By Becky Johnston
How many times do you say "jock gave my horse a bad ride"? That's a patent excuse when you don't pick the winner. I know of what I speak because I am guilty of it. Have you ever thought about the greatest rides you've ever seen? You probably see them most often at tracks near you that aren't recorded for posterity on YouTube, but here's a few great rides in some big races.
The right horse can make a jockey look like a genius. Sometimes the key is simply to stay out of their way. The best example of this was Ron Turcotte and Secretariat and I am not speaking of the Belmont Stakes.
Watch Big Red as he makes an early move that might have been premature with most horses. Turcotte's trust in the colt made all the difference.
1973 Preakness Stakes
It pays to have a great clock in your head and Gary Stevens was one of the best.
1994 Breeders' Cup Distaff
When you have the best horse and then draw what appears to be a terrible hand with a wide post or an inside post in a large field, many fans and bettors are thinking how they are going to make money beating the favorite. It only takes a confident jockey like Julie Krone and a special horse like Halfbridled to overcome it all and leave you wondering what you ever worried about in the first place.
2003 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
Another riding art form is the go-between where a jockey coaxes a horse to go through a moving hole. Pat Day and Chris McCarron give great examples in these two races.
1990 Breeders' Cup Classic
2001 Breeders' Cup Classic
Here is Mick Kinane with great confidence on "Gorgeous" George as he wedges his way through to victory.
2006 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes
Then there is the inside trap, I mean trip. Watch the 2-5 English Channel hold his breath and shimmy through the inside with John Velasquez at the controls.
2007 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic
Then there is the race where a horse inexplicably flies to the rail and somehow makes a move that most often does not work. Bill Shoemaker and Ferdinand takes everyone to school.
1986 Kentucky Derby
Then there is a race where you drop better than 25 lengths behind two triple crown winners and expect to win. Bill Shoemaker takes the prize with Exceller.
1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup
Julien Leparoux is your co-worker that rides into the parking on two wheels with 15 seconds to spare yet still manages to beat you to your desk.
2006 Beverly D.
Some jocks like to play possum, but it is a very small group that can lull a horse into getting passed late in a Grade 1 race and then ask him to start again, but Pat Day was the master of the "Oh no you don't" ride.
1987 Breeders' Cup Turf
The jockey that never quits gives the bettors every penny's worth and Angel Cordero, Jr. was a master. Watch Angel and Dancing Spree.
1989 Breeders' Cup Sprint
I don't think Cordero told Dr. Patches who that coal black horse was.
1978 Patterson Handicap
Then there are the "Oh ****" races. Here is a duo of triple crown races that made our knees weak. Imagine how Chris McCarron and Jeremy Rose felt.
1987 Kentucky Derby
2005 Preakness Stakes
Here's one more that doesn't have as much to do with the ride as it does the groundskeepers' ability to dive. It still belongs in this category.
But the best ride I ever saw came from Edie Delahoussaye in the 1991 Arkansas Derby aboard the Ron McAnally trained Olympio.
It is few and far between are the horses that can travel a half mile on the front in 45 2/5 and then let quality horses go by then only to muster another rally and win going away in 1:47 3/5.
Anybody else have a favorite?
What a great "article" and seeing is believing. Thanks for entertainment that will take up my day with lots of fun and memories.
On pure, unimaginable strength alone, there is no greater ride than Laffit Pincay's on Spend A Buck in the 1985 Jersey Derby.
On premeditated cunning craftiness with intent to commit highway robbery, the greatest ride I ever saw was Chris McCarron's aboard Touch Gold in the 1997 Belmont Stakes.
The already mentioned 1986 Kentucky Derby (Shoe & Ferdinand) has always been in my top three.
Honorable mention should definitely go to Jorge Velasquez and his traffic-threading masterpiece on Pleasant Colony in the 1981 Derby. Watch it and see if you don't agree.
I dont know how to post videos, so hopefully, someone can find these races and post them here for me.
Great topic! Thanks!
Street Sense in the 07' Kentucky Derby. Going from last to 1st after the 3/4 pole. Takes the inside rail- starts to pull horses back to him. He could of gotten boxed in at any time before he slipped through a small hole to about 3 wide and on past the leaders.......was an amazing race, especially from the view above. He is going by the others like they are standing still. His whole Derby bid could of been shut off at any time. Great ride by Borel.
I'll give you 3 rides to think about:
1. Cordero on True Knight in the 1974 John B. Campbell.
2. Cordero on Bold Forbes in the 1976 Belmont.
3. Cordero on Broad Brush in the 1986 Pennsylvania Derby.
Wonderful clips. I never tire of seeing Secretariat's races, and some of the other clips also bring back good memories.
But there are two clips that remind me of the dark underbelly of this sport: Ferdinand and Exceller both ended their lives going to slaughterhouses in foreign countries. It's bad enough when that happens to "ordinary" horses, but when the industry lets that happen to our racing champions, it's beyond disgusting and disheartening. :(
This one is probably more horse than rider, but Dehere's run in the 93' Sanford or Saratoga Special, where he was bogged down inside with less than an 1/8th to go. McCarron finally was able to angle him out 5 deep and he just exploded like a rocket, as Tom Durkin would say. That's probably an "Oh ****" moment.
Jean Cruget on Slew in the Derby is a good one.
Eddie D. on Hollywood Wildcat in the 93' Breeders Cup Distaff
Corey Nakatani on Lit De Justice in the Breeders Cup Sprint in 96'. Knifing his way through traffic...
I don't remeber what race it was or who the jockey was, but I remember a race with the filly You and how she squeezed through the tiniest hole against the rail to win last minute. I don't know how that jockey kept her from bouncing off the rail and cause an accident. It was pretty cool.
Secretariat's Preakness was breathtaking, racehorses don't do what HE did. His mold is gone and today the world has a much different breed of thoroughbred, isn't it obvious.
Kennedy Road in the 1973 Hollywood Gold Cup. Sweet revenge for Jockey, Trainer and of course the horse. This is one of the most definitive races I ever known where the Jockey IS the difference.
Shawn B. and Pyro in the 2008 Risen Star at Fair Grounds, they were last and near the rail at the end of the final turn and in a blink of an eye they were at least 6 wide and passing everyone. Rail to 6 wide??? You never see this.
www.youtube.com/watch
It can be argued how much is the horse and how much is the rider, but if you could ever say that the jockey won the race, it would have been Shoe on Ferdinand in the '86 Derby.
For battling, how about Honour and Glory in the King's Bishop (against, I think, Distorted Humor and Elusive Quality), and as a three-year-old against older horses in the Met Mile.
That Race with You was the Test Stakes where she and Jerry Bailey snuck through the tiniest hole and just managed to beat Carson Hallow. One of my favorite all time races.
There has been some great rides by jockeys throughout the
history of the sport of horse racing so instead I will quote the greatest saying by a jockey after a race that I can remember.Lester Piggott after he won the 1968 Epsom Derby on Sir Ivor and a reporter asked him when did he think he had the race won to which Piggott replied ''About 2 Weeks Ago''
Watch Angel Cordero and Broad Brush storm down the stretch of the 1987 Santa Anita Handicap. He was literally hopping up and down on his horses neck down in order to out finish Ferdinand.
Somehow, I'm reminded with this thread, of John Henry. I don't think I've ever heard anyone mention a John Henry win as one of the great rides they've seen.
From his wire job in the San Juan Capistrano to his strange race, and win, in his final outing, most folks have pretty much recognized that John just told whoever was riding him to keep his seat and not fall off, just to make it legal. He would say, "Don't get your pants in a knot. I know what I'm doing." Ask any jock that rode him in the early 80's, and they'll tell you that's about the way it was.
There was never one like him before, and I seriously doubt there will be again.
very nice post. My vote would be Bejarano's ride aboard Ginger Punch in the 2008 Go For Wand @ Saratoga. Never have I witnessed a more intentional squeeze on a horse. This mare took a beating and still managed to win. It is on youtube. go watch it and pay close attention to Copper state and Over and Under. Both of these horses did everything they could to stop this mare. Punch came out of the race cut on three legs. An investigation should have been pursued.
I was 14 when I watched the mighty Secretariat run across my TV screen in all three Triple Crown races. That was 36 years ago and I still get tingles when watching video clips of him racing like a machine. He truly was a gift from up above.
I don't know the year, but Forego had a ton of weight on him and his jockey timed the race perfectly watching it is a thrill. It was one of the Handicap Triple Crown races.
Street Sense Ky Derby is the best ride I have ever seen in person.
The only jockey that could have pulled the Derby out of certain defeat was the Shoe with Ferdinand.
The nerve it takes to ride like that!
Afleet Alex when he nearly fell coming around the final turn into the straight in one of his triple crown wins ( Preakness? or Belmont?)
Elaine Tillery:
I was 19 watching Secretariat's Triple Crown and Still bawling my eyes out every time I see a video! I was at home, on my knees yelling "go,go, go" and I didn't stop crying until after the telecast was over.
SO glad to see Shoe and ferdinand's Derby in here, as it remains, hands down, the GREATEST ride I have ever witnessed in 3 decades of watching races.
If anyone ever needed a single example of why Shoe was the best, or what magic he embodied, just point out that 2 minutes, and it needs no further comment.
Of course, it's also a brilliant tribute to the late, great Charlie Whittingham too.
Titans of the sport, what a perfect Kentucky Derby. :)
As an honorable mention follow-up to my post regarding Shoe and Ferdinand's Derby, I have to give kudos to Gary Stevens aboard Winning Colors in the 1988 Derby.
In and of itself, you might not think that much of a "simple" wire to wire victory, even by a filly in the Derby.
But it was SO hand-crafted by Stevens, to catch 19 other riders fast asleep at the wheel and let that amazon of a filly steal the whole thing. He left JUST enough in the tank to keep her in front at the end, a ride that definitely deserves noting.
Proof? That they were not about to let her get away with it again in the Preakness, and they didn't, making sure not to look quite so foolish twice against the big gray gal ;)
To me, the Exceller win, taking away nothing from the great Exceller, just cemented what a great race horse Seattle Slew really was, what a fighter, never quitting...popping out of the gate, all nerved up, the fractions early in the race with that ridiculous speed duel with Affirmed, who had his own problems with a slipping saddle, being headed and yet in the final strides coming back with that great heart of his to make it a photo finish...
What about Summer Squall and Pat Day winning the 1989 Hopeful by charging through the hole between Bite The Bullet and Carson City after being squeezed and bumped?
Then victory in the 1990 Preakness, Day trusted the horse's guts and tactics again to get them through on the rail to
beat Unbridled.
I saw a great ride at Aqueduct on Thursday March 12th, a Maiden Claiming, Race #2. Ramon Dominguez on Saratogian showed what a difference a jockey can make. At the top of the stretch Ramon used his stick and Saratogian lugged in and slowed. He used the whip once more and recognized the stick wasn't "working" with this horse. He put the stick away, uncrossed his reins and used (leaned on) the right rein which resulted in the horse coming back to win the race by a head. It was breathtaking to watch the replay. The effort and strength it took to keep Saratogian from bumping the inside horse, Smarteralex. Great job "reading the horse" Ramon!
Donald Miller squeeking through on the rail and making the turn in the Preakness Stakes. His ride is etched in my memory.
Thanks Becky. Nice to see Olympio get his due. Not too many remember him, but I think he was right there w/ Hansel for 3 year old champ in 91'. He beat Dinard in a great stretch duel in the San Vicente, won a stakes at Golden Gate, then won the Arkansas Derby. After that, he won the Minnesota Derby and the 10 furlong American Derby. He was nosed out at the finish line of the grade 1 Secretariat Stakes on turf when he was on the lead early, dropped back on the turn, and then rallied in the stretch to just miss. He closed out his year winning both the grade 1 Hollywood Derby on turf at 9 furlongs and the 7 furlong grade 1 Malibu. In the Hollywood Derby, he once again was on the lead, dropped back on the turn, and then came flying down the stretch. Eddie D knew him so well and never panicked when Olympio would start falling back on the turn.
My top three:
Forego's 1976 Marlboro.
The horse AND the jockey won it. The Freight Train and The Shoe. Doesn't get much better than that.
Sunday Silence's 1989 Preakness Stakes.
That took a lot of grit. The ride was wonderful and he seemed to run on heart alone.
Lastly, Lava Man's third Hollywood Gold Cup, 2007.
Watch the race, and you'll see why. What a way to tie a record.
I found a lot of the races you all mentioned and put the links in this response. Hope you enjoy and sorry about the ones I couldn't find.
1997 Belmont Stakes Touch Gold
1981 Kentucky Derby Pleasant Colony
2007 Kentucky Derby Street Sense
1976 Belmont Stakes Bold Forbes
1987 Santa Anita Handicap Broad Brush
1993 Sanford Stakes Dehere
1977 Kentucky Derby Seattle Slew
1993 Breeders’ Cup Distaff Hollywood Wildcat
1996 Breeders’ Cup Sprint Lit de Justice
2002 Test Stakes You and Carson Hollow, one of my favs too, you don’t get much gamer than Carson Hollow was either. One of the best races I ever saw for sure.
2008 Risen Star Stakes Pyro
1996 King’s Bishop Honour and Glory racing with two future Derby Daddies behind him.
1968 DC Int’l Sir Ivor, had to settle for this race
1980 San Juan Capistrano John Henry
2008 Go For Wand Ginger Punch, what courage
2008 Personal Ensign, another gutsy performance this day for Ginger Punch
Great Forego compilation video
and last but not least
1988 Kentucky Derby Winning Colors
John T
You are so nearly right with the Piggott quote. He had won the Washington International on Sir Ivor the year before and had come in for some strong criticism from the American press because he had left it so late and was clearly on the best horse in the race. Fast forward 12 months and Piggott wins the same race on the unfancied Karabas. The US journalists were trying to rile him about his late, late tactics. And so Lester, when did you know you had the race won? About two weeks ago, he replied.
I think at the time (don't know about now) Americans were not keen on jockeys just cheekily stealing races at the death after other horses had done all the leg work. But that was his style, and the style of a lot of English racing.
On that note, I really treasure the One Dreamer ride, firstly because I backed it at 47/1 but mainly because as someone used to European racing, I expected all front runners to fall in a hole and get caught, Piggott style. She can't hold on surely? Fantastic stuff.
May I also nominate my three worst Breeders Cup rides: Kinane on Giants Causeway, Kinane on Azamour and Kinane on Rock of Ginraltar. Two cases there of a Euro jockey thinking he can make it all up Piggott style in the last furlong.
My nominee for the greatest ride that I have ever witnessed is probably long forgotten by most. It was the front running ride on Fast Hilarious under Craig Perret in the 1971 Gulfstream Park Handicap. Fast Hilarious was a very good middle distance horse but the 1 1/4 miles of the GP Handicap was a bit far for him but he held on by just a nose over Judgeable. Perret was always a master on the front end, just like Earlie Fires.
Not sure how carefully people watched the race where Ferdinand won the Derby, but there should have at least been an inquiry against him. He literally wiped out a wall of horses as he angled in towards the rail as he started making his run. Very lucky nobody went down in that Derby. Watch it again !
Angel Cordero in the Preakness aboard Codex. He was the most aggressive rider i have ever seen. He knew all the tricks and the jockeys riding against him knew that to win a race that angel was riding in required special attention as to where he was and what he was doing. As many jockeys said on his tv bio a very intimitdating rider no matter what he was riding.There have been and still are so many outstanding jockeys but Codero was my favorite.
Sometimes a great ride is what a jockey does for a horse, sometimes it's what he (or she) refrains from doing.
One great thing about Turcotte and Secretariat is that Turcotte listened to what Secretariat told him he wanted to do that day. Go to the lead? Hold in 2nd? Come from behind? Turcotte kept him balanced and out of trouble, but the running style was Red's.
But I don't think I'll ever see again what Shoemaker and other jockeys did for Forego. Forego's 1976 Marlboro Cup, where he carried 137 pounds to Honest Pleasure's 119 was a great, great race and there are several videos on YouTube:
It was his owner's (Martha Getty's) favorite (and most heart stopping) race.
Look how wide Forego is carried at the top of the stretch - if he's not 10 horses away from the rail, then he's 12!
But mostly just watch him get rolling.
Shoemaker, who was not Forego's regular rider, but as some said in jest "as a pickup rider, the Shoe is pretty good", and Willie did a great job. The track wasn't great that day and Frank Whiteley told Shoe to let Forego settle in - he knew the track, he knew how much his ankles hurt him, and he'd know if he was ready to run. So Shoe got him away safe and let him settle into the back of the pack, just coasting along as Forego got warmed up and comfy. Then, as Shoe told the story, he asked Forego to run and Forego said "no". And you didn't TELL Forego much of anything, you asked him. So they went along another 1/16th of a mile or so and Shoe said, "would you like to run now?" and Forego said "no". And Shoemaker is watching the markers fly by and looking at how much ground they have to make up and wondering if he'd flown in from California for nothing and he asked Forego again "would you like to run now?" and Forego said "Yes".
And off they went. Shoemaker said the acceleration was incredible -that Forego shifted gears, then shifted gears again. He said they were so far behind at the top of the stretch that he thought they'd never get home, but then, as Forego started to fly, he thought "maybe we can finish in the money" and as Forego kept picking up horses and kept up his speed, he thought "geez, maybe he can win this".
The most interesting thing I remember Shoe saying was that at the top of the stretch he realized there was a conversation going on in his head. One voice was saying "get out your whip and hit him, hit him, hit him, he's not going fast enough, hit him." And the OTHER voice was saying "DON'T TOUCH HIM! He knows what he's doing and if you hit him you'll distract him. LEAVE HIM ALONE." Shoemaker said it was a very interesting conversation but he didn't have time to listen to it. He waved his stick a few times, but mostly just moved up on Forego's neck and talked him home.
What a jockey.
What a race.
What a horse!
Horsenut23:
When Secretariat won the Belmont. I called my best friend and asked her, can you believe what we just witnessed? It was so unreal because Secretariat just kept going and going. We thought for certain that he'd lost the way he was running along in the backstretch.
Horses do not run 1 1/2 the way he did.
How I wished Secretariat had raced as a 4 year old. Turcotte expressed that he was better on turf that on dirt with his daisy cutter action. No telling what he would have done.
Another ride to add to your list - Tony McCoy on Wichita Lineman at last week's National Hunt (Jumps to you guys!) Festival at Cheltenhem.
Ridden along from a long way out, the Champ delivers the horse perfectly on the line. Magic!
Only one other blogger had THE definitive answer to the question. It was Angel Cordero in the '86 PA Derby. As a Philly boy, my buddy and I spent many days in the 80s at Garden State and the PHA. For those of you that know the track, the crown of the track rides high on the clubhouse turn. Broad Brush broke so wide out on the crown that he had to hit the animal across the face to shock him back and angle him into the wire on a sloppy dark day. Saw it live and never saw anything like it since!
How about Mike Smith aboard Giacomo, bobbing and weaving through tired horses - can anyone say blimpcam!!!!!!
And what about Gary Stevens aboard Winning Colors - it aint easy taking a horse gate to wire in the Derby. His timing was perfect, the horse wouldn't have lasted another 1/16.
Nice work on this piece Becky, I enjoyed it, as well as all the comments. I'm glad Todd mentioned Ginger Punches white-knuckle ride in the Go For Wand. Watching it live, I was so scared for her. She proved she is a true champion.
EXCELLENT article; best I've seen in some time. Really enjoyed the clips!
Richard Migliore on Desert Code in the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint. 2009
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