aaron gryder | Horse Racing Free Tips

Five Finalists Named For George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award

Santa Anita Park has announced a distinguished group of five finalists for the 2021 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, with the winner to be announced in February at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. One of the most prestigious awards in American racing, the Woolf Award, which is determined by a vote of jockeys nationwide, can only be won once.

Jockeys Alex Birzer, Jorge Martin Bourdieu, Kendrick Carmouche, Aaron Gryder and Deshawn Parker, veteran riders who have stood the test of time and have earned the respect of their peers and horsemen in various geographic regions, comprise 2021's select group of Woolf finalists.

Presented annually by Santa Anita since 1950, the Woolf Award recognizes those riders whose careers and personal character garner esteem for the individual and the sport of Thoroughbred racing. The trophy is a replica of the life-sized statue of legendary Hall of Fame jockey George Woolf, which adorns Santa Anita's Paddock Gardens area.

Regarded as one of the greatest big-money riders of his era, Woolf was a household word by virtue of winning the inaugural Santa Anita Handicap aboard Azucar on Feb. 23, 1935, and for his association with the immortal Seabiscuit, whom he rode to victory over Triple Crown Champion War Admiral in a mile and three sixteenths match race at Pimlico Race Course on Nov. 1, 1938.

Affectionately known as “The Iceman,” Woolf was revered by his fellow riders, members of the media and millions of racing fans across America as a fierce competitor and consummate professional.

One of America's hardest working jockeys and a mainstay in the Midwest for nearly three decades, Kansas native Alex Birzer, the son of a trainer, was born Oct. 2, 1973. A five-time leading rider at Prairie Meadows in Des Moines, Iowa, and a four-time leader at The Woodlands near Kansas City, Birzer rides year 'round at three tracks, primarily, Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, Prairie Meadows and at Remington Park in Oklahoma. Birzer, who has 3,396 career wins through Nov. 29, is married with three children and resides in Council Grove, Kan.

The key to his success? Birzer, whose younger brother Gary was rendered permanently disabled due to a racing accident in 2004, has this bit of simple advice: “When you get up in the morning, make sure you're proud of the guy in the mirror.”

A native of Cordoba, Argentina, Jorge Martin Bourdieu, 46, has ridden primarily in the Southwest, where he's established a reputation as a consistent professional who has overcome injuries while riding both Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds. A regular at Los Alamitos Racecourse 20 years ago, he was leading rider at the Orange County, Calif., track from 1999 to 2001, with Thoroughbreds and Arabians. A winner of 90 Thoroughbred races at Los Alamitos, he has returned on occasion to ride in Quarter Horse stakes, including victories in the Grade 1 AQHA Cox Ranch Distance Challenge at 870 yards in 2018 and the $100,000 Wild West Futurity in 2019. Bourdieu currently plies his trade primarily at Turf Paradise, Sunland Park, Zia Park and at Arapahoe Park.

One of many talented Cajun jockeys, Kendrick Carmouche was born Jan. 18, 1984, in Lake Charles, La., and began riding at recognized tracks at age 16. The son of jockey Sylvester Carmouche, Kendrick became a dominant force at Parx Racing near Philadelphia in 2008 and led the rider standings there four consecutive years through 2011. Currently a year-round fixture in New York, Carmouche, the leading rider at the recently concluded Aqueduct Fall Meeting, is regarded as an outstanding “gate rider” and is known for his unfailingly positive attitude and consistent ability to produce with any kind of horse at any price. In what he described as “the biggest win of my career,” Carmouche took the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct with True Timber on Dec. 5, his first-ever Grade 1 victory. Married with two children, Carmouche is in the prime of a career that has seen him boot home more than 3,300 winners.

A native of nearby West Covina, Calif., Aaron Gryder aspired to be a jockey from a very young age, courtesy of numerous trips to Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar with his grandparents. Born June 5, 1970, Gryder broke his maiden on Jan. 18, 1987, south of the border at Caliente and went on to become leading rider at Hollywood Park's Fall Meeting as an apprentice—in a Jockeys' Room that included the likes of Bill Shoemaker, Laffit Pincay, Jr., Eddie Delahoussaye, Chris McCarron, Gary Stevens and Patrick Valenzuela. One of the most articulate figures in racing, Gryder has worked in commercial film and television and has often advocated on behalf of the Thoroughbred industry.

Well-traveled, Gryder won the world's richest race, the $6-million Dubai World Cup, on March 28, 2009, aboard Well Armed and in addition to Hollywood Park, has notched leading rider titles at Churchill Downs, Arlington Park, Aqueduct and Golden Gate Fields. With more than 3,900 career wins, Gryder announced his retirement this past month at Del Mar, but has subsequently agreed to ride in Saudi Arabia and also in Dubai, where his son is stationed with the United States Marine Corps.

