Teen Phenom: How A High School Student Has Become Maryland’s Leading Rider

Idle time is something rare for Charlie Marquez these days. When the teenage riding sensation somehow managed a three-hour break between mounts over closing weekend of historic Pimlico Race Course's Preakness Meet, he took the opportunity to shut off his cell phone and turn off his mind.

The respite was short-lived. Maryland Jockey Club clerk of scales Frank Saumell, asked to summon Marquez during his downtime, walked briskly toward the back of the jockeys' room, perched high above the Pimlico winner's circle.

“Charlie!” Saumell called out. “Charlie! … Marquez!” he repeated, his voice rising each time.

Slowly, a head poked out above a row of white-painted cabinets. It is Marquez, his dark hair tussled from a quick nap on the bench in front of his locker stall. He slipped a pair of black slides over his socks and made his way out into the sunlight on the porch outside.

Sitting on a chair overlooking the main track, Marquez's thoughts go back a dozen years to a time when he watched the horses go by from a much different perspective.

“I always wanted to be a jockey,” Marquez said. “I came to the track a bunch when I was young. I came to Pimlico with my mom and on Preakness Day we used to walk over here with my brother.

“I used to go in the morning with her when she used to gallop for Mary Eppler and when she used to work for Jose Corrales at Laurel. I'd go in the morning and sit by the rail and fantasize. Now I'm doing it.”

And doing it well. Marquez, who turned 18 in late January, finished his first full professional season as Maryland's leading apprentice rider of 2020 with 58 wins. Various circumstances – a global pandemic that paused racing in the state for 2 ½ months in the spring, a trial run on the New York circuit and a wrist injury that shelved him another four weeks in the fall – kept Marquez from the Eclipse Award conversation.

Success has carried into this year. He earned his first career meet title at Pimlico, a four-month stand that saw him finish with a nine-win cushion. Entering Laurel Park's calendar year-ending fall meet that begins Sept. 9, Marquez has won more races than any rider in Maryland with 76. He's hoping to continue his success come Thursday when Laurel Park's fall meet opens.

Success has carried into this year. He earned his first career meet title at Pimlico, a four-month stand that saw him finish with a nine-win cushion. Entering Laurel Park's calendar year-ending fall meet that begins Sept. 9, Marquez has won more races than any rider in Maryland with 76. Sheldon Russell is second with 64.

Russell, newly turned 34, is a multiple meet champion who led Maryland in wins in 2011 – when Marquez was 8 years old.

“He's really wanted this all his life – since he was a baby. To see that we actually got him to this point, it just brings tears to my eyes,” Marquez's mother, Valerie Kounelis, said. “Just the other day I found a picture of him and Sheldon when he was little. A lot of these guys, they've seen him since he was a baby and here he is riding with them. It's funny to see. He's just a kid, but they all love him. He's one that they all want to be friends with. There's just something about him.”

Marquez's maturity, both as a rider and a person, belies his age. Rather than the parties and proms of a typical teenager, his free time is primarily spent riding and watching races. Mornings start early, before sunrise, exercising horses anywhere from Laurel to Pimlico to the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md. and even Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del.

Afternoons, and the occasional evening, have had him racing in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia since losing his apprentice weight allowance and becoming a journeyman May 30.

“I just bought a new car maybe a month ago. It already has more than 17,000 miles on it,” Marquez said. “I've been driving a lot.”

“It takes a toll, it does. You'd think just because I'm 18 I can do it, and I agree with that to a certain extent,” he added. “But it takes a toll, driving up and down the road every day. It definitely is hard work, but it pays off in the end.”

Fortunately, it is only a 15-minute drive from Laurel Park to Marquez's childhood home in Columbia, Md., where he still lives with his mother, maternal grandmother Darlene and three dogs – 3-year-old Cooper and 1 1/2-year old Kobe, both golden-Labrador retriever mixes, and 8-month-old Charlie Brown, an English cream golden retriever. Marquez also has an older brother, Carlos.

“He loves his dogs. He loves to come home and play with them,” Kounelis said.

The Marquez family

“I always tell him you can go out if he has a day off, but you can't be eating junk food like a teenage boy would be doing. You have to be mindful of that. You can't stay out all hours of the night. You know you need your rest. It's hard on your body and you've got to be aware of what you're doing. You can't be tired.

“It comes with its trials and tribulations,” she added. “He's willing to give up what he has to to be successful and do what he loves.”

