Jockey Hector Rafael Diaz Jr. Driven By Hope That His Brother Will Walk Again

When Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr., dreams about racing against his brother, he can't identify the track or what horse he's riding. He doesn't know if it is a stakes or a $5,000 claiming race.

All that remains is the pure joy of competition.

As the siblings turn for home, their horses vying head-to-head, neither jockey gives an inch. Each seems to know what the other is thinking, and Hector Rafael's adrenaline skyrockets from the thrill of knowing that he and young Hector Miguel are living the life they were meant for.

When he wakes up, Hector Rafael is unsure who won. He snaps into a harsh reality, the scenario so vivid in his mind only a fantasy.

But there is no time to dwell on sadness or regrets. Hector Miguel, 27 (“Migue,” to family and friends), is back home in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down by a riding accident at Hipodromo Camarero in Canovanas on Jan. 3, 2015, almost two years before Hector Rafael rode his first race.

Chances are, Migue already has studied the past performances for his brother's mounts at Tampa Bay Downs and is ready to offer his observations and advice by phone.

Leaving home before daylight to work horses and get ready for the races, Hector Rafael kisses his fiancée Deyanyra and her 3-year-old son, Andrew. Being at Tampa Bay Downs, where he is tied for third place in the standings with 38 victories, feels like a dream come true.

A dream he shares with his brother.

“I would have loved to ride with him, to compete against him,” said the 31-year-old Diaz, whose 18.5-percent strike rate at the meeting is fourth-best at Tampa Bay Downs among jockeys with 100 or more starts. “In my dream, I think my brother beats me sometimes and I beat him sometimes. But it doesn't really matter. It's just us doing what we love, what we dreamed of doing.”

Their father, Hector Rafael Diaz, Sr., was also a jockey, retiring in his mid-30s after incurring more than his share of injuries. Neither he nor their mother, Norma Sanchez, wanted the boys to become jockeys, but years of going to Camarero to watch their father compete had already stoked their passion. Having an even more well-known pair of brothers as cousins and neighbors – Irad Ortiz, Jr., and Jose Ortiz – provided more fuel for the Diaz boys' fire.

“Every parent wants their kid to be a doctor or a lawyer and have a good career. I was a good student, and they wanted me to keep studying,” Diaz said. “But my brother and I went to the races every weekend to watch our father race, and we both came to want it.

“My brother didn't do it for money. He loved riding horses, and I'm the same way. This is not a job for me.”

The brothers talk on a daily basis, the discussion usually coming around to the horses Hector Rafael rode, or is scheduled to ride. “Migue is on top of all my horses,” said Diaz. “I call him when I finish working to talk about the races and I call him after the last race. He'll tell me what he thinks about the horses I'm riding, and we'll go over how to ride a race if 'Plan A' goes out the window when the gate opens.”

Migue, who is married with a 7-year-old son, Jesier, who wants to be a jockey, watches races from numerous tracks through his TVG account, but he is laser-focused on Tampa Bay Downs as his older brother climbs the ladder of success.

“His brother follows everything he does,” said Shawn Klotz, Diaz's agent. “From what Hector tells me, his brother could flat-out ride. He was one of the best jockeys out there.”

The record bears that out. During his three-year career, which began in 2012 when he was 19, Migue won 477 races from 2,558 mounts – an 18.6-percent strike rate – and captured three graded stakes in Puerto Rico, including two Grade Is.

“I thought he was the best rider I'd ever seen. We don't know how good he could have been,” said Hector Rafael.

Around the same time Migue's career was taking off, Hector Rafael, then 23, enrolled in the Escuela La Vocacional Hipica jockey school. He stayed there a year, then headed to New York to work as an exercise rider for trainer George Weaver.

In the fall of 2014, Migue moved north to reunite with his brother and ride at Belmont Park, Laurel, Aqueduct and Meadowlands. He managed four winners from 42 mounts, but the combination of the unfamiliar surroundings, a language barrier and frigid weather led him to return to Puerto Rico before the year ended.

That December, Hector Rafael took a vacation from his job for Weaver, returning home for the holidays. He was at the beach when Migue called him from the racetrack, reminding him he had one more race to ride and asking him to wait for his arrival.

About 20 minutes later, Irad Ortiz, Jr., called Hector Rafael and told him his brother had been in an accident. The horse inside Migue's mount came out a little, his horse clipped heels and the rider tumbled off, landing on his head and paralyzing his lower body.

Life can never be the same for an athlete who becomes paralyzed, especially one nearing the prime of their career. A little more than six years later, Migue sounds matter-of-fact about his accident, almost as if it had been an out-of-body experience he viewed through a camera lens. What beats inside him is perhaps best left between himself, family members and God, but he never blamed the sport or anyone else for what happened.

“I knew the risk when I chose to become a jockey,” Migue said in a recent Facetime conversation, which Hector Rafael translated for a reporter. “You know something like that can happen, but you don't think about it.

“God had other plans for me, and I'm following that. I am my brother's No. 1 fan, and I take his victories like they are mine.”

The Diaz brothers with their mother, Norma Sanchez

After the accident, their parents implored Hector Rafael to give up his dream and pursue another career. But he had already made up his mind.

“I had always wanted to be a jockey, but my brother getting hurt made me want it even more,” he said. “I thought, he can't do it anymore, so now it's my turn. I told my parents 'I respect your feelings, but this is what I love, and this is what I'm going to do.' I have to stay strong for him. He's not showing weakness, so I can't show weakness.”

While his brother began the arduous task of rehabilitation and learning to cope with a new way of life, Diaz returned to New York for more seasoning. His moment of reckoning came in a claiming race at Aqueduct on Nov. 11, 2016, when he rode Weaver's 3-year-old filly Shoppingforsilver, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, to a second-place finish in his first career race.

“It was me, Javier Castellano, Irad and Jose, and Manuel Franco (and Addiel Ayala) in that race. All good jockeys,” Diaz recalls, smiling at the memory. “I was a little nervous, but I enjoyed it. Being in the jockeys' room in New York was a great education. I learned a lot from guys like Cornelio Velasquez and Kendrick Carmouche, and Irad and Jose. You could go to any corner of that room and learn things from jockeys who were glad to share their knowledge.”

His first career victory on Jan. 15, 2017, aboard Honorable Jonas launched a year in which Diaz rode 74 winners, earning recognition as a finalist for an Eclipse Award as Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. Another graduate of Puerto Rico's jockey school, Evin Roman, won the award, but by staying in New York, Diaz established his ability to compete against many of the finest jockeys in the country.

“I started working with Hector that summer at Monmouth Park, and we won a bunch of races,” said Klotz, his agent. “Winning is what gets a jockey into new barns, and there were a lot of good outfits that wanted to use him.

“Hector studies races, he listens and he is always willing to learn. He is very patient – he isn't going to make a premature move that gets a horse beat. He'll sit and wait for his chance to pounce, but if there is no speed in a race, he's comfortable being on the lead,” Klotz said.

Last year, Diaz finished fifth in the standings at Monmouth with 30 victories. That performance came after he fractured three vertebrae in a fall at Aqueduct, causing him to miss six weeks, followed by almost three months off due to track closures caused by COVID-19.

Toward the end of Monmouth's season, trainer Michael Stidham's assistant, Ben Trask, suggested Diaz forgo New York's lucrative purses and give Tampa Bay Downs a shot. After weighing the pros and cons, Diaz decided it could only benefit his career exposing his talent to a brand-new audience.

“When I left New York last fall (soon after riding trainer Arnaud Delacour's 2-year-old colt Arrest Me Red to victory in the Atlantic Beach Stakes at Aqueduct on Nov. 6), I felt like the best rider out there,” Diaz said. “No disrespect to anybody; there are a lot of great riders who if they've got the horse, are going to show their talent. But when I'm riding races, I feel like I can do anything they can and nobody can outsmart me. That's the confidence I built being in New York with all those good riders.”

Diaz has won eight times for the Stidham barn this season, while also winning races for 16 other outfits. But Trask said the decision to use Diaz as the stable's “go-to” jockey in Oldsmar was based on more than his ability to win races.

Diaz winning aboard Skol Chant for trainer Michael Stidham

“It's very hard for someone who has never been here before to come in and be successful, because you have a handful of guys, like (Samy) Camacho and (Antonio) Gallardo and (Daniel) Centeno, who win a lot of races,” Trask said. “But Hector was already part of our team, and he knows what it takes to get the job done.

