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Eric Cancel: ‘The People Who Mean The Most Are The People That Stick With You’

Just one live race day remains in 2021 to complete a remarkable year of racing action on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit. The NYRA Press Office checked in with a selection of New York-based racing personalities to get their reflections on a memorable year.

It did not take Eric Cancel, 25, long to display his capabilities, leading all apprentice riders in earnings in 2015 and becoming a finalist for Outstanding Apprentice that year.

After six years of competing on the NYRA circuit, Cancel enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2021, winning six races on the final day of the Aqueduct winter meet to secure his first NYRA riding title.

This year provided Cancel with a handful of accomplishments, including his first multiple graded stakes-winning year capturing the Grade 3 Withers with Risk Taking and the G2 Fort Marcy with Tribhuvan for trainer Chad Brown; and the G3 Soaring Softly with Bye Bye for conditioner Christophe Clement. Heading into the final day of racing in 2021, Cancel is also enjoying his best season in wins [147] and purse earnings [$9.9 million]. Both of Cancel's parents, Efrain Cancel and Gezzela Algarin, were jockeys in his native Puerto Rico.

How does it feel to have enjoyed your most successful year yet?

Cancel: “It feels wonderful. I'm very grateful for the opportunities I've been getting on the racetrack. Not just from the trainers, but from the owners. The grooms, hotwalkers and everyone do a great job with all the horses that we ride. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here. My agent [P. J. Campo] has done a great job.”

What contributed to your success in 2021?

Cancel: “I just try to stay focused and keep looking forward to what I want in my career. All the stakes that I have been able to ride and win, have been great. Winning some of the first few stakes of the year in New York meant a lot to me. It just kept me going and opened more doors for me. It was just a good thing to have in my career.”

You had a six-win day in March to become leading rider at the Aqueduct winter meet. How big was that?

Cancel: “Unbelievable. I never thought I would be able to pull it off. Not too many riders have been able to do that. I know Dylan Davis did it a few years back. It isn't anything easy and to be able to do it is something really memorable. It's something that I'll always be very proud of.”

What does it mean to have highly-regarded trainers like Chad Brown and Christophe Clement putting you on more horses?

Cancel: “It's a really big help. Being able to ride for those people that have better horses really puts you in a better spot. It makes other people see how much ability you have. With that kind of help they gave me, it kept on building on my momentum.”

You've won stakes this year for Gary Sciacca and Jorge Abreu, who have been big supporters of yours for a while. How important are those relationships?

Cancel: “They've been there since scratch. They're the ones that always have given me a hand and I'll always be appreciative of them just for sticking with me. It's not easy sometimes when you go up and down. The people who mean the most are the people that stick with you, even when you're struggling a little bit. In this case, thank God I've been able to keep on building up. I've always stuck with them the same way they've always stuck with me.”

Talk about the differences between riding at all three NYRA tracks.

Cancel: “I feel like I ride better at Belmont with the wider turns. I've been trying to make a change in my style of riding at both Saratoga and Aqueduct to try and save more ground and put my horses in better positions. Belmont is a little easier because the turns are wider and you don't have to struggle that much to keep a horse where you want them to be. I'm trying to do the best job I can and trying to put everything I'm leaning together to try and keep it going.”

Both of your parents were riders, how much of an influence have they been?

Cancel: “They had a huge influence on me. I've always been around racing since I was a little kid. As soon as they started watching me get into racing a lot, they kept on pushing me into it. They always were there for me when I needed it. They taught me from scratch so I'm grateful for them and all the people that have had something to do with it.”

What are your goals for next year?

Cancel: “My main goal is to try and keep doing better every year. In the future, I have goals to be in the Breeders' Cup and the Kentucky Derby. That's one of the main things we all look forward to as jockeys. I just take everything day-by-day. I don't rush things and I try to let things fall into place. If I have the opportunity, I'll take the opportunity. If not, I'll just keep riding it out until I get it.”

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Trainer Chelsey Moysey Off To Fast Start At Oaklawn Park

Chelsey Moysey has won 3 of 7 starts at the 2021-2022 Oaklawn meeting that began Dec. 3 and the fast break from the gate coincides with a change of scenery.

She saddled her first career winner in 2019 at Belterra Park in Cincinnati and her second came later that year at nearby Turfway Park in Kentucky. Moysey spent much of 2020 in Kentucky before shifting her summer/fall base to the mid-Atlantic for the first time, specifically Delaware Park, after the 2021 Oaklawn meeting ended in May. Spurred by her success at Delaware Park, Moysey already has a career-high 19 victories overall this year after winning 11 races in 2020 and two in 2019.

