Tag: jockey

Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Mena’s ‘Pure Courage’ Grants Him Another Chance In Saratoga

Winners aren't people who never fall. They're people who never quit. 

Jockey Miguel Mena knows that truth all too well. A serious ankle injury in early 2018, complicated by fracture blistering which prevented surgical repair, kept him out of the saddle for a long, arduous eight months of physical therapy.

“It has changed my schedule a lot, because I have a crooked foot that is painful all the time,” Mena explained. “I can't run anymore, and even if I do too much walking, it hurts. I have to ride my bike all the time on the backstretch, so I can save my foot for the races. Thankfully it doesn't hurt when I'm on the horses, but it totally changed my routine.”

The 34-year-old native of Peru had been an avid runner, utilizing the exercise to maintain his weight and fitness for his riding career. Now, with running off the table, Mena uses a stationary bike and other low-impact forms of cardio to achieve that goal.

None of those challenges have stopped Mena. In the past several weeks, he's traveled out of state to win both the Grade 3 Ohio Derby at Thistledown with Masqueparade and the G3 Robert G. Dick Memorial at Delaware Park with Dalika. Both horses are trained by Al Stall, Jr., one of the first individuals to give Mena a big shot after his ankle injury.

Mena had a strong 2019 season that earned him the honor of the inaugural Randy Romero “Pure Courage” Award for his comeback, presented in February of 2020. Last June, Stall gave Mena the leg up on his stable star Tom's d'Etat for a win in the G2 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs.

Tom's d'Etat and Miguel Mena win the 2020 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs.

“He had been letting me work Tom's d'Etat in the mornings, and he always told me that if (regular rider Joel) Rosario couldn't ride him, I was gonna be the guy,” Mena relayed. “I'm so grateful for the opportunity to ride that horse. Mr. Stall, he gives me a lot of confidence, he trusts my work, and lets me get on the horses from when they're very young.”

That trust and teamwork has led to another exciting opportunity with improving sophomore colt Masqueparade (Upstart). A winner in his last three starts, including his graded stakes debut in the Ohio Derby, Masqueparade will now head to Saratoga for the G3 Jim Dandy on July 31.

“That colt, we got him as a 2-year-old here, and we were always very high on him,” Mena said. “He showed a lot of talent from day one, but he was kind of a slow learner. He was such a big colt, we knew the talent was there but we had to take our time.

“My boss Al Stall, he's a very patient trainer and he takes his time. Now, in his last two starts, he's really improving and getting better and better.”

Masqueparade wins at Churchill Downs on May 1, 2021

The Jim Dandy will be a significant test for Masqueparade, as the race is expected to draw Juvenile Champion and Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality. 

“I think we have the horse to beat him,” Mena said. “Between working him and getting him to the races, I've just never seen the horse get tired. He was always getting better slowly, and we just haven't seen the best of him yet. I'm so excited to see the future from him. With his maturity and more races, I think he can beat the top horse in the country.”

Stall echoed Mena's belief in the colt earlier this week.

“He's on a wickedly improving curve, which is good,” Stall told the Daily Racing Form. “We ought to give him a chance to see how far he can take himself.”

It's been 10 years since Mena has ridden at Saratoga, and it's also the site of a dark spot in his career. At age 22, having just arrived at Saratoga as a promising young jockey, Mena developed a drinking problem that threatened to derail his promising career.

Mena took responsibility for his actions and entered Alcoholics Anonymous.

“AA is like another family I have now,” Mena told the Post-Star in 2010. “I never thought I'd meet people who would listen to me the way they do. It's very good. It's a family that supports me. I don't have my family here in the states and AA is a big part of my life now.”

The biggest turning point came when he married his wife April in 2011. The couple subsequently had two daughters, Naelah and Montserrat.

“They're daddy's girls,” Mena said of the 7 and 8-year-old. “They always look for where to spend time with me, going swimming or to the park.”

Thanks to his family's unwavering support, Mena never felt tempted to turn to alcohol during the process of healing from his ankle injury and the difficult eight months of physical therapy.

“I've got a strong support system now, with my family and friends,” Mena explained. “It feels good, you know. It's been a long road, 17 years in the United States with a lot of ups and downs.”

The son and brother of jockeys, Mena remembers following his father to the track in Peru as often as he could, beginning at just six years of age. By age 11 he was grooming horses, and at 14 Mena started at the Jorge Bernardini Yori Jockey School in Peru, which also produced Rafael Bejarano and Hall of Famer Edgar Prado.

He moved to the United States at age 17, and the Midwest-based jockey has now won 2,071 races from just over 16,000 career starts.

“I'm so excited to keep showing up to the track in the mornings, getting on young horses, because those are the ones to take you to the big races,” Mena said. “But really, I just want to win races, whether it's a $5,000 claimer or the Kentucky Derby.

“I came here with a lot of dreams. I came very hungry to work my butt off. I'm so grateful to this country. It has given me a better life, not only for me but for my family in Peru as well. I'm very thankful.”