“Anybody can win a race. But Hector is a team player who got to see what happens behind the scenes when he worked for George Weaver, and that makes a big difference,” Trask said. “I have 40 people working in our barn, and he knows all their names and speaks to everybody when he comes to work. Hector never has a chip on his shoulder. When one of our guys shows up in the paddock with a horse, he greets them with respect.”

Kathleen O'Connell, who also uses Diaz on many of her horses, has helped cultivate the careers of numerous good jockeys, including Gallardo. She believes Diaz has the skill, confidence and courage to be as good as any of them.

“He is already polished, and I think he has a great future if he keeps doing what he's doing,” O'Connell said. “He is smart enough to know that you learn every day. You always need luck and the right horses and everything else, but as long as he keeps an open mind, he will keep progressing.”

O'Connell said Diaz's style puts horses at ease. “There is a big difference between taking a light hold and strangling a horse, and he has very kind hands on a horse and is astute as to how they are traveling. He cares about the animals and is a good communicator.”

After competing in New York as a proverbial small fish in a big pond, Diaz is getting noticed on a widespread basis. He is comfortable with his status as one of the top four jockeys this season at Tampa Bay Downs and the extra attention that comes with it.

“To be up there with guys like Gallardo and Centeno, who have won multiple titles, and Camacho, that is amazing,” Klotz said. “Those guys are cornerstones of Tampa Bay.”

Diaz – who has an 11-year-old daughter, Heclian, and a 2-year-old son, Jayden, from previous relationships – yearns to see his brother and his parents soon; he hasn't been home in a few years. He says his parents are more accepting of his career choice and proud at how he represents himself and the family.

“My father calls me a lot to talk about the horses and my career. I know it's tough for parents to see their kid can't walk, and I know there are nights when they cry in bed,” Diaz said. “But Migue is alive, and that's how we have to view it.”

In surroundings that are often hectic, when every move he makes can mean the difference between winning and losing, Diaz puts everything else out of his mind. But win or lose, he is uplifted knowing Migue provides another set of eyes that are invaluable in helping to keep the family tradition strong.

“My brother is my hero. I don't think I would ever have taken what happened the way he does,” Diaz said. “He is the one who gave me the big push to do what I am doing now. I don't know why, but I never think about his accident. I pray God to protect all of us riders on the track, but we got to compete. When I'm on top of a horse, I just think about winning the race.”

Diaz has another dream, one he carries in his heart. “I always say if I do real good, I want to take him somewhere to doctors who can help him walk again. That is my goal. He is grateful he is alive, and I am grateful he is alive. We know things could be a lot worse. But there is always a hope, and we never lose that.”

It is a dream worth sharing, with the racetrack community and the world.

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Royally-Bred Mystic Guide Headlines Saturday’s Razorback Handicap

Unbeaten Essential Quality, the country's 2-year-old male of 2020, isn't the only stakes entrant for global power Godolphin LLC Saturday at Oaklawn.

About 90 minutes before Essential Quality's 3-year-old debut in the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3), Godolphin is scheduled to be represented by another homebred, Mystic Guide, in a major local event for older horses.

Mystic Guide is the 9-5 program favorite for the $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3), a 1 1/16-mile race that is a major steppingstone toward the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) at 1 1/8 miles April 17. Probable post time for the Razorback, which goes as the seventh of 11 races, is 3:20 p.m. (Central).

The Razorback was originally scheduled to be run Feb. 13 before fierce winter weather shuttered racing at Oaklawn for two weeks. It will still mark the 4-year-old debut for the royally bred Mystic Guide, who is by 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper out of millionaire multiple Grade 1 winner Music Note.

Trained by Michael Stidham, Mystic Guide has already built a solid resume in six career starts, winning the $150,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) Sept. 5 at Saratoga before concluding his 2020 campaign with a second-place finish, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the $250,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) Oct. 10 at Belmont Park.

Stidham said the Razorback figures to lead to longer events because of maturity and Mystic Guide's pedigree. The colt, who didn't race at 2, broke his maiden at 1 1/16 miles, is a Grade 2 winner at 1 1/8 miles (Jim Dandy) and nearly a Grade 1 winner at 1 ¼ miles (Jockey Club Gold Cup).

“Those are the races we're going to focus on,” Stidham said. “After this, hopefully, we'll be looking at races, a mile and an eighth, mile and a quarter, those type of races.”

Stidham said he chose to start Mystic Guide's 2021 campaign in the Razorback because Maxfield, yet another unbeaten Godolphin homebred, was being pointed to the $200,000 Mineshaft Stakes (G3) for older horses Feb. 13 at Fair Grounds. Mystic Guide has recorded a series of sharp workouts at Fair Grounds leading up to his 2021 debut.

“The mile and a sixteenth, it'll be a little quicker than what he ran, fractions, in his last couple,” Stidham said. “But, I don't see him being worse than like mid-pack, laying third or fourth, something like that.”

The projected seven-horse Razorback field from the rail out: Silver Prospector, Ricardo Santana Jr. to ride, 117 pounds, 5-1 on the morning line; Hunka Burning Love, David Cabrera, 117, 9-2; Mailman Money, Joe Talamo, 115, 10-1; Owendale, Joel Rosario, 120, 2-1; Rated R Superstar, Ramon Vazquez, 115, 8-1; Long Range Toddy, Jon Court, 116, 12-1; and Mystic Guide, Luis Saez, 121, 9-5.

Millionaire multiple Grade 3 winner Owendale will be making his Oaklawn debut for owner Rupp Racing and Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox. Based most of the last two months at Oaklawn, Owendale hasn't started since finishing third in the $500,000 Clark Stakes (G1) Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs.

Cox said he thought about running Owendale in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park, but opted for Oaklawn because of its lucrative series of stakes races for older horses. Owendale has finished first, second or third in 13 of 20 lifetime starts and bankrolled $1,348,435.

“He can adjust,” Cox said, referring to Owendale's running style. “He's been close and still finishes well, when there's not a lot of pace. I feel confident that he'll be able to adjust to whatever the pace seems to be.”

Silver Prospector (2020 Southwest), Long Range Toddy (first division of 2019 Rebel) and Rated R Superstar (2019 Essex) are Oaklawn stakes winners. Hunka Burning Love finished second, beaten a nose, in the $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes for older horses Jan. 23 at Oaklawn.

Owendale, Silver Prospector, Mystic Guide and Long Range Toddy were entered when the race was originally scheduled to be run Feb. 13. It also drew seven entrants.

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Mandaloun Strengthens Cox’s Derby Hand With Risen Star Triumph

Racing with blinkers for the first time in his fourth career start, Juddmonte Farms Inc.'s Mandaloun – a homebred colt by Into Mischief – overtook Midnight Bourbon in mid-stretch, then held off a late charge from Proxy to win Saturday's Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La.

Ridden by Florent Geroux, Mandaloun is trained by Brad Cox, who now has three strong prospects for the Kentucky Derby, including last year's G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and 2-year-old champion, Essential Quality and Caddo River, who won the Smarty Jones Stakes on opening day of the Oaklawn meet in Arkansas.

Mandaloun ran the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.39 and paid $6.20 as the favorite. Proxy, a Tapit colt owned and bred by Godolphin, finished second, a half length ahead of Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon in third. O Besos was 5 3/4 lengths back in fourth and 5-2 second choice Senor Busador fifth in the field of 11 3-year-olds. Defeater and Keepmeinmind were scratched. All starters carried 122 pounds and all competed without the race-day anti-bleeder medication Lasix, a requirement for horses to earn Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

The first four finishers received 50-20-10-5 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

Updated Kentucky Derby leaderboard

Rightandjust, breaking from the outside post position, rushed up to take the early lead from Midnight Bourbon, who was coming a front-running victory over Proxy and Mandaloun last out in the G3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds. Rightandjust set fractions of :23.65, :48.45 and 1:12.74 for the opening six furlongs.

Midnight Bourbon was just to the outside of Rightandjust's flank heading into the far turn, Mandaloun just behind that pair, and Proxy to his inside.

Midnight Bourbon edged to the lead inside the quarter pole and was confronted by Mandaloun at the furlong grounds after a mile in 1:37.50. Under aggressive handling by Geroux, Mandaloun put away Midnight Bourbon in the final sixteenth of a mile and had enough to withstand a late charge from Proxy.

