Page 16 - June 2005 The Game

16 The Game, June 2005 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
Jerry Baird: Back where he belongs
what he loves, armed with a renewed sense of purpose and a commitment to succeed.
In limited action in 2003, Baird won nine races, totaled 28 top-three finishes and recorded $324,868 in purse earnings at Woodbine. One year later, the Etobicoke resident rode 17 winners, notched 69 top- three finishes and recorded $723,227 in purse earnings.
Scott Lane, who handles Baird's book, believes the best is yet to come.
The two hooked up after Lane spoke with Woodbine-based trainer/owner Arthur Silvera this past winter in Florida. A two-hour phone call between agent and rider led to their working partnership.
"He's very focused," said Lane, of Baird. "He's at Woodbine every day by about six o'clock in the morning. Whatever I line up to work, he doesn't question it. He's very focused and determined."
Which is exactly how Baird, who spent the 2005 winter months in Florida riding some at Gulfstream Park, sees it, too.
"I just love the adrenaline of being in a race," said Baird, who is closing in on 500 career wins. "Breaking out of the gate and competing with your buddies. I missed the winning. I missed it all. I feel like I have more power in me now."
"He takes riding very seriously now," said Lane. "He can ride with anybody. Given the right horse, he knows he can compete against the top riders here."
If he were to relate his life both on and off the racetrack in racing terms, Baird would suggest he has gone from a sprint to a route mentality. Where he once would have charged out of the gate full-tilt, he now does quite the opposite, pacing himself in order to assess the best route in which to achieve his goal.
All the more reason to believe that the odds for success are now firmly in Baird's favour.
By Chris Lomon
Over the years, he has battled personal demons, pain and the odds, but jockey Jerry Baird has persevered, putting his life and livelihood back on track.
For as long as he's been riding, 13 years, to be exact, Baird, a native of St. John's, Newfoundland, has experienced just about everything, good and bad, an athlete could.
And he'd be the first to admit that on some occasions, he didn't always make the best choices.
"Looking back, I wish I could have done some things differently," said Baird. "But I can't do that. I have look ahead."
Born on October 23, 1969, Baird began his career in the saddle at the age of 17, the aspiring rider making his way to Woodbine looking for work, eventually taken under the wing of noted trainer Mike Tammaro.
While he was far from a natural - Tammaro once referred to Baird as "green as grass" - there was no questioning his work ethic and as both soon discovered, the young jockey's spirited determination.
During a morning gallop in 1988, a horse bolted and threw Baird into a pole, almost breaking his back and nearly ending his career.
The injuries he suffered, however, didn't dampen his enthusiasm to become a jockey. One year to the date of the accident, Baird won his first race at Maryland's Laurel Park in 1989.
He earned his first Woodbine win on June 7, 1989, aboard a five-year-old mare named Café Paris, a horse trained by his mentor, Tammaro.
His perseverance soon paid off.
Baird established himself as a legitimate professional in 1990, when he earned a leading apprentice title in Ontario. His 71 wins at Woodbine (fifth place) and 88 overall were not enough to overcome
"phenom" Mickey Walls in Sovereign Award voting.
Nonetheless, Baird's career was on the upswing.
In 1991, his first full season without the apprentice allowance, Baird finished 14th on the list of top riders at Woodbine. He won 64 races from 614 mounts, was second 76 times and posted 72 thirds, along with over $1-million in purse earnings.
By the mid- to late-90's, however, Baird wasn't visiting the winner's circle with as much frequency and he became increasingly frustrated with his lack of production.
Coupled with an ongoing battle to keep his weight down, Baird found himself in a downward spiral at and away from the racetrack.
He called it quits in 1999.
"I didn't want to stop riding, but my back was telling me something was wrong," recalled Baird, of the deteriorating disc injury that forced him out of the sport. "Ihadtogethelptogetoutofbedtogoto the washroom. I wouldn't wish that type of pain on my worst enemy.
"I got opinion after opinion from doctors and specialists telling me I couldn't ride anymore. They told me I'd hurt myself seriously if I did."
That news, coupled with an increasing dependency on alcohol, saw Baird at what he terms "the lowest point in my life."
In spite of his troubles, he knew he had to find a source of income. Eventually, Baird decided on a trade he had plenty of experience in.
"I like working with wood. My father taught me a lot about being a carpenter. So I went out and got a job. But I started out at the bottom. Within a few years of being a carpenter, I moved up pretty quickly."
Jockey Jerry Baird
Though he enjoyed the people he worked with and the work itself, a job at a familiar place gave Baird pause for thought.
"The company I was with, Albion Glass, we had to work on the second floor at Woodbine. We had to put glass all around the escalator. I would sit and watch my buddies working horses. I said to myself, 'I can't do this anymore. I have to get back riding.' My boss told me he understood, but if I ever needed a job, I could come back."
But for a return to the saddle to become a reality, Baird, who is married to Woodbine-based trainer Barb Baird (for- merly Pirie), had to deal with another obstacle.
"I quit drinking," said Baird, who has been sober for over a year and a half. "I quit cold turkey. It just got out of hand. If I wanted to make it back to racing, I told myself I've got to stop, so I did. My weight went down. I feel stronger. I'm eating bet- ter than ever. I got married. Everything has come together for me."
After a four-year hiatus from riding competitively, Baird is now back doing
~ Where Are They Now ~
Half Moon Romance is Romeo in Retirement
Nine-year-old horse, Half Moon Romance, is enjoying his retirement after a productive career as a racehorse.
The son of stallion Soaking Smoking and mare Romance on Ice, by Briartic, Half Moon Romance was bred and owned by Ana Pozios in Ontario.
He started his racing career in 1999 at age 3 in Maiden Special company recording 1 win and a second at Fort Erie and another second place finish at Woodbine.
At age five he had 10 starts and after competing in claiming races at Gulfstream Park in Florida he was moved up to Allowance company at Woodbine competing against the likes of Dawn Watcher and Attawapiskat. Half Moon Romance recorded a couple of second place finishes before retired early that year due to an injury in both front ankles.
After surgery, Half Moon Romance was sent to Ruth Young’s Castleview Farm, for post surgical care and it was there that J.J. Patterson was completely taken by the unique character of the personable horse.
“He has a unique personality.” said Ruth in a recent interview, “We think he thinks he is human.” J.J. has worked for Ruth for the past five years at Castleview, and once Half Moon Romance, a.k.a.
Romeo, left the farm to resume racing, she made sure she kept track of him so he would have a home to retire to.
“Romeo was all J.J. talked about when he left the farm.” says Ruth, “We’ve got to find Romeo.”
At the end of 2002, he had one race at Fort Erie before being sent to Thistledowns where he finished out the year with a win and a second in three starts.
He then campaigned at Delta Downs, Mountaineer, Thistledowns and Fingerlakes recording 2 more wins and 3 seconds before the end of the 2003 season.
He was out of the money in 3 starts in the spring of 2004 and it was not long into the summer months when Ruth received a call from Elissa Blowe at Phase 2 thoroughbred retirement in the US. Without hesitation Ruth had the horse shipped back to Castleview to the delight of J.J. who is now the proud owner.
“When Elissa called I told her to ‘Just ship him’”, said Ruth, “J.J. has worked with me for five years and doesn’t ask for anything and is loyal and supportive.”
J.J. has since retrained Half Moon Romance for the show ring and after a brief demonstration for
the camera, it was apparent that he is enjoying his retirement.
J.J. says that he has a very light competition schedule and he is more of a hack horse for her.
“He is very well behaved for a stallion,” commented Ruth, “he goes around like a kids pony.”
Half Moon Romance a.k.a. Romeo with owner J.J. Patterson and Castleview Farm owner Ruth Young.