At five feet, 10 inches, DeShawn Parker certainly isn't your prototypical jockey. In a world comprised of much smaller athletes, Parker's height belies an incredible level of talent that has enabled him to eclipse the 5,000 career win mark and to lead all North American jockeys, twice. America's leading rider with 377 wins in 2010, Parker, who at the time was riding full time at Mountaineer Park in West Virginia, came back to lead again in 2011 with 400 wins. The son of a longtime racing official, Parker was born on Jan. 8, 1971, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The first African-American jockey to lead the nation in wins since 1895, Parker has 5,822 career victories through Nov. 29, and in the opinion of many could be approaching Hall of Fame consideration. A perennial leading rider at Mountaineer for more than 20 years, Parker has also enjoyed considerable success at Indiana Grand and at Sam Houston Race Park, where he was their leading rider in 2015. Married with two children, Parker lives in East Liverpool, Ohio.

The 2020 Woof Award was won by Luis M. Quinones and the 2021 winner will become the 72nd jockey, dating back to Gordon Glisson in 1950, to be so honored.

The post Five Finalists Named For George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘A Man Of Character’: Aaron Gryder Closing Career Where It All Began

Aaron Gryder's earliest memories of Del Mar are the times when his age was still in single digits, coming down from Los Angeles on the early Saturday morning train with his grandparents, Bill and Vern Gryder.

“We'd get off at the old station (across from what's presently Jake's and the Poseiden restaurants), check in at the Del Mar Hotel, ride boogey boards and then be at the track for first post,” Gryder said. “My grandparents loved to handicap and loved to play the horses, so early bird betting was a big thing on Sunday morning. There was always a big crowd and great energy for the races and I just loved it. Then we'd get back on the train Sunday night and head on home.

“It was great to be a kid and come down here and splash in the water, but splashing in the water wasn't the reason I loved to come down here. I loved coming to the races and I think I knew I wanted to be a jockey from the time I was about four years old.”

On a list of tracks by order of number of races ridden by Gryder — and his career mounts approach 30,000 – Del Mar is unlikely to make the top five. During times when the only live action here was seven weeks from July to September, Gryder was elsewhere for 19 years, 1988-2007. He took whatever he perceived as the best opportunity whether it was Chicago, the Midwest circuit from Kentucky to Arkansas and New Orleans or New York. He journeyed to Hong Kong and other foreign places to see what it was like there.

But if Del Mar isn't No. 1 on his list, it's the place he's chosen for his last ride. Gryder has announced his retirement at the end of the current Bing Crosby meeting.

“I've been thinking about it the last couple months,” Gryder said. “Not many people walk away at the top of their game, and I'm not at the top of my game as far as my business right now. My passion's still there, I feel great on horses, I know I can still ride. But if I can't go out there and be competitive every day it doesn't make sense to keep pushing and pushing until I push the envelope a little too far.

“I'm healthy and I'm happy and after 34 years — to be able to walk away on my own terms — it feels pretty good. I'm at peace with it.”

Born in West Covina, Gryder, who turned 50 in June, broke in at the Caliente track in Tijuana for a brief period, then moved up to Santa Anita as a 16-year-old. He started sharing a jockeys' room occupied by many who were his idols growing up – Gary Stevens, Eddie Delahoussaye, Bill Shoemaker, Chris McCarron, Laffit Pincay, Jr. and others.

“The first or second week that I was riding in Southern California, I was talking to Stevens and Delahoussaye, who had been riding like 10 or 12 years at that time,” Gryder recalled. “I told them I hoped to be able to ride 10 or 12 years and I remember Eddie saying 'Watch what you wish for – 10 years goes by quick.'

“I never thought much about it. Then 10 years goes by and 20 years go by and 30 years go by and I realize, man, Eddie was so right. At 16 I thought 10 years was a long time, and in December it will be 34 years that I've been riding. I've been blessed and fortunate to do something I was passionate about and loved doing for so long.”

On Oct. 25, closing day of the Santa Anita fall meeting, Gryder said it hit him that he was about to make his last ride at The Great Race Place. His mother, who hadn't been to the Arcadia track in many years, was in attendance. So, without fanfare, he made the announcement to Brittany Eurton on TVG. Del Mar's Bing Crosby meeting would be his swan song.

Gryder has eight stakes victories here. The first two came as an 18-year-old in 1988 in since-discontinued events, the Junior Miss (Executive Row) and June Darling (Bayakoa). Then comes the 19-year gap before he's back in the record book with two in 2007 and three in 2008. The biggest of the latter group was the 2008 San Diego Handicap aboard Well Armed for trainer Eoin Harty and owners William and Susan Casner.

