Page 12 - The Game January 2006

12 The Game, January 2006 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
JockTalk:AnotherYear in the Books:
By Peter Gross
It didn’t take too many trips to Woodbine (or leafing through more than a couple issues of The Game) to understand what the dominant story in Ontario horse racing was in 2005.
It was the remarkable performances of two apprentice jockeys - 28 year-old Corey Fraser and 24 year-old Emma Jayne Wilson. Fraser actually lost his bug in late summer but that did little to stop the daily parade to the winner’s circle by horses carrying one or the other.
Wilson was the easy winner of the overall jockeys’ race, piling up 175 wins by the time the tote board flashed for the last time on December 11th. Wilson won two races on opening day and simply never let up, scoring four on the last day of racing. It’s the first time in Ontario racing history that a woman has taken the Woodbine jockey’s championship.
“It was lots of fun,” says a beaming Wilson, whose horses won over $7 million for their owners, “We were looking to ride as many horses and win as many races as we could. The idea of being leading rider was definitely a goal. You shoot as high as you can and you dream as much as you want, but the realization of being in front by how many...”
Wilson stops in mid-sentence as if even she cannot grasp the enormity of her spectacular season. She still covets her five-pound weight allowance and will not ride anywhere south this winter so that she can hang on to that advantage for as much of the 2006 season as the rules will allow her.
“I’m going to take a couple weeks off and stay home for Christmas,” she says, “Then I’ll head down and gallop for Samson down at Boynton Beach at the Palm Meadows Training Centre.”
Wilson set a Woodbine record by accepting 1095 mounts on the year. One statistic she’ll improve in 2006 is her stakes math. She scored only twice from 45 chances in Stakes races, indicating that owners and trainers prefer to err on the side of experience when the big money is on the line.
Rival Corey Fraser has no complaints about his work in 2005.
“There were no downs at all,” he enthuses, “It went up the whole year and didn’t stop. It just went really
well.”
The stats certainly confirm Fraser’s
assessment. He was second overall, with 136 wins, 39 behind Wilson, but he rode 342 fewer horses. His win percentage of 18.1 was the best at Woodbine.
Todd Kabel’s numbers (100 wins) were not as amazing as the ones he piled up in 2004 (156 wins, 36 stakes), but he is still Woodbine’s money jock, like Tiger Woods, winning the races that really count.
“I think I had a pretty good year,” says Kabel, “I won the most stakes races (20, which includes one at Fort Erie and one at Saratoga) and I made it through healthy and safely. It was a tough year as the apprentice riders were pretty dominating. It’s been a long time since we’ve had such sharp apprentice riders. I had a couple of outfits that normally are very successful that didn’t have a lot of luck this year. That’s horse racing and I just look forward to next year.”
Kabel plans to take the winter off and relax with some ice fishing and skiing.
Patrick Husbands put together another excellent year with 118 wins, punctuating his season by wining both the Kingarvie (Bad Hat) and the Valedictory (Seattlespectacular) on closing day. Husbands’ numbers put him third overall but apparently, third is not what he had in mind.
“Since I started riding horses, I was always fighting for championships,” he insists, “To me as a rider, I’m not happy that I’m not the top rider.”
Not that Husbands takes anything away from Wilson and Fraser.
“Both of them are extremely capable riders. When are you going to see that again? Both of them got rolling. The confidence builds up. Anytime the bugs get rolling at any racetrack, it’s a big difference and a big advantage.”
Husbands plans to head to Trinidad to race in January then to return north, get in shape and prepare for another year at Woodbine.
The ageless David Clark proved once again that there’s no substitution for experience. Among his 87 wins, Clark had 12 stakes wins, second only to Kabel.
“I started the year out really well,” says Clark, “Unfortunately a few of the
horses fell by the wayside and I couldn’t find any replacements. Other than that it was pretty good.”
Clark plans a little R & R in Florida this winter, working some horses and playing some golf.
The effervescent Jim McAleney, (122 wins, 11 stakes victories) kept things percolating all year long.
“Yeah things went just wonderful this year,” he says practically daring you to knock the smile off his face, “We started off on a roll, then and it didn’t really slow down until October when we had a couple of slow weeks but I’ve been really happy with the results we had this year. The biggest attribute to the success I had this year was the solid loyal clientele I was involved with and they had a better year. Lorne Richards’ horses are proba- bly better this year and trainer Reade Baker had a tremendous year and that’s a reflection on my success. Dave Bell, Malcolm Pierce, Roger Attfield have really contributed to my success.”
McAleney’s 122 victories in 2005 isn’t a career high, but the $6,598,042 in purses won is. And he describes his rides on the filly Gold Strike as the pinnacle of his racing year.
“The Plate and the Oaks - those are the two that a Canadian rider wants to focus on. We got the Oaks this year, which was great and one of the biggest thrills was at the half-mile pole in the Plate with Gold Strike and I thought we were going to get it. I literally looked at the half mile pole and thought it’s all ours.”
McAleney had to settle for third in the Queen’s Plate, but his family won’t have to settle for anything less than quality time this winter. After several months of 70 - hour weeks at the track, Jimmy Mac says the next few months are strictly to spend time with his wife and children.
Constant Montpellier (67 wins, 2 stakes, $3,333, 173) put together some more solid stats in this, his 14th year racing. And Montpellier knows first-hand just how good the leading rider is.
“Personally I’ve never seen a girl ride like Emma,” he praises, “She proved she can ride. She got me a couple of times at the wire and I don’t
think it was the weight. She rode some great races. For a little girl, she’s very strong.”
Montpellier plans to go golfing in Orlando, then spend a few weeks in Montreal and, like the quintessential Canadian athlete he is, he’ll be playing hockey for most of the winter.
Ask veteran Steve Bahen about his year and he won’t exactly shower you with sunshine and lollipops.
“35 wins this year compared to 65 or so last year?” he grimaces, “It wasn’t a good year. We changed agents in the middle of the year and that might make a difference next year.”
Robert Landry finished tenth in the standings (426 rides, 51 wins, $3,580,472, 7 Stakes) and just appreciates the fact all his bones and muscles are still properly aligned.
“I’m very happy with my year just reaching the goals that I’ve set,” says the man who is probably Woodbine’s least egocentric jock, “I’m not looking to be the leading rider anymore. I’m just looking to get around there safely. Now I’ll take about a month off and then head down to Florida like every year. Last year I rode 30 though in previous years I rode about 100 horses just to keep in shape and to keep in touch with the trainers from the U.S.”
Jono Jones (529 rides 56 wins, 5 Stakes, $3,906,664) will return to his native Barbados to race under the kind sun when the track up here is frozen.
“I rode some very nice horses this year,” he says, “I didn’t win as many races as I did last year, but won some nice races. I won the Breeders’ Stakes with Jambalaya. I also won with him at Saratoga. A Bit ‘O Gold won some big races and Invitational won some races on the grass.”
An afternoon spent talking with these men and women reminds you of the dangerous games they play for the benefit of the fans and bettors. Perhaps the best thing about 2005 is that mishaps and injuries were kept to a minimum.
And don’t forget first post in 2006 is April 1.
No fooling.
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