While the decision to begin riding professionally – which couldn't happen before Marquez's 16th birthday – was easy, the process was not. Kounelis had to convince the Board of Education to allow her to pull Marquez from a traditional school setting for one more flexible with her son's burgeoning career.

“When I pulled him out of school, it was time,” she said. “Normally I'm like, 'You're going to school, you're graduating, you're doing it the right way.' I pulled him out because I did see how talented he was. We talked about the fact that you're giving up your childhood, you're giving up your high school days and being a kid to pursue your career. He knew going in that he was going to have to give something up to gain something.

Nearing completion of his general educational development (GED) diploma – “It's very important to have. This game is very unpredictable, and you need something to back up on,” he said – Marquez doesn't see it as a sacrifice. To him, it's an investment in his future.

“Not too many 18-year-olds can say they were leading rider in Maryland. It takes a lot to get there and a lot of hard work, but if you put your mind to it, you can do it,” Marquez said. “I hang out with friends here and there, but during school I was never really that kind of person to go out anyway. So, it wasn't really anything different. Of course, I had friends, but the true friends that you hang out with outside of school. I had a few of them and I still hang out and see them from time to time.

“I wouldn't say I really have time for other hobbies. Horse racing is what I love to do and it's always going to be like that,” he added. “After I ride in the morning I go home and use that time to myself, whether that's hanging out with my mom or my grandma or my girlfriend. Whatever it is, those few hours before I have to go to bed I kind of just keep for myself.”

Marquez was 16 when he won his first race Jan. 9, 2020 aboard Sierra Leona at Laurel Park. His brief turn in New York at age 17 came under the tutelage of retired Hall of Fame rider Angel Cordero Jr. Back home, he earned his first stakes victory at 18 on Shackled Love in Laurel's Private Terms March 14.

[Story Continues Below]

Standing 5-foot-8, Marquez is taller than most riders. He hasn't let his height be an obstacle to success.

“He's a little bit on the tall side. There was a question whether or not he was going to stay small enough to do it, but he's definitely shown everybody that thought he wasn't going to make it that he was all in,” Kounelis said. “He's definitely shown where he wanted to go with it.”

Marquez's dedication is reminiscent of his mother, who first brought him to the track as a toddler when she was galloping for trainer Larry Murray. His introduction to horses, so to speak, came much earlier.

“I galloped until I was like seven months pregnant with both [sons],” Kounelis said. “Everybody used to laugh that they were already riding before they were riding.”

Today, Kounelis gallops part-time for trainer Tim Keefe, is a technician for the Maryland Veterinary Group and spends racing afternoons working in the test barn. It's not hard to see where Marquez gets his work ethic.

“One thing about him, he knows the grind,” she said. “There were days before he really started riding, he would be getting on 12, 13 [horses] a day and you never heard a peep out of him.”

“My mom, she's been there since Day 1,” Marquez said. “She's definitely my top fan and I think about her all the time, every day that I ride. Everything I do is for her.”

Marquez's support goes beyond his mother and fellow horsemen. Kounelis' sister, Terry Overmier, is the Maryland Jockey Club's stable manager and a horse owner. The first time he rode her now 4-year-old Maryland-bred colt Whiskey and You in a Laurel Park allowance last March, they won.

His late grandfather, Carlos Marquez Sr., was a successful jockey whose wins included the 1970 Black-Eyed Susan with Office Queen before his retirement to Puerto Rico to teach at its famed Escuela Vocacional Hipica. Marquez rides with his old saddle.

“Charlie's grandfather would have been proud of him,” Kounelis said. “He passed away a few years ago and never got to see Charlie living his dream.”

Ultimately, the dream has Marquez riding for years to come and many more milestones to reach.

“I want to ride in the [Kentucky] Derby and the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. It's the dream of a lot of riders,” Marquez said. “I have many years until I retire, but definitely when I retire, I want to be a top rider in New York and go into the Hall of Fame. I want to end up in New York, settle down there eventually and retire there, and hopefully go into the Hall of Fame. That's the dream of a lot of riders, I think. Most of the game is just trying to stay healthy and keep things moving forward.

“At such a young age, I have many years to progress my riding,” he added. “I hope what I have done so far is just the beginning.”

Marquez studies the racing program in the jockey's quarters

In the meantime, Marquez – like any young professional – does his best to achieve a work-life balance. When time permits, he enjoys hanging out with friends and playing video games.

“He's very smart and computer savvy. There are a lot of other things he can do. He rebuilt his own computer and gaming setup. He's got a lot going for him – not only riding,” Kounelis said. “He has a couple good guys that he's been friends all along with that he will hang out with. He spends a lot of his time watching race replays, just taking in stuff that he sees.