Gryder does not jump at the chance to pronounce Well Armed the best horse he's ever ridden. He points out that there have been a lot of good ones.

For one example, Gryder was the only jockey other than Patrick Valenzuela and McCarron to ride Sunday Silence in the Hall of Fame horse's 14-race career. Gryder was aboard in an allowance race at Hollywood Park on December 3, 1988 that concluded Sunday Silence's 2-year-old campaign. Leading most of the way, they lost by a head to another precocious juvenile named Houston.

Another example: the Hall of Fame mare Bayakoa. Gryder got the call from Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally for five straight starts beginning with the Osunitas here in August of 1988, through a 10-length victory in the June Darling in September to a December allowance at Hollywood Park, the build-up for momentus campaigns by Bayakoa in 1989 and 1990.

But Well Armed … that's quite a story.

As a 3-year-old, the gelded son of Tiznow had undergone surgery for bone chips in his knees and, while in the recovery phase, sustained a fractured right hip in a stall accident. Bill Casner made it a personal mission to rehabilitate Well Armed with the vision of having him race again. The quest, in part, was therapy for Casner, who had lost his youngest of two daughters, 23-year-old Karri, one of 202 killed in a terrorist bombing in Bali in 2002.

Casner oversaw hours and hours of Well Armed swimming at a facility at his Texas ranch to regain strength and muscle tone for a racing return, then sent him to Harty at Santa Anita.

“Santa Anita had just installed a synthetic surface and they were looking for horses to work on it to test it out,” Harty recalled. “I volunteered Well Armed because I thought it would be a good opportunity to work on a pristine surface, see how well he was doing coming back from the injury layoff and get feedback from Aaron for the owner and myself.

“It was mutually beneficial to all.”

There was, Harty said, a rapport established between Gryder and the horse and the “fit” that trainers often ascribe to a horse and rider was obvious. Gryder was aboard for seven races over a seven-month period that had its ups and downs but generated some extraordinary moments of inspiration.

July 19, 2008 – Well Armed went wire-to-wire in a 1 ¼-length victory in the San Diego Handicap over Del Mar's one-year-old Polytrack surface. “A great race for him,” Harty said. “Once we started working the horse, we knew he had the capability to be a really top class horse and it (San Diego), to be honest was a mere formality.”

Aug. 24, 2008 – Well Armed was second, at odds of 8-1, caught late in the stretch to lose by a neck to Go Between the in $1 million Pacific Classic. “I was surprised he got beat, but the other horse just ran a great race,” Harty said.

March 28, 2009 – With one win to show in four starts since the Pacific Classic, the now 6-year-old Well Armed rockets out of the gate and is never headed, winning by 14 ½ lengths in the $6 million Dubai World Cup. Gryder wears Casner silks that bear Karri's initials on the sleeve.

“She rode that horse with me,” Gryder would say in post-race interviews. “Riding at night, you can watch for shadows to see if there's anybody coming at you and I could see they weren't gaining on me.”

“It was an emotional night, knowing what the horse and the Casner family had suffered through,” Harty recalled. “But it all came together so well.”

By personal count a few years ago, Gryder had made 17 trips to Dubai in his career, 28 to Saudi Arabia and several others to Hong Kong, England and Canada during the globe-trotting career that's he's about to end.

“If I went back, I wouldn't ask for anything to be different in my career,” Gryder said. “I didn't manage it that well; I moved around a lot and made some mistakes. But even so, I wouldn't change it. I wouldn't change it for the world.”

Equibase statistics this week show Gryder with 29,929 career mounts and numbers in the 3,900 range for wins (3,905), seconds (3,905) and thirds (3,924). How's that for consistency?

“I didn't ride a lot of 6-to-5 shots, but I always tried to ride hard on the 20-1 shots and get up for second or third even if I couldn't win,” Gryder said. “People ask me if I feel bad about coming up short of 4,000 wins, but I won 113 outside North America that don't show up in those statistics. So, actually, I did win 4,000.”

Gryder was married for 15 years but is now divorced. He has a 20-year-old son and a daughter who recently graduated from high school. His son is a Marine stationed in, of all places, Dubai, where he's among those guarding the U.S. consulate.

“It's ironic that my son's first station is in Dubai and I won the biggest race in the world there,” Gryder conceded. “It's nice that I know where he's at and I can picture it and in a way it's comforting that he's there.

“I'm lucky to have two wonderful children that have made good choices and are doing well,” Gryder said. “We missed a lot of time together with my travelling so much during my career but their mother raised them to be respectful to everyone.”

Besides riding, Gryder's resume includes TV credits (“The Sopranos,” “Dellaventura,” “Jockeys”), racing commentating and racetrack PR work. He has a wide range of interests outside racing. What's next?

“No definite plans,” Gryder said. “It's been encouraging that I've been contacted by people in different businesses. I want to enjoy riding this meet and think about (the future). I want to make a decision by the end of the year and when I do, I'll know it's the right one for me. Whatever I do, I'm going to go all in and dedicate myself to it the same way I did with horse racing.”

Harty is, undoubtedly, one of many wishing Gryder well.

“He's a man of character and integrity which, in this day and age and in this current time is, unfortunately, not that prevalent,” Harty said. “You meet few people with his level of character and integrity. And that means a lot to me.”

The post ‘A Man Of Character’: Aaron Gryder Closing Career Where It All Began appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Riders Up Documentary Takes Look Behind Scenes at “First Sports Bubble”

As the realities of the coronavirus started to spread across California and the country, the team at Santa Anita wasn’t sure how to prepare for what could have quickly escalated into a dire situation for the track and the sport. But what began as a scramble of sorts led to a well-coordinated plan. Racing would successfully return to the historic Southern California track and with an innovative wrinkle. During the racing week, the jockeys were required to live in a bubble in campers situated on track. What might at first have seemed to be an imposition quickly turned into a collegial summer camp for the riders.

“If you have to do something like this, this is the way to do it. I’d like to say life in quarantine is pretty tough, but I’d be lying like crazy,” jockey Mike Smith says.

Santa Anita was shut down by the coronavirus following the Mar. 22 card but returned May 15 and the meet was completed without any serious setbacks. How it did so is the subject of the entertaining documentary from NBC Sports Network “Riders Up. The First Sports Bubble.” (Click here for a preview.)

While horse racing has figured out how to operate during a global pandemic, that wasn’t the case when COVID-19 started to upend life as we know it. As “Riders Up” begins, the management team at Santa Anita is considering the worst-case scenarios

“We started seeing the news day by day get worse and we realized businesses were going to start being put out of business for the time being,” said Stronach Group Executive Director of California Operations Aidan Butler. “Unlike any other business, the racetrack is like a town. Eight hundred people live here. Eighteen hundred horses live here. It’s not like any other business. That was the realization that we could have a real crisis on our hands. A little bit of panic set in across the group here.”

This was a case where panic turned into the mother of invention.

“At that point it was ‘What are we going to do?'” Butler said. “We have to make a decision here. We can start to ask animals to leave here and people to start to get out and try to get it to an amount that was controllable or double down and try to get her open as quick as we could.”

The horses and the backstretch community were the easy part. There was plenty of room to accommodate them and because the horses needed to be cared for, there was never any serous question about allowing the backstretch workers to continue on as normal. The jockeys were the bigger issue. Should they be brought back and then, had some of them tested positive, racing would have likely had to be shut down again. It was decided to house them on track in RV’s that were normally used on movie and television sets that had been closed due to the pandemic.

“We built a small city in a matter of a week,” said Senior Vice President and Assistant General Manager Nate Newby.

Santa Anita’s bubble would be the first of its kind in sports, a precursor to what the NBA and the NHL would do with their players once they resumed playing.

“I certainly had concerns,” Smith said. “What’s going to happen? Are we going to be close to everybody? Are we going to be piled into a room all together? Is it going to be a little bit scary?”

Understanding that confinement can be stifling, Santa Anita set out to make things as enjoyable as possible for the jockeys. With Butler and Newby acting as head counselors, there was a 50th birthday party for veteran Aaron Gryder, karaoke, poker, movie night and group dinners. The jockeys, who usually go their separate way after the races are over, bonded.

“It was a great time being with the guys,” jockey Edwin Maldonado said. “Like being in a man cave.”

It worked. By the time the meet ended without further interruption on June 21, over 1,000 COVID-19 tests had been administered to jockeys and essential employees. Not one jockey or racing employee tested positive.

Riders Up will air Friday on NBC Sports Network at 3 p.m. PT and will be shown again Saturday at 9:30 a.m. PT. It was produced by the Hennegan Brothers.RIdTTaea

The post Riders Up Documentary Takes Look Behind Scenes at “First Sports Bubble” appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The Jockeys’ Guild: CHRB Whip Rules ‘Are Both Unsafe And Jeopardize The Integrity Of The Sport’

The Jockeys' Guild issued the following statement this weekend after the California Horse Racing Board passed a strict new rule regarding use of the riding crop during races.