“I feel like it was definitely a great career move for me,” said Moysey, 28, a former assistant to the now-retired Buff Bradley. “It makes it a little easier. It's where you can expand and still keep your numbers without having everything claimed from you in two weeks. It's exhausting.”

All three of Moysey's Oaklawn winners, Substantial ($19.60), favored Little Burrito ($4.60) and Izzybella ($24.40), raced in 2021 at Delaware Park. Its meet ran May 26-Oct. 30. Substantial and Little Burrito are owned by the trainer's major client, Lewis Mathews of Bismarck, Ark. Izzybella is owned by a new client, Al Klerlein, who operates a structural steel fabrication and erection company in Delaware.

Moysey said among Delaware Park's biggest perks is location. Although stabled there, she also ran horses at Parx, Monmouth Park, Charles Town, Laurel, Penn National and Belmont Park.

“Everything's under three hours,” Moysey said. “You have all the options. If you can't find a race in one spot, you can find it in another. It was neat. I shipped all over the place.”

Moysey finished the Delaware meeting with 10 victories, including her first career stakes score in the $50,000 White Clay Creek. Through nine days of Oaklawn's scheduled 66-day meeting, Moysey is already poised to surpass her victory total from the 2021 meeting. She was 4 for 42.

“You always hope for a good start, but I didn't expect it to be this good,” Moysey said. “Last year, I think I went 0 for 23 before I even won.”

Red Hot Mess is among 15 horses Moysey has at Oaklawn. Purchased for only $20,000 in May at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic 2-year-old in training sale, Red Hot Mess is entered in a 1-mile allowance race Friday. Moysey said it could be an audition for the $200,000 Martha Washington Stakes Jan. 29, which is Oaklawn's first of three Kentucky Oaks points races. Red Hot Mess is a daughter of 2011 Preakness winner Shackleford.

Another 2-year-old Moysey has for Mathews is recent addition Vodka N Water, a Fed Biz colt who, despite being a maiden, earned $100,710 in seven starts this year and was twice stakes placed, including the $150,000 Bashford Manor (G3) June 26 at Churchill Downs.

Mathews purchased Vodka N Water, previously with Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, for $45,000 at Keeneland's November Breeding Stock Sale. Vodka N Water is being pointed toward an entry-level allowance race next month, Moysey said.

“We're going to stretch him out two turns and see what happens,” Moysey said.

Moysey has eight career Oaklawn victories.

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2021 Full Of ‘The Stuff You Can’t Script’ For Trainer Keri Brion

Just two live race days remain in 2021 to complete a remarkable year of racing action on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit. The NYRA Press Office checked in with a selection of New York-based racing personalities to get their reflections on the memorable year.

Though steeplechase trainer Keri Brion is based in Virginia when in the U.S. and is currently scouting new racing prospects in Ireland, the 30-year-old conditioner enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2021, sweeping all three of NYRA's Grade 1 jump races and winning all but one of America's Grade 1 steeplechase events.

Brion, who worked for 11 years as an assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard, has put together a quality stable in her first year on her own, becoming the first American-based trainer to win on the hurdle circuit in Ireland in April and conditioning Baltimore Bucko and The Mean Queen to Grade 1 wins in the second half of the year.

After picking up her first graded win with Galway Kid in the Grade 3 David Semmes Memorial in May, Brion won her first Grade 1 in the A.P. Smithwick Memorial at Saratoga Race Course in July, visiting the winner's circle with Baltimore Bucko.

Brion wrapped up 2021 with a record of 14-15-12 from 105 starts and earnings just shy of $800,000, thanks in part to a trio of Grade 1 wins by The Mean Queen in Saratoga's Jonathan Sheppard Memorial, Belmont Park's Lonesome Glory, and the Grand National at Far Hills.

How would you summarize your 2021 campaign?

Brion: “It's still hard to put into words even now. It was some year. It started when I was in Ireland this time last year and took over for Jonathan when he retired. I made history there this year as the first [American based] jumper and hurdle winner. Then I went back to America and won my first graded stakes in May. Things were going well and then Saratoga happened. You couldn't write that again and it will probably never happen again as long as I live. Being first and second in both Grade 1's is something I would have never dreamed of. It really helped my career and also to gain the support in the big races. It was important for me to have those horses win at Saratoga. It's mind blowing.”

How does steeplechase racing in New York compare to other prestigious meets?