“He's a kid at heart, but he's grown up pretty quick,” she added. “Yes, he is very mature for his age, but he is still a kid. I see that first-hand at home, when he's playing his video games or whatever he does with his friends. You can make a lot of money fast and you might have friends that try to steer you in the wrong direction. You just have to keep your head on straight and know where you want to go with it.”

Both mother and son have known where Marquez was headed from the time he was around 2 years old, wearing his jockey Halloween costume and sitting in front of the television on a stuffed toy horse that they still have.

“He'd watch the races and act like he's riding in them,” Kounelis said. “He's wanted it all along. There's no denying it.”

To read more, go to: https://www.laurelpark.com/teen-phenom/

The post Teen Phenom: How A High School Student Has Become Maryland’s Leading Rider appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

View From The Eighth Pole: If Weight Matters, Take It More Seriously

We can only guess how much the weight carried in a race affects a horse's performance. All other things being equal, a horse that carries 120 pounds in a race will have an advantage over one carrying 123 pounds. Maybe it's a length, maybe more, maybe less. But it is an advantage.

That's why racing officials everywhere should pay heed to the ruling against Alexander Crispin, the Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey of 2020, for riding under his assigned weight in a mid-January race at Laurel Park in Maryland.

As Maryland Racing Commission administrative steward Adam Campola said, “There are integrity issues.”

Here's the timeline in the Crispin case.

-In early to mid-January, there were rumblings going through the Laurel jockey colony that Crispin – who already has an edge over his fellow riders with a five-pound apprentice allowance – was allegedly weighing in after a race under the weight he was assigned to carry. Jockeys (including saddle and weighted pads or lead weights if necessary) are weighed by the clerk of scales before a valet takes their saddle out to the paddock.

-Stewards met informally with Crispin and clerk of scales Frank Saumell on Sunday, Jan. 10, and had what Campola said was a “discussion” on the subject. “We had heard the rumors,” Campola said, “but there was no proof.”

-After the meeting, stewards worked with Maryland Jockey Club management to turn on the security cameras in the TIPS Restaurant at Laurel, where the jockeys and the weigh-in scale had been relocated as part of the COVID-19 protocols. Starting on Jan. 15, Campola said, the cameras were able to capture on video and record the weights of riders as they weighed out and in before and after a race.

-On Saturday, Jan. 16, after the final race of the day, Campola said he was getting into his car when he received a call from Saumell. “He said, 'Adam, I've got a problem here,' and told me what had happened.”

Crispin's mount, Alpha Queue, who finished third in the seven-furlong race, was assigned 115 pounds, but after the race came in closer to 110, Saumell told Campola.

Campola asked Saumell – who works for the Maryland Jockey Club – to have track management retrieve video of Crispin on the scales before and after the race. According to Campola, officials produced images from the security cameras  that showed the discrepancy.

-A hearing was conducted on Feb. 24 (an attorney hired by Crispin asked for extra time because of his workload). Alpha Queue was disqualified and purse money redistributed. During the hearing, Campola said, Crispin offered no explanation for the discrepancy in weight.

-A ruling issued early this week said Crispin was being suspended 30 days and fined $1,000. For the final 10 days of the suspension, Crispin will be allowed to work horses in the morning. The suspension took effect on Monday, March 1.

“We were disturbed by this,” Campola said. “It doesn't sit well. We really had no guideline (on the extent of the penalty), so we called around to different places, but I didn't get anyone to say this has happened to them before. In the end, we thought it was a pretty fair penalty.”

Saumell is not suspected of any wrongdoing, Campola said.

There have, in fact, been a few cases of jockeys weighing in after a race with a lower weight than they registered just before the race. And keep in mind that, typically, riders come back after a race weighing more. In Kentucky for example, a rider is permitted an additional six pounds after riding in a race (three pounds for protective gear like safety vest, helmet and goggles and three pounds for rain, dirt or mud splattered or caked on their clothes).

In 1990 at defunct Bay Meadows in Northern California, jockey Ricky Frazier received a six-month suspension when he weighed in three pounds light after winning the $250,000 Final Fourteen Stakes by a nose.

In 2018, jockey Matt Garcia was suspended seven days by stewards at Los Alamitos in Southern California for twice weighing in about two pounds under his assigned weight.

In the 2010 Belmont Stakes in New York, Uptowncharlybrown  was disqualified from fifth place when an eight-pound lead pad slipped off from underneath the saddle and saddle towel during the running of the race, causing jockey Rajiv Maragh to weigh in well under the 126-pound assignment. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin accepted the blame for that mistake.