The Jockeys' Guild is extremely disappointed by the actions taken by the California Horse Racing Board with regards to the riding crop. Specifically restricting the use of the riding crop to six times in the underhanded fashion throughout the entire race, as well as restricting the type of riding crop that can be used. The industry has a long history of disrespect for jockeys, going back many, many decades. That prevailing attitude was the main reason for the formation of the Guild in 1940. Incredibly, that disrespect continues to this day as evidenced by the CHRB Board and the Chairman failing to engage jockeys and the Guild in any meaningful dialogue. To completely ignore the pleas of the professional jockeys and the Guild, moving forward to adopt the two rules presented Thursday, which are both unsafe and jeopardize the integrity of the sport, is a dangerous precedent.

The jockeys put their lives on the line every day, not the members of the CHRB or those in direct opposition of our sport. And yet, the voices of respected Hall of Fame rider and Jockeys' Guild Co-Chairman Mike Smith, as well as world-renowned and all-time leading money earning Quarter Horse jockey, G.R. Carter, and veteran rider Aaron Gryder, not to mention all of the other California jockeys who voiced their concerns about the proposals, were completely disregarded.

The Guild is deeply troubled by the process. Starting in March of 2019, the Guild has crafted various proposals with regards to the riding crop, which were dismissed, overlooked, and sometimes not even acknowledged. Instead, the CHRB insisted on jamming through the rules rather than even considering the Guild's reasonable and compromising proposals.

Then to add insult to injury, the Chairman of the CHRB, Dr. Greg Ferraro, labeled the jockeys as part of the problem. Chairman Ferraro said, “We're never going to please the jocks. They don't want to do anything but keep the status quo.” Nothing could be further from the truth and is beyond offensive. Over the past decade, the Guild has worked with the other entities in the industry, including the CHRB, and has been more than willing to compromise on issues in the best interest of racing. The Guild was at the forefront of changes to the riding crop after the issues surrounding Eight Belles and the 2008 Kentucky Derby. Furthermore, as stated throughout the whole process, and again yesterday by representatives of the Guild, we completely recognize the need to change the existing use of riding crop rules. The Guild has actively been engaging in meetings throughout the country, not just in California, to establish a uniform rule.

The recent decision on the use of the riding crop is set to fail. It is based on the CHRB's response to perception and as opposed to doing what is right for the industry. The CHRB's decision was done to pacify the radical animal rights organizations and the individuals who have made clear of their intention to abolish racing. Additionally, the Manager of Policy and Regulations for the CHRB inferred that its role was about pleasing Sacramento. This speaks volumes about the CHRB's attitude and subsequent dismissal of what is in the best interest of racing and we believe definitely swayed the vote.

The CHRB Chairman and Board also disregarded statements from representatives of the Guild, as well as Aidan Butler of The Stronach Group, Nick Alexander of the TOC, and Alan Balch of CTT, asking for a limited extension before any adoption of the rule. These requests were made in the hopes of reaching a unified rule, created by all industry participants, which could be adopted throughout the United States. We strongly believe that the implementation of the CHRB rules as presented yesterday will have a detrimental impact on the entire industry, including the owners, betting public, racetracks, and horsemen.

Furthermore, the rule as adopted, only allows for the jockeys to use a crop with a cylinder popper, which as of now is only being made by one company. Its decision fails to consider the jockeys input, including the fact when the jockeys had used it during racing, many broke at the tip and poppers fell off during a race. This riding crop has also proved difficult to use when switching hands. Any proposed changes should have been fully evaluated in the “real world” to access the performance, as well as the effectiveness of the changes, just as has been done in the past. The Guild has repeatedly stated that we have been and will continue to be supportive of improvements made to the equipment, including the riding crops, whether it be the design or material, that are in the best interest of the horse. In order to move forward, the Guild had requested to allow for the use of the existing cushioned riding crop, as well the newly introduced cylinder riding crop. However, the CHRB has continued to refuse to even consider the proposal or engage in conversations with the riders who are most impacted by its decisions.

Unfortunately, it is evident, now more than ever before, that the CHRB does not view jockeys as essential and equal stakeholders in this industry. Instead, we are viewed as second class citizens or even worse. However, the Guild and the jockeys we represent refuse to accept this point of view. We will continue to fight for the livelihoods and safety for our members and the betterment of our sport. In doing so, the Guild will continue to work with the industry and other jurisdictions for a fair national riding crop rule. If California opts to institute its own regulations regarding the riding crop and its usage, it will not be in the interest of racing in the United States.

The post The Jockeys’ Guild: CHRB Whip Rules ‘Are Both Unsafe And Jeopardize The Integrity Of The Sport’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post