Who was your favorite jockey when you started playing?

[spang99]

Billy Wilson at Mountaineer. He was so freaking bad that you could just write him off with no regard for the talent of the horse under him. Made capping a bit easier and I need any kind of help I can get.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by Inner Dirt

He was a .13% that is more than two beers even for a little guy like Shoemaker also I think the body dissipates a drink an hour and he wasn't tested immediately after taking his last gulp. He and his attorney claimed to the end the hospital gave him alcohol in his I.V. which is preposterous. Then all the lawsuits that followed blaming everyone but himself. In spite of all the money he earned riding he didn't have a lot left because he married a succession of socialite gold diggers. He was a winner on the track, but not much of a person off it.

I think .13 is two drinks in a 102 pound man, sometimes.

The reality is, his lawyer was relying on the fact that most people wouldn't think about his weight when calculating how drunk he was.

I am much more morally neutral about the whole situation though. If you get into an accident and get paralyzed, you are often going to look for people to sue. The medical bills are crushing. It's really easy for people not in that situation to say "well *I* would take responsibility for my actions", but the reality is nobody ever takes responsibility for his or her actions in this sort of situation.

[Paseana]

Early 80's, just getting into the game, I loved Eddie D.

Eddie D in the 9th! That was my mantra. I loved anything that he rode in the last race of the day. And I actually won some $2 bets back then on Eddie D in the 9th.

Some 30 years later, I still miss him.

[Inner Dirt]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

I think .13 is two drinks in a 102 pound man, sometimes.

The reality is, his lawyer was relying on the fact that most people wouldn't think about his weight when calculating how drunk he was.

I am much more morally neutral about the whole situation though. If you get into an accident and get paralyzed, you are often going to look for people to sue. The medical bills are crushing. It's really easy for people not in that situation to say "well *I* would take responsibility for my actions", but the reality is nobody ever takes responsibility for his or her actions in this sort of situation.

Really? I can understand if someone else was at fault, but Shoemaker brought this all on himself. What happened to taking responsibility for one's actions? Also he got a nice share of the over $100 mil his mounts earned.
I guess the fact he burned through most of that money wasn't his fault either. He should have been able to afford his own medical care.
If you think what he did was normal you don't know the whole story. I lived in that area then, it was pre-internet, his sorry antics were all over the news and the newspapers. Also like I said he rode way too long and charged appearance fees on his farewell tour. He was all about the money, that is what mattered to him.

[Inner Dirt]

Originally Posted by Paseana

Early 80's, just getting into the game, I loved Eddie D.

Eddie D in the 9th! That was my mantra. I loved anything that he rode in the last race of the day. And I actually won some $2 bets back then on Eddie D in the 9th.

Some 30 years later, I still miss him.

Your name re-opened an old wound. Don't remember the stakes race but I had played a straight pick 3 multiple times with Paseana singled in the last leg I was 2 for 2. I was already figuring out where to have the celebration dinner with my track buddies as the highest winner bought dinner. I can recall the ticket being worth $1500. Paseana runs second to Re Toss at what I recall being 1-5. Years later when I was buying lifetime past performances walking down memory lane I looked up both those horses. Re Toss ran here best lifetime Beyer in that race Paseana her worst, Lady Luck was not on my side that day.

[illinoisbred]

Earlie Fires from my earliest playing days. As a kid going to Arlington with my folks,Walter Blum. Blum was very friendly to all the countless kids that crowded the rail and returned every hello,unlike William Hartack..what a grouch!

[The Judge]

Willie Shoemaker, Pincay, Russel Baze,

There was a time when Southern California jockey colony was so strong it almost made no difference who was on your horse. It got stronger if the race was on the turf. The East was unreal at the same time, times were good. Of course there was argument as to which colony was strongest but I am west coast.

The jockeys were as big attraction as the Horses, this would be early 80's thru the early 90's

[phattty]

Blum.......culmone.......then big time on chris mcCarron

[Inner Dirt]

Originally Posted by The Judge

Willie Shoemaker, Pincay, Russel Baze,

There was a time when Southern California jockey colony was so strong it almost made no difference who was on your horse. It got stronger if the race was on the turf. The East was unreal at the same time, times were good. Of course there was argument as to which colony was strongest but I am west coast.

The jockeys were as big attraction as the Horses, this would be early 80's thru the early 90's

I think if you did a study on what jockey depresses a horses odds the most at his home track Baze would win hands down. I remember so many times trying to beat him because his presence made a natural 5-2 shot 6-5, then of course he would beat me. I actually handicap Golden Gate Fields praying that the horse I like doesn't have Baze on it. For some strange reason GG is the only artificial track my pace figures can turn a profit on.

[OCF]

Originally Posted by The Judge

Willie Shoemaker, Pincay, Russel Baze,

There was a time when Southern California jockey colony was so strong it almost made no difference who was on your horse. It got stronger if the race was on the turf. The East was unreal at the same time, times were good. Of course there was argument as to which colony was strongest but I am west coast.

The jockeys were as big attraction as the Horses, this would be early 80's thru the early 90's

Those were the days! McCarron, Eddie D, P Val, c'mon!!

[Inner Dirt]

Anyone remember Francisco "Paco" Mena? While not even a top ten jockey on the Southern Cal circuit he dominated at Pomona (Later Fairplex, now defunct) In the late 70's and 80's. He seemed to get away with a lot of rough riding and never got taken down, at the LA County Fair you got you money's worth if you bet on his mounts.

[illinoisbred]

Originally Posted by Inner Dirt

Anyone remember Francisco "Paco" Mena? While not even a top ten jockey on the Southern Cal circuit he dominated at Pomona (Later Fairplex, now defunct) In the late 70's and 80's. He seemed to get away with a lot of rough riding and never got taken down, at the LA County Fair you got you money's worth if you bet on his mounts.

I remember him. He rode in Chicago for a year or 2... maybe the late 80's. Yeah, he was pretty aggressive.

[Stillriledup]

THIS Guy.

[YT=""]X4XoDmjxXWk[/YT]

[cj]

Originally Posted by Stillriledup

THIS Guy.

You're pushing your Youtube limit.

[Stillriledup]

Originally Posted by cj

You're pushing your Youtube limit.

I thought i get one YT video for every winner i release on this site?

I'll be more selective. Honest Injun.