what I always find most interesting is how a jockey can tell whether his horse is "feeling it" in the paddock and in the warmup, despite whether the horse is 2/1 or 20/1. Or should I say, "if a jockey can tell"?

[Murph]

When I plan that out, and I know when, I'll post it again so if anyone has any other questions, they can fire away.

Personally, what I always find most interesting is how a jockey can tell whether his horse is "feeling it" in the paddock and in the warmup, despite whether the horse is 2/1 or 20/1. Or should I say, "if a jockey can tell"?I like that too, Bob and I believe you've provided us with a very honest take on something happening right on the race track that can explain some actions of the riders in many situations.

Fantastic.

Can we get some bio information on Joel?

Exactly where is he from? I'd be interested in his parents and siblings status too, as in how many and how they are doing, where are they, etc. Just some general info.

How does Joel come to be associated with horseracing? When, where and why did he start riding?

What were the circumstances that helped him decide to come and ride in the USA?

What are the dates of his bug? (I have NO info on Joel, I need to go look at your report, Bob)

What makes him think he can be successful in a very talented jockey colony like So Cal? Aside from the respect I have for Mr. DeGregory's opinion and talents, I'm interested in Joel's confidence level when he races.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to "interview" Joel in this manner. This is a great idea for future threads as well. I may be able to return the favor with a Hoosier Park jockey this fall. I'll bet some folks around here could interview somone they know in racing with a list of questions from the posters here too. It might lead to some interesting material.

Sincerely, Murph

[mannyberrios]

:ThmbUp: Joel R. is from the Dominican Republic, Grew up in Puerto Rico,and went to jockey school in Puerto Rico,and went to the United States. I am very happy to see him doing so well in So. Cal. ! I hope he keeps on winning. Also watch out for Carol Cedeno, who is also from Puerto Rico! She will be a good jockey. Longshot in spanish is Taho (Ta-hoe)

[Turfday]

So what do you think of Joel's Rosario's translation for the word "longshots"? Grande Bang Bangs (LOL) !

[Murph]

:ThmbUp: Joel R. is from the Dominican Republic, Grew up in Puerto Rico,and went to jockey school in Puerto Rico,and went to the United States. I am very happy to see him doing so well in So. Cal. ! I hope he keeps on winning. Also watch out for Carol Cedeno, who is also from Puerto Rico! She will be a good jockey. Longshot in spanish is Taho (Ta-hoe)Thanks manny. I noticed he does not ride with a bug after checking your report today too, Bob.