Brion: “NYRA is where you dream of racing. Flat racing, jump racing, it doesn't matter. It's the best of the sport in America in my opinion. Obviously you're running for good money and that's always a big plus. NYRA does an amazing job of supporting steeplechase and we have really good purses for allowances and stakes races which is brilliant. This is my first year training, but going forward, you train for Saratoga. You start in the spring and you know you're prepping horses for Saratoga. That's the big stage and where you want to win. To have won both big races there and the Lonesome Glory at Belmont is amazing. There's not a better place to win a race than in New York.”

What does it take to reach the top level in steeplechase?

Brion: “It's finding horses of that caliber. I have been lucky enough to have a trainer in Ireland who helps me source horses. It's helped me get them young and to mold them and bring them along in my own way. Working for Jonathan Sheppard for all those years was the biggest thing. Happy horses really do run the best. The Mean Queen, for instance, ran every month from April to October and stayed sound, healthy, and happy. Listening to the horse as an individual is key. You also can't be the best if you don't have the best staff and best owners. Good horses are good horses, but there's a lot that goes into it as well.”

What advice can you give other women looking to build a career in horse racing?

Brion: “I feel like at this stage now I have gained the respect of a lot of people. I've worked very hard to get here and I hope that other women who want to be trainers, exercise riders, jockeys, or anything else in his industry can look to me as an example that women can do it. You can be successful if you work hard.”

Which win this year was the most meaningful to you?

Brion: “It's a toss-up between the Grand National and the Jonathan Sheppard, but winning the Jonathan Sheppard is the stuff you can't script. They had renamed that race after Jonathan and I had four runners in it. Three of them were first, second, and third. I was very proud of that and of my horses. It was a summer I will never forget.”

What do you hope to accomplish in 2022 and beyond?

Brion: “I won four of the five American Grade 1's this year so I really hope to win the Iroquois [at Percy Warner Park] too. I don't know if that will happen this coming year, but it's on my list. The biggest thing is to continue at this level. I'm not saying I'm going to keep sweeping four or five Grade 1's every year, but I just want to be successful at the higher levels. I don't want this year to be a fluke and I want to continue to prove that I can do it – not just with The Mean Queen, but with other horses.

“When I set out training, I said I would be happy if I could win an Eclipse Award within 10 years of training. Now I'm probably going to be getting on a plane to California in February to get a trophy for the Eclipse Award.”

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Hot-Riding Reylu Gutierrez Voted Jockey Of The Week

Jockey Reylu Gutierrez has raced at 20 different racetracks in 2021, but he seems to have found a home at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, La. His stakes double earned Jockey of the Week honors for Dec. 20 through Dec. 26. The honor, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

Gutierrez, riding regularly at Fair Grounds for the first time, has made an impact over the first month of the season. On Sunday, trainer Dallas Stewart enlisted Gutierrez to pilot Chess Chief in the aptly named Tenacious Stakes. Breaking from post 10, Chess Chief stalked the leaders while in heavy traffic for most of the run through the backstretch. At the top of the lane, it was a battle to the wire between Chess Chief, Happy American and Pirate's Punch. Chess Chief prevailed by the slimmest of margins in a final time of 1:43.39 for the 1 1/16-mile dirt contest.

In the following race, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen gave a leg up to Gutierrez on Halo Again in the Buddy Diliberto Memorial, held over 1 1/16 miles on the Stall-Wilson turf course. Quickest from the gate at odds of 8-1, Halo Again made every pole a winning one while repelling the late run of Pixelate and Monarchs Glen to post a one-half length win in 1:43.22. The win was Gutierrez's third of the day and the second riding for Asmussen.

“It means the world to me,” the 26-year-old Gutierrez told Fair Grounds publicity. “The credit goes to (agent) Jose Santos. “We're everywhere – I rode at Turfway on Thursday, here at Fair Grounds, at Oaklawn. I'm just trying work hard. I'd like to be a part of at least one horse for every stable on this backside and get everybody to know me. I'll ride for anybody. It doesn't have to be a favorite.”

A finalist for the 2018 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice, Gutierrez was born in Rochester, New York. He is the son of Finger Lakes trainer Luis Gutierrez and his uncle is retired Finger Lakes jockey Jose Gutierrez.

Weekly statistics for Gutierrez were 15-3-2-3 and purse earnings of $176,178. He currently sits in second place in Fair Grounds standings with 17 wins and $669,650 in purses.

Other nominees for Jockey of the Week were Alex M. Cruz who was tied with Luis Saez for number of wins for the week, Kevin Roman with a 31.5 percent win rate, Luis Saez with two stakes wins, and John Velazquez who won the G1 La Brea.

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