Jockeys Katie and Jackie Davis, both regular riders on the NYRA circuit, will head to Puerto Rico on Sunday to compete in Camarero Race Track's second annual Jockette Challenge, a multi-race competition for female jockeys on the eight-race card.
The Jockette Challenge, which was first contested in March 2020, returns after being canceled in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 17 women have been invited to participate in the four all-female races that make up the competition. The top-five finishers will receive points on a 15-10-7-4-2 scale with the winner determined by the jockey who has scored the most points. A trophy will be presented to the winner at the conclusion of the card.
“I'm all for women riding races and pushing to keep striving forward,” said Katie Davis, whose five North American victories this year include a stakes triumph aboard Funny How in the Broadway at Aqueduct. “A lot of females in the sport are up against each other because we're all competing, but if we can stick together, we can move further along.”
Jackie Davis has also won five races this year, led by a strong allowance optional claiming victory on January 5 aboard Easy to Bless, who she rides again in Saturday's $100,000 Correction at the Big A.
Jackie said she is looking forward to competing against both the seasoned veterans and the next generation of female riders.
“I get really excited about going to new places and environments and seeing how they ride there,” Jackie said. “It's very empowering to ride with all women and with some of the bug girls coming out of the school.”
The challenge was co-founded by retired jockey Wilfredo “Willie” Lozano, Jr., who is now an instructor at the Escuela Vocacional Hipica Agustin Mercado Reveron Jockey School at Camarero, located in Canóvanas.
Lozano, Jr. won 967 races in his career and met Jackie when they were riding together at Suffolk Downs. He invited her and Katie to compete and represent the mainland's talented pool of female jockeys, a group who continue to inspire the growing number of young women enrolling in Camarero's jockey school.
“I invited them because they're doing really good and we wanted to invite women from the States, too,” said Lozano, Jr. “We didn't have the challenge in 2021 and 2022, but we're going to do it this year and next year and try to keep it going. We have eight women in the school with two graduating this year and six next year. The colony of women is growing, and every year more come to the school. They've been watching more and more women involved in the sport and they've become interested in it.”
Jackie said she feels privileged to meet and help teach students in the school.
“Willie told me a lot of these girls follow me on Instagram and look up to us,” said Jackie. “Katie and I are engaged in our own careers and sometimes we don't realize how well we've done, so being able to take a step back and be a role model is very exciting.”
Katie is slated to ride in Races 1 [No. 3, Knievel] and 7 [No. 7, Dulce Mariana] on Sunday with Jackie set to ride in Races 1 [No. 1, Ninetydaysofwinter], 4 [No. 1, Ofrenda] and 7 [No. 5, Vida Real]. Other mainland jockeys on the card include Carol Cedeno and Rebecca LaBarre.
“It's all come together and I want to take advantage of the opportunity,” said Katie. “I've ridden with Carol Cedeno and I rode with Rebecca LaBarre in Maryland. I've never been to Puerto Rico, so I'm going to enjoy it.”
Jackie echoed her sister's sentiments and said she looks forward to reuniting with some of their old friends.
“Katie and I feel like kids again riding lately. Carol and Rebecca are good friends of ours and I haven't ridden with them in a long time,” said Jackie. “It's going to be an amazing opportunity and a great way to promote women in racing.”
Tom Sage, the executive director of the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, is the new chairman of the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI), the umbrella organization representing governmental regulators of horse and greyhound racing.
While ARCI chairs serve one-year terms, Sage actually has experience in the board's top spot. He first served as chairman in 2020. But with COVID wreaking havoc on the industry, Sage was awarded a subsequent term — and another that promises to be unprecedented and eventful.
This time, the racing industry faces seismic changes under the Horse Racing Integrity & Safety Act (HISA), which itself faces multiple legal challenges to the federal law that ceded to a private Authority some key roles previously the domain of state regulators. The court cases include a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling HISA unconstitutional, while the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals last week ruled it constitutional.
“Our U.S. members face enormous problems caused by the uncertainty of the implementation of the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Act and its programs,” Sage said in addressing the ARCI. “… One of the original goals of the act was to have uniformity, clarity and simplification. Almost two years (into it), we have uncertainty and confusion, both coming at a considerable cost to this industry. HISA can work. Our president, Mr. (Ed) Martin, says it can. I'm not so sure.
“To do that, HISA at the very least would have to revisit how they have structured their program. What would be required? Admit there have been missteps. I'm not convinced they can do that. Perhaps the biggest question is whether Thoroughbred racing can afford and survive the HISA program. Or is there a better way to achieve the act's intention? There are states and racetracks considering the elimination of simulcast exports to free them from the regulatory burdens and HISA costs. I know that. One of my tracks, my state, is doing that right now. We're not simulcasting because of the costs and the fears. I also know – quietly – that there are other states considering the same. And these are states you'd never think would consider.
“If Thoroughbred racing opportunities diminish because of HISA, not only will the horsemen and those working at racetracks be impacted, so will the Thoroughbred breeders and the agriculture industry in our states. From where we stand, it is hard to watch… There's an expectation in some parts of the industry that all regulatory turmoil and new costs will result in fewer breakdowns, fewer equine deaths and apprehend more criminals. We'll see. We call it like it is, realizing not everyone will like what we say. To us, integrity counts more than narrative. Our agenda remains simple: To do the right thing.”
Sage thanked outgoing ARCI chair, Louisiana Racing Commission executive director Charles Gardiner III, along with the ARCI staff and the Nebraska commission and staff.
“This organization has been a beacon of animal wellness and integrity in our sport,” he said. “We consistently work to get it right, and never assume that improvements cannot be made…. We rise above the politics of the industry, and we are respectful for giving a fair assessment for every issue we encounter. Unlike some other organizations, everyone has a seat at our table.”
Under the ARCI, the board votes on a chair-elect, who assumes the chairmanship. The new chair-elect is Doug Moore, who was appointed to the Washington Horse Racing Commission's board after retiring as its executive director. Anthony Salerno of the Pennsylvania Racing Commission was selected treasurer, which puts him in line to be the next chair-elect.
Sage's career in horse racing began as a security officer in 1988 at Omaha's long-gone Ak-Sar-Ben Racetrack. He graduated in 1991 from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a bachelor's of science in criminal justice, going to work for the Nebraska Racing Commission in 1993 as an investigator. A 1995 graduate of the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center, Sage was promoted to director of investigations in 2003, taking over as executive director of the racing commission in 2008.
Leslie Amestoy walked away from the OBS auction ring when bidding rose above $180,000. That was the budget she and her husband, Pierre, had considered for the son of Practical Joke, after all.
Minutes later, Pierre Amestoy returned to the table and showed his wife the sales ticket: he'd bought the colt for a final bid of $230,000.
“She was so happy we got him,” Pierre said, “but then she asked me, 'Do you think that was the right move?'”
Pierre paused.
Then his wife said: “Hey, that's his name! Practical Move.”
Fast forward to 11 months after the sale, and it becomes obvious that going above their expected price tag for the colt was a very “practical move” for the Amestoys. The colt won the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity in December to close out his juvenile season, and in his 3-year-old debut, Practical Move proved his mettle with a 2 ½-length win in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita.
In total, Practical Move has won three of his six career starts for earnings of $434,200, and in so doing, has likely earned himself a spot in the 2023 edition of the Kentucky Derby.
“This was our dream,” Leslie said after the San Felipe. “It's been our dream for years and we love the colt; we are so happy and we really think we have a great horse.”
Looking back at that experience in Ocala, Pierre explained his reasoning for continuing to bid on the colt after his wife had given up.
“It was our first trip to Ocala,” he said. “We spent a week there, and we saw so many horses, hundreds of horses. Actually, we found him the very first day, and we just kept coming back to him. He had all the pieces we were looking for: a speed sire, a distance dam, he had to be able to carry the scope through his size and length, and he had to work fast. As we went through the progression, he wowed us for such a big colt to have the turn of foot that he showed in his work (:10 ⅕).
“You know, we've bought a lot of horses through the years at Keeneland, Ruidoso, the California sales, so we're well-versed in the process. Sometimes there's an educated risk to take, and that's what we did.”
The Amestoys are not new to the horse racing industry. They have owned, bred, and raced both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses for multiple decades, but their primary success has come near their hometown of Albuquerque, N.M.
In the 1970s, Pierre followed his father and brothers around the racing circuit in New Mexico. The patriarch led his family of six children to enjoy horse racing: two of Pierre's brothers became successful trainers, while another became a jockey.
In 1975, after his father sold the family drywall business, Pierre was asked to come to the racetrack as an agent for a couple friends who were jockeys.
“I didn't know what a condition book was,” Pierre admitted. “I got there very green, and I didn't know what to expect, but I started off with two jockeys who were well-known and well-received. I was quickly accepted by the trainers and the racing office, and I learned fast. I was fortunate to have a good stable of jockeys through the next 12 years, and we won multiple leading rider titles around New Mexico.”
Among the riders Pierre represented were Kent Koyle, Steve Renteria, Flavio Martinez, Rick Houghton, and Louie Figueroa, among others.
In 1979, Pierre met his future wife at Turf Paradise. Leslie, also a native of Albuquerque, was a national champion hunter/jumper at age 17, but had switched to racehorses after high school.
When the New Mexico racing industry began to decline, the couple moved away from the racetrack in 1988, resuming work in the construction business with Pierre's father. Both found that they missed that day-to-day connection with horses.
Pierre and Leslie bought Lobo Farm in Paris, Ky., in 2000, breeding mares, pinhooking yearlings, and reconnecting with the animals they loved. Unfortunately, the recession forced the sale of the farm in 2010.
Racinos had come to New Mexico in the meantime, so purses and, thus, the entire state's horse racing industry were on the upswing. The Amestoys had already begun running a lot more New Mexico-breds, both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses, and enjoyed quite a bit of success.
Perhaps the most recognizable name was that of First Moonflash. Pierre purchased the Quarter Horse as a yearling for $55,000 in 2006, and he would go on to win 18 of 25, including seven Grade 1 races, and earn just shy of $1 million.
In 2008, First Moonflash set his first world record when he went 400 yards at Sunland Park in 18.735 seconds.
First Moonflash set three more world records at Sunland Park in 2009: 350 yards in 16.715 seconds; 440 yards in 20.685 seconds; and 440 yards in 20.274 seconds, breaking his own previous world record. That same year, First Moonflash set a new track record at Albuquerque for 440 yards in :20.979 seconds.
At stud, First Moonflash's first crop produced the winner of the $2.6 million All American Futurity (G1), Handsome Jack Flash.
However, it was a cross on a Thoroughbred mare that would eventually lead the Amestoys into the world of high-class Thoroughbred racing. Roger Beasley owned a Southern Halo mare named Mi Camila. A foal-sharing agreement with the Amestoys led to a 2016 gelding by First Moonflash named Freedom Flash, who would go on to win a Grade 2 and become an 870-yard specialist, earning $417,301 thus far. A full sister was born in 2017, Mi Moonflash, who has collected multiple stakes wins and a Grade 3 placing for earnings of $315,357.
“We have a great relationship with Roger,” Pierre said. “He called me last February and said, 'Let's go get a couple of Thoroughbreds, something for the big races.' That led to the trip to Ocala.”
That trip actually led to the purchase of four 2-year-olds. Along with Practical Move, the Amestoys and Beasley partnered on a colt by Valiant Minister and a filly by Girvin.
In fact, the Girvin filly, named Blessed Touch, also turned in a big performance on the same weekend Practical Move won the San Felipe. She finished third in the G3 Santa Ysabel Stakes, earning 15 points toward the Kentucky Oaks.
The Amestoys also partnered with longtime friend Mike Abraham at that Ocala sale, buying a colt by Munnings. While Neiman has yet to start, it was the connection with Abraham that led the Amestoys to trainer Tim Yakteen.
“I asked Mike, 'Who do you know in California that doesn't have 150 or 200 head, somebody hands-on?'” Amestoy recalled. “He knew Tim, but called Jaime Gomez (a Quarter Horse trainer at Los Alamitos), and Gomez recommended Tim as well. This was before he kind of came to the forefront with the Baffert horses last year.
“He is a hands-on trainer, always watching and clocking all his own horses. He's also as good a guy as you can meet: he's trustworthy, honest, and he communicates with us.”
Pierre decided to send Practical Move and Blessed Touch to Yakteen, and the trainer has worked to develop them into promising racehorses.
“The first couple of races, (Practical Move) was green and didn't know how to switch leads,” Pierre said. “Tim has brought him along perfectly and has taught him, and now he's finishing like we expected he could finish.”
After the Los Alamitos Futurity win, Yakteen gave Practical Move a 30-day break during which the colt matured and put on weight. Heading into the San Felipe, Yakteen was very confident.
“He was getting better and better, and Tim's confidence before the race rubbed off on us,” Pierre said. “We thought we had a good enough horse to win it; it was just whether we got a good trip or not!”
Meeting jockey Ramon Vazquez for the first time in the paddock, the former jockey agent had just a few words of advice before the San Felipe.
“I said, 'Get him up close enough that you're not gonna get in trouble, and come out of that turn with a free run,'” Pierre remembered. “It couldn't have worked out any better, and Ramon is confident in him now.”
“He is a phenomenally gifted horse,” Yakteen said after the San Felipe. “I am amazed at how strong he is and how he has matured from a 2-year-old to a 3-year-old. Everything has fallen into place.”
The plan now calls for Practical Move to start in the Santa Anita Derby on April 8 before heading to Kentucky.
“We think we have enough points to get to Kentucky already,” Pierre said. “Leslie is busy finding an AirBnB, because we have lots of family and friends that want to come!”
Pierre hasn't attended the Kentucky Derby before, though he's been to Churchill Downs for the Breeders' Cup a couple times. Leslie did attend one Derby with a friend, but now the couple will get to show up as Derby owners.
“We've won a lot of races in New Mexico, had a couple of Quarter Horse champions, but he is the biggest thing we've got going,” Pierre said. “We are super excited, and we think he's that kind. We are ready to go all the way.”
Practical Move, with jockey Ramon Vazquez aboard, wins the G2 San Felipe
Following the tragic suicide of 29-year-old jockey Alex Canchari last week, his family told television station KMSP that they have decided to send the rider's brain to the Boston University Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center. The hope is to determine whether Canchari suffered from CTE.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, is a disorder caused by repeated head trauma that first made headlines when several famous NFL players were diagnosed after their deaths. The disorder received additional headlines in 2015 with an Eclipse Award-winning Paulick Report feature about the dangers of multiple concussions for jockeys.
CTE can only be confirmed after a patient's death, but sufferers report dramatic mood shifts, cognition problems, and loss of coordination.
“Personally, I think this is very likely,” Alex's sister, Ashley Canchari, told KMSP. “My brother told me multiple times, 'I have hit my head so much and I've fallen so many times off of horses. I think there is something wrong.'”
The CTE rate in jockeys is largely unknown, because the disorder is not something that shows up on a standard autopsy.
Meanwhile, Canchari's fiancé Brooke-Lyn Klauser and two children have been forced out of their apartment in Shakopee, Minn., KMSP reports; the lease at TRIO was only under Canchari's name. Another unborn child is due in August, so Klauser has had to engage the services of a lawyer to attempt to resolve the family's living situation.
Klauser told KMSP: “My question is, 'Why? Why would you do this to me and the kids, after everything we're going through right now?'”
Ashley Canchari has also created a GoFundMe for her brother's family.
“All funds raised will benefit his children,” she wrote. “Due to the circumstance of his death, there are no life insurance policies available.”