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Hall Of Fame Jockey John Rotz Dies At 86

A class act both in and out of the saddle, Hall of Fame jockey John Rotz died peacefully at the age of 86 at his farm in Warrensburg, Illinois, on July 12. Rotz, who won 2,907 races and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983, was North America's leading stakes-winning rider in 1969 and 1970, when he rode Hall of Famers Gallant Bloom and Ta Wee, as well as champion Silent Screen.

Born Dec. 16, 1934, in Niantic, Illinois, Rotz went to work at Fairmount Park following his graduation from high school in 1952. He started out as a groom, hot walker, and exercise rider before making his debut as a jockey in 1953.

Known as “Gentleman John,” Rotz began his career riding in fairs in the Midwest before becoming the leading rider in New York in 1961 and 1962. He won the Preakness Stakes by a nose aboard Greek Money in 1962 and the Belmont Stakes on High Echelon in 1970.

Polite, articulate, dependable rather than flashy, his opinion was valued by trainers both before and after a race. Rotz had a gentle touch with temperamental horses and was known for his success with fillies. He won the Acorn and Mother Goose on Deceit and won notable races aboard top fillies such as What a Treat, Rose Bower, Obeah, Castle Forbes, Indian Maid, Rash Statement, and Chou Croute.

Rotz won the Metropolitan with both Hall of Famer Carry Back and In Reality, the Wood Memorial on Globemaster and No Robbery, and the Champagne on Roman Brother, Silent Screen, and Stop the Music. He also rode Hall of Famer Dr. Fager, as well as Verbatim, The Axe II, and Mongo.

Rotz, who was honored with the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1973, retired from riding that year at the age of 39. His 2,907 wins ranked 15th at the time. He later served as The Jockey Club steward in New York.

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Pedroza Splitting Time Between Ellis Park, Indiana Grand

Marcelino Pedroza's hope still is to ride seven days a week this summer: Mondays-Thursdays at Indiana Grand in Shelbyvlle, Ind., where he has a 12-win lead in the jockey standings with 42 victories and a meet-leading $1.12 million in purse earnings, and then Fridays-Sundays at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky. While he's found the Ellis opportunities limited so far, the jockey is making the most of them.

With only five mounts spread over four days, Pedroza has two wins and a second. His victories include Saturday's fourth race for locally-based trainer Billy Stinson Jr. in Pedroza's only mount of the afternoon. Stinson also trains Ziggy's Storm, who won with Pedroza on July 3 at 11-1 odds.

“It's been pretty good,” Pedroza said. “I haven't had the opportunities I'm waiting for. But at the same time, I understand that the other guys are working (horses in the mornings) here every week, and I don't work any horses. But I'm glad Billy gave me the opportunity on both of us horses, and we're 2 for 2. Thanks to him and thanks to everybody who have given me the opportunity. Hopefully, I'll get more opportunities.”

Stinson said he rode Pedroza when he first came to Kentucky and now uses him when racing at Indiana Grand.

“He's a really good kid, and he tries hard – and he's a good rider,” Stinson said.

Pedroza lives in Louisville, two hours from Indiana Grand. What makes riding at Ellis possible is that with school out, his family — wife Rocio, daughter Rosie and son Jeremy — can come with him to Henderson.

“When they're in school, it's a little bit tougher because I want to spend time with them,” he said. “I ride only one (Sunday), but they came with me and we'll spend the night here.”

Pedroza got to Ellis Park very early Saturday to work Bango, upon whom he won Churchill Downs' Aristides Stakes for trainer Greg Foley. But torrential rain and thunderstorm forced the track to be closed for training.

“Even all seven days, I don't care. I like to be on a horse,” Pedroza said. “Just like this morning. I came to work horses, and they canceled the works. I told Greg, 'I want to get on a horse.' He said, 'Well, tack shedrow Bango' and another one I ride for him.”

So Pedroza got on the horses and walked them around the barn shedrow, an unusual use of time for a jockey. As he said, “I'm here for work. I'm not here to play.”

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Drayden Van Dyke Returning To Southern California

Jockey Drayden Van Dyke, the 2014 Eclipse Award-winning apprentice, is making plans to move back to Southern California, reports the Daily Racing Form.

The 26-year-old rider shifted his tack to Kentucky in the spring of 2021, and was represented by retired Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens while riding at Turfway Park, Keeneland and Churchill Downs. Van Dyke also earned his first mount in the Kentucky Derby aboard the Wesley Ward-trained Like The King, who finished 12th.

“Coming out here was a great learning experience and it's only going to make me better,” Van Dyke told DRF. “It wasn't a mistake coming here. It was really good for me. Riding with different riders out here, in a room that is loaded with talent, you learn stuff and you learn how to hustle.”

Van Dyke plans to finish out this weekend at Ellis Park before heading back to California for the start of the Del Mar meeting. Brandon O'Bryan will represent Van Dyke on the West Coast.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

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