How could a jockey and his or her equipment weigh less after a race than before? Jockeys and horsemen I spoke to provided some insights but asked that they not be named.

One way is for a jockey to slide lead weights into his or her boots before the race and then discarding them. Another is for a rider to gorge on a meal before getting weighed pre-race and then “flipping,” or self-induced vomiting.

Finally, there have been suspicions of jockey valets removing lead weights from the slots in saddle pads after the jockey weighs out pre-race. But in many jurisdictions, valets draw numbers to determine which horse they help saddle, so are not regularly assigned to their jockey's horse.

In all of these instances, the riders are going to depend on a clerk of scales who gives a cursory glance at the weight as jockeys quickly step on and off the scale, often with the indicator arrow still moving. Some clerks of scale have gotten in trouble for allowing incorrect weights post-race, but in these cases they usually involve riders who are unable to make assigned weights and are several pounds overweight, even after the safety equipment and dirt/mud allowances are taken into account.

Two steps should be taken to clean up this part of the business.

First, use digital scales that not only have an easy to read display but also can relay the information to the stewards and record all weights taken. Second, as many South American tracks do, focus a television camera on the scale and, after each race, let the wagering public see for themselves the weights of each rider.

As Adam Campola said, “There are integrity issues.” In this case, they aren't that difficult to fix.

That's my view from the eighth pole.

The post View From The Eighth Pole: If Weight Matters, Take It More Seriously appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘I Really Needed Somebody To Push Me’: Davis Credits New Agent For Recent Success

After going a month between starters, jockey Katie Davis is making up for lost time.

The 28-year-old fiancée of fellow rider Trevor McCarthy has registered seven wins with her last 15 mounts including a hat trick Sept. 12, the last live racing day at Laurel Park. She is named in three of 10 races when action resumes Thursday at Laurel, and two of nine races Friday.

A Maryland regular since late 2016, Davis rode three programs at Colonial Downs in neighboring Virginia before the meet was closed down Aug. 14 with a number of positive coronavirus results. One of them was McCarthy, and though she tested negative she joined her fiance in quarantine for two weeks.

With agent John DiNatale handling her book, Davis returned to action Sept. 3 and rode at least one winner each day that weekend including a two-win day Sept. 4. She has also finished third twice during her recent stretch.

“When I came back from the quarantine I was kind of lost and confused on what I wanted to do, because all the agents were pretty much taken. I really needed somebody to push me,” Davis said. “You can only do so much with yourself. I got very lucky. Trevor kind of put the word out for me a little more.

“Frank Saumell, the clerk of scales, said he had a longtime friend that had been in the business for 30-some years, 40 years. He used to be a trainer but he really wanted to get back in the game and become an agent,” she added. “That was probably the best thing that ever happened to me.”

DiNatale won 145 races and more than $1.5 million in purses in a training career with stops and starts between 1976 and 2009. One of his best horses was Stonewall Sue, who ran fifth in the 1994 Maryland Million Distaff and 1995 Shamrock Stakes at Laurel.

“A lot of people do know him, people that have been in the game a lot longer. Just picking him up really gave me that confidence that I needed,” Davis said. “Not that Trevor didn't give me confidence in that way, but the confidence in my own business to succeed and ride smart and keep going. That's what really lifted me up off my feet.

“Even the first week John and I were together he was like, 'Keep doing what you're doing, don't change a thing. You're riding smart and giving your horses every opportunity to win.' That alone shows that I can do this. I can perform well with the horses.”

Davis has 229 wins from 1,882 career starters and purse earnings of more than $6.1 million. She is one of six children that grew up around the sport while their father, Robbie, was winning 3,382 races between 1981 and 2002 primarily on the New York circuit. Older sister Jackie and younger brother Dylan are also professional jockeys, respectively based in Pennsylvania and New York.

In addition to her agent, Davis continues to lean on her father for his input. His mother, Davis' grandmother, passed away Sept. 1.

“Recently we've been talking a lot more. I really sat him down and said, 'C'mon, it's time to look at my races now. You've been looking at Dylan's for far too long,'” Davis laughed. “I sent him all my races, even if I finish last or got in a bad spot and ask him what he thinks I can do differently. He told me I was doing good and riding smart and my left hand was amazing. It's important to use both hands.”

The post ‘I Really Needed Somebody To Push Me’: Davis Credits New Agent For Recent Success appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights