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Edgard Zayas On Injury Rehabilitation And Coming Back ‘Stronger Than Ever’

Horse racing is an incredibly dangerous sport to pursue as a professional athlete, and most jockeys can tell you a story or two about injuries that have forced them to watch from the sidelines until they were cleared to race. Multiple graded stakes-winning jockey Edgard Zayas is no exception, having sustained multiple injuries that have put him on the sidelines through the years.

The leading rider of Gulfstream Park's 2021 Fall Meet and Spring/Summer meet is a native of Puerto Rico as well as a former student of the Escuela Vocacional Hípica jockey school there. He moved to South Florida to pursue a career in racing in 2012. Over the span of his decade-long career, Zayas has won 1,930 races and $55,080,460 in earnings. He is currently recovering from shoulder surgery and is likely to not make another start until the spring.

Zayas discussed his stellar year of racing accomplishments, as well as his hopes for the future following rehabilitation from his current injury.

Question: How did you get into horse racing?

Edgard Zayas: “I used to live close to a racetrack in Puerto Rico. I used to go to that racetrack all the time with my grandfather and I really loved it. I was always into sports, but I got to a point where I was 14 or 15 years old and I was a little too small to play any sports so I decided that I really wanted to try to be a jockey. I was 17 years old when I decided to join the jockey school in Puerto Rico. It was amazing. I think they have a really good system. They teach us everything from treating a horse to riding a horse. It's awesome because at that point I had never really been involved with horses so I didn't know how to work with horses and groom them and all that. At the jockey school they teach you everything from grooming a horse and doing stalls to riding them.”

Q: How did it feel to have such a good year and bring home a leading rider title from Gulfstream after having two years in a row interfered with by injuries?

E: “It felt great. This year I was still kind of dealing with a little injury in my shoulder and I decided to get surgery because it was bugging me all year, but luckily I have support from big trainers down here in South Florida. I had a great year that would've carried on to the winter so it was a tough decision to do it [get shoulder surgery].”

Q: What does the rehabilitation process for your shoulder injury consist of?

E: “Right now I'm in a sling for four weeks. After that I'll start some therapies and whenever I get my motion and my muscles back I can start galloping horses in the morning again and then decide from there. I'm looking at probably three or four months.”

Q: Do the areas that you injured remain vulnerable to potential arthritis or re-injury now? If so, what kind of special care or precautions do you have to take now that you didn't before?

E: “Yeah absolutely. The more injuries I get, I have to take care of myself more. I'm young, but I'll start getting older little by little. There's things I like to do outside of horse racing like I used to play basketball and stuff like that, but those are things that I now have to compromise for horse racing. I have to concentrate on what I do to not get re-injured.”

Q: Did you find that having to take that much time off from racing had any impact on your mental health?

E: “Absolutely, and I've been doing really good every time I've gotten an injury, but it's really tough mentally. Hopefully I get a couple years of being healthy. That's all I can ask for.”

Q: Is it difficult to get momentum back with trainers after time away due to injuries?

E: “Luckily I've always got support when I come back and I'm able to get the ball rolling quick. Hopefully this time will be the same way. I'm going to try to come back stronger than ever, and finally I can ride confidently because this whole year I had that shoulder problem that was really bugging me. Hopefully when I come back I can come back one hundred percent and get the support and get the ball rolling for a better year.”

Q: Who is one other jockey that you look up to the most?

E: “Johnny V absolutely. Inside he's the best and outside he's the best.”

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‘The More You Do, The More You Learn’: Gary Stevens On Going From Rider To Agent

Hall of Famer Gary Stevens has worn a lot of different hats during his time in the industry, from jockey to trainer to racing analyst. He even had a brief encounter with acting for the movie “Seabiscuit,” but he is currently working on mastering being an agent for former Southern California-based jockeys Geovanni Franco and Tiago Pereira at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

Stevens is best known for his career as a jockey spanning from 1979 to 2018, in which time he earned $258,217,768 and won 5,187 races in North America, including each leg of the Triple Crown three times, 11 Breeders' Cup races, and many other notable national and international races. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997, and won an Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey the following year.

Stevens' father, Ron, was also involved in the horse racing industry as a trainer. His father introduced him to racing at a young age and even gave Stevens his first mount as a professional Thoroughbred jockey aboard Lil Star, who was the young jockey's first win that same day.

Stevens discussed his role as an agent and his passion for the industry.

Question: What do your responsibilities as an agent look like day to day?

Gary Stevens: “I wake up at 4:00 a.m. and I'm out at the track by 5:00. There are certain trainers that I hit early on and then I sort of just work my way through the barn area. Really the most difficult thing is arranging workouts. Geovanni had some nice winners this past weekend. To be successful at Oaklawn, the jock has to work horses. Trainers like it when they're out in the morning. I just make sure workouts are organized timing-wise, no conflicts. It's not easy to keep everybody happy. It seems like everybody wants the same times.

I also book mounts for the future so that's how the day starts. I'm also doing television for America's Day At The Races on FOX every day as well. There's no conflicts as far as entries go, other than on Saturdays when they take entries for Fridays so I have to go between where I do my television and the racing office. They're busy, busy days, but I'm enjoying them.”

Q: Do you think that your experience as a jockey – as well as your wide variety of other experiences in the industry – helps you market your riders?

G: “Yeah, but I'll tell you what, an agent's job is not easy, but if you have a good product it makes your job much easier. I've always respected my agents, but I have more respect for every agent out there now that I'm doing it full time. It's not an easy job and even though I've been around it all my life, there's nuances that I'm still learning on the fly. There's guys that have been doing this as long as I rode and their experience level, you can see it. I feel like the apprentice right now believe it or not, but being able to walk into pretty much any barn that I want to is a big help. I feel like I've got respect and I respect every barn that I walk into. I feel like I have a definite advantage with the reputation that I have.”

Q: You've already touched on some challenges to being an agent, but what is your favorite part about it?

G: “I love being out on the backstretch in the morning. I always have. When I was riding even at the highest level I enjoyed being in the barn. I've been going to the barn since I was a young kid working for my father and it's part of my life. Without the mornings you don't have the afternoons. I love watching the grooms work, the hot walkers, the trainers, the assistants, and just everything about it. One of my favorite things about being at Oaklawn is being at Wayne Lukas's barn every morning and not necessarily talking about the present, but the past and Wayne making me what he calls a 'gourmet coffee.' We'll sit and start telling old stories and I really enjoy that.”

Q: You've worn a lot of different hats within the horse racing industry. What is it about this industry that keeps you coming back?

G: “It's my life. I really enjoyed training, but the way it is now with these big outfits and everything, it's a definite challenge. I don't know how some of these guys make it with small outfits, especially in California and New York with the labor laws and taxes and insurance. It's a very difficult job to have. Being an agent goes hand in hand with what I did all those years riding, going by the barns, and being a part of it. I'm addicted to it and it's all I know. I've got the television stuff that I've done and that also kind of goes hand in hand because I have to do a lot of studying and homework for my shows. That prepares me for my job as a jockey's agent as well. It's this giant web kind of like the internet and one thing just leads to another and the more you do, the more you learn, and the more opportunities you get.”

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Chantal Sutherland On Jockey Fitness, The Importance Of Mental Health

The fitness of a jockey is a complex balancing act of being fit enough to ride racehorses, and being light enough in weight to ride in races in the first place. This means that their fitness routines outside of riding horses are very unique compared to those of other professional athletes, and often an aspect of their job which is unseen by racing fans.

Chantal Sutherland is a well-known multiple graded stakes-winning jockey currently based out of Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. A native of Canada, Sutherland's professional jockey career began in 2000 at Woodbine Racetrack. She went on to become the first female jockey to win the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup in 2012 and she now has lifetime earnings of $55,838,263 and has won 1,160 races.

The two-time Sovereign Award winner went into detail about what overall fitness as a jockey means to her and how she personally maintains the balancing act.

Question: What does your weekly exercise routine look like?

Chantal Sutherland: “Outside of riding I do two types of yoga. I do normal zen-type yoga and also intense yoga. It's like hot yoga, but it's an intense workout where you're being pushed and you're not holding poses for a long time, but you're doing intense-type poses. I also do boxing, but because I'm down to two days off a week, I don't get to do as much as I was. It is not only good for your core and your athleticism, but it's also good for your mind and your confidence. I eat extremely healthy, mostly a pescatarian type of diet, and lots of vitamins and supplements. I think it's important for everyone, not just athletes.”

Q: Do you find that exercise plays a role in your mental health and fitness as well as your physical health and fitness?

C: “Yeah I think that your mental health is just as important as your physical health. It's that mindset of calmness and our sport can be pretty tough, so you can get beat up and you just have to stick through the tough times and just be kind of mentally in tune to be able to prepare yourself for a race. I do my homework at night, sometimes up to two days before a race. I go over the race myself and watch the replays and talk to my trainer to kind of get a sense of what they want in a race. Sometimes they see the pace differently than I do and we talk about it and come to a good place. Communication I've found is so important and just being present for what they have to say. Also, I work a lot of horses. I work every day except for Monday, and I think it's a huge advantage for me. I like to know my horse. I like to know what's going on and be able to tell my trainers how they're feeling and they can tell me how they're feeling. Information is just so much power.”

Q: As mental health has become more talked about and there's been less of a stigma behind it, have you found that correlates with better performance when it comes to riding races?

C: “Yes, for sure. I feel like people are more sensitive to the fact that mental health is so important and you need to take a time or day where you don't do anything. We're on the go a lot and it's hard to take time for yourself, but it's really important. I live alone and I like to be alone in the room and I'm so lucky and blessed to have the girls' room where I can be alone. I just like to study there. I meditate there and I pray there. My relationship has taken a new level with God and myself. The more grateful you are, you feel better about yourself and the world. Being happy and treating others with respect does come back to you. I try to treat everyone on the backside with respect and love and I feel it come back to me in abundance.”

Q: Are there any types of exercise you have to avoid typically to make sure you don't bulk up too much and have trouble maintaining riding weight?

C: “You want to balance everything with cardio and weight training. You don't just want to do a ton of weight training because then you're going to get too big, but you don't want to do too much core because then you're going to get skinny and you're too weak so it's a bit of both and racing horses is the combination.”

Q: What would you say the biggest fitness challenge is for a jockey and how do you tackle that?

C: “I think it's that deep air in a race when you're down and riding and you're pulling and pushing on a 1,200 pound animal and they're getting tired and you have to lift them and help them. I think for me boxing gets that deep cardio and that feeling on a stairclimber when you're getting to that really fast anaerobic part. To be a jockey, you have to have really good air to the point where you almost feel like you're throwing up. That's what it feels like to be in a race.”

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Fast Boat Is ‘Living His Best Life’ While Working Towards Second Career With Rosie Napravnik

After an 11th place finish in the 2021 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, multiple graded stakes winner Fast Boat has retired from racing. He has since taken up residence at record breaking female jockey Rosie Napravnik's Four Ponds Farm in Simpsonville, Ky..

Napravnik became the first female jockey to ever win the Kentucky Oaks in 2012 with Believe You Can. She was also the first female jockey to win more than one Breeders' Cup race, along with many other notable achievements. With lifetime earnings of $71,426,717 Napravnik is undoubtedly one of the most successful female jockeys the industry has seen, and she continues to pursue her passion for Thoroughbreds outside of the racetrack.

Since Napravnik's retirement from racing following the 2014 Breeders' Cup where she won the G1 Distaff aboard Untapable, she has started a new career of retraining off the track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs). In Napravnik's operation, the owners who send their racehorses to her continue to financially support them throughout their second careers as she offers owners the experience of Thoroughbred ownership from an entirely new perspective. This is the case with the newest addition to her herd, Fast Boat, who has spent time at her farm previously during his career following big performances on the track.

“He's a very happy horse in general, but he was the type where he could not wait to go out every single day,” Napravnik said about Fast Boat's personality. “It never wore off the entire time he would spend here (Four Ponds Farm). He was just as happy to go out every day, always ears forward. He loved the company of a pony. We have several ponies here so they all get to play the role of being the life coach for the racehorses. It relieves the anxiety for the racehorses when they're turned out.”

The 6-year-old gelding is a son of City Zip out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare, Yellow Boat. He was claimed by Joe Sharp in 2018 and went on to win the G2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes as well as the G3 Troy Stakes in 2021. He ended his career with a record of 10-1-3 from 28 starts and $706,349 in earnings. Fast Boat is now turned out with Napravnik's herd of “lifers” and will get a couple of months off before figuring out what his second career is.

“He's living his best life being turned out 24/7,” Napravnik mentioned. “He's kind of a boss out there, which I wasn't really sure he'd be. There's one pony out there and the pony doesn't really get grain so he's kind of the hungriest one, but now Fast Boat is the hungriest one, which is not usually the case when you turn a Thoroughbred out 24/7 for the first time. I would say he's adjusting well.”

Once Fast Boat does begin training for his second career, Napravnik said that he will follow the same routine that all of her new horses do.

“I start all their training off with flatwork, but first I take them all hacking and they go through water, up banks, and through ditches,” Napravnik said. “They do that until they can do it on the buckle and they're chilled out and trusting of any of these new questions that you're asking of them. So that's initially what I do to wipe the slate clean. It sort of opens their mind to the idea of 'we don't have anywhere to go.' They're in such a routine during their life on the track that they're used to always having something to do, so I let them figure out that we're just out here to enjoy ourselves. Then we start flatwork and I kind of let them take me from there.”

Napravnik is a regular competitor at the annual Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover at the Kentucky Horse Park. She has finished in the top ranks of multiple divisions and has her sights set on entering Fast Boat in the 2022 Makeover. This would not be Napravnik's first time entering with a high-profile racehorse, as she competed at the 2019 makeover with 2016 Kentucky Derby contender My Man Sam in the show hunters division.

“I have been itching to train a horse for barrel racing at the Makeover, which I know nothing about, so it would be kind of a fun experience to do that,” Napravnik said about Fast Boat's potential entry. “He's kind of built more like a Quarter Horse. He's got a huge hind end and he's built kind of downhill, so we might think about that. Like I said, he'll kind of tell me as we go.”

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