“Blinkers on was a difference-maker today for sure,” said Geroux. “We knew he needed it racing, but he's been winning without them. He's always been a little funny down the lane. He's never given me his full potential. Today we had the same kind of trip we had in the Lecomte, but when I pushed on the gas today, he responded right away. Last time I feel like he wasn't giving me his best. He was a little more focused. No problem with the distance. We always thought he had the attitude and the pedigree to go further. It's not like I was saving ground all the way around and he got a little bit short at the end. I was pretty much three-wide all the way around there. I think the longer distance is definitely not going to be a problem for him.”

“More than anything, it was just the experience of having the race going two turns under his belt,” Cox said of Mandaloun. “He's had two great works since so we expected him to move forward, the way he was training. I think the blinkers did help out. Florent immediately made a comment after the race. Much more focused in the post parade, more focused on his job. We didn't put a bunch of cup on him, just like a one-inch cup, but it seems to have done the trick to get him mentally over the top, mentally getting him where he needs to be. It (the Louisiana Derby) is definitely going to be in play. We will talk it over with Garrett O'Rourke and the Juddmonte team and come up with a game plan. I'm very proud of the colt. He stepped up and ran a big race today. That (nine furlongs) is a big ask at any time for a Thoroughbred, and then to do it in February of your 3-year-old year. Garrett has made the comment several times that he thinks he's a mile-and-a-quarter-horse and he trains like one. He's got enough speed to be close and he stays on. He's got the physical make-up of a mile-and-a-quarter horse so we're optimistic he'll get better with more ground.”

Michael Stidham, who trains runner-up Proxy, said he was pleased with the colt's race.

“We all know that we're all hoping that we can be as good as we can be on a certain day (for the Kentucky Derby),” Stidham said. “He's inching in the right direction. I talked to Johnny (Velazquez) and his first impression was maybe blinkers. You can see going into the turn he dropped back like he was out and done. And then Johnny had to get after him, and when he did, he engaged again, then it looked like we might even get to the winner. He said if he just holds his position on the turn, he thinks we would have won. So again, I think it's a little bit of greenness and running a little spotty. The main thing is you want them to come out of these races healthy, you have something to work with, and you can inch forward and culminate for the big day in May. We'll experiment with the blinkers in the morning and if we feel like it's an added improvement, we'll try. The (March 20) Louisiana Derby would be the obvious next spot if he's healthy and ready to go. I asked Johnny and he thought the added distance was going to continue to help him, rather than hurt him, and that's huge at this stage.”

“He made a solid run. He faced a little more pace pressure this time than he did in the Lecomte. But I think you see the top-3 there are extremely tough horses and are going to be heard from again.”

Midnight Bourbon's jockey, Joe Talamo, was impressed with the fight his mount showed down the stretch. “I was smiling the whole way,” Talamo said. “He still has some upside. Obviously the winner got to me and went by, but what impressed me the most was he was still fighting the whole way. A lot of horses, when they get passed, they cave in, but he was still fighting. I still believe the further the better with him. You're never going to get everything your own way but the other horse (sixth-place finisher Rightandjust) was going pretty hard, and that didn't help us. I would have liked to have sat a little off, but that first eighth (of a mile) didn't help but I was proud of him.”

Produced from the Empire Maker broodmare, Brooch, a Group 2 winner in Ireland, Mandaloun was winning for the third time in four starts. He won on debut at Keeneland last October going six furlongs, then added a seven-furlong allowance victory at Churchill Downs the following month. The Lecome on Jan. 16 was his initial two-turn test and 2021 debut.

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Manor House, Colt From First Crop By Upstart, Runs Away From Laurel Park Foes In Debut

Newtown Anner Stud Farm's Manor House, a juvenile colt from the first crop by multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire Upstart, was never threatened romping by 12 ¼ lengths in his career debut Saturday at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

Ridden by Victor Carrasco for trainer Michael Stidham, Manor House ($10.80) ran one mile in 1:38.31 over a fast main track in the maiden special weight for 2-year-olds. Dream Big Dreams, the 6-5 favorite also making his first start for meet-leading trainer Brittany Russell, edged Rippolino by a neck for a distant second.

Manor House, out of the Dixie Union mare Cascina, outran 25-1 longshot Camp Pendleton for the lead and went the opening quarter-mile in 24.10 and a half in 47.50, when Camp Pendleton moved within a half-length of the front-runner. Manor House got his cue on the turn and opened up with ease on his rivals, galloping to the wire under a hand ride.

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