Page 17 - The Game February 2006

Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper The Game, February 2006 17
Advance to the Rear
A Head at the Wire
The fourth in a series of real life stories by Paddy Head majeek05@hotmail.com
The ‘73 meet at Blue Bonnets came to an end and so did Thoroughbred racing in Quebec. Nina Count and I were too much for the Montreal track - they never held a TB meet again!
Jack Crotty decided to move his stable to Suffolk Downs and here I was, back where it all started. True to my goal, I was now seeing the Boston track from the vantage point of the saddle. Check Carefully and I both agreed that launching onto a one mile racetrack was much more satisfying.
I was thrilled to discover that I now had company in the jock’s room. Suffolk had, and still has to my knowledge, the highest number of women jockeys. Denise Boudrot introduced herself the day I arrived. With her warm smile and mischievous blue eyes, she
quickly became my best friend. Barbara Smith had also joined the jockeys ranks. The three musketeers were ready to ride!
The day of my first race was a memorable experience, beginning the moment I stepped into the film room. Replays of the previous day’s races were a rather quiet affair at Blue Bonnets with the stewards and barely a dozen jockeys present. Here at Suffolk, it was standing room only. The replays began and I watched in horror as horses cut across the track and jockeys bounced between the rails like lottery balls. With each infraction, a hullabaloo erupted in English and Spanish (no French here). There were reprimands by the stewards but no fines or suspensions. Blue Bonnets was a family affair compared to the big, mean city atmosphere of Suffolk Downs. My rite of passage was about to begin.
In the second race of the day, I entered the starting gate with Nina Count. I lost an argument with the assistant starter who wouldn’t allow Nina to sink her teeth into the thick padding. There were rules here at Suffolk, at least inside the gate. I desperately wanted to go to the front but denied her lifelong habit, Nina was beaten out of the gate for the first time in her life. We immediately became one of those lottery balls, bounced in every direction but forward. I don’t remember where we finished but there were a lot of horses between me and the winner.
My next race was on Check Carefully. True to form, the flashy chestnut mare went to the lead and I breathed a sigh of relief. I was certain that with the shorter 6 furlong distance we could retain our lead all the way to the wire. I hadn’t factored in the change of surface, heavier than the lightning fast Montreal oval, and the effect of the tide only half a mile away. Check Carefully barely made it to the turn. Whistling and shouting erupted all around me as horses shouldered me aside and cut in front with barely inches to spare. The message was clear; when you
run out of gas, advance to the rear, now!
To add insult to injury, Check Carefully was claimed. Jack Crotty’s good horse, Hubie V, was also claimed first time out. None of the
trainers wanted Nina Count and it soon became obvious that Nina didn’t want any part of the Boston track. Check Carefully’s dramatic entrance hadn’t gone unnoticed and I was legged up onto several horses with rocket launching abilities. A couple of them came back into hand after a quarter mile but most of them kept the throttle open the entire way, adding little twists like bolting to the outside rail or heading for the gap in mid-gallop. The jockeys and exercise riders weren’t impressed as I galloped towards them in medieval jousting style along the outside rail. A
few of the more compassionate ones offered assistance. Eddie Kelly was one of the first to offer me horses to exercise in his brother John’s stable with a chance for mounts when they needed an apprentice. His father, Jackpot Kelly, didn’t become my official agent but took an interest in my career and spoke on my behalf. And then Denise took advantage of a double call to change my destiny.
CONTINUED PAGE 20 - SEE A HEAD AT THE WIRE