What New England racing fan doesn’t remember Jerry Bailey and Cigar winning the Massachusetts Handicap in 1995 and 1996? And what about Bailey on Arcangues in the 1993 Breeders’ Cup Classic? Lowell Sun racing correspondent Paul Daley writes about great moments from the retiring rider’s career in this week’s Sun column, reprinted with permission here.
It’s a tale often told that things happen in threes.
With Jerry Bailey’s announcement on Wednesday that he will end his riding career in the Sunshine Million races at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28, the three greatest riders of our generation — Gary Stevens, Pat Day, and now Bailey — will have moved into different facets of the sport they so love within months of each other. Bailey and Stevens will be seen in the broadcasting end of the business while Day will remain immersed in his calling with the Racetrack Chaplaincy Program.
Rather than rehash Bailey’s career statistics, which were formidable enough even in 1995 to get him inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame, I prefer to remember vignettes from the career of the son of a dentist from Dallas, Texas, who turned 48 years old last August 29.
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Posted by JC in Jockeys on 01/23/2006 @ 2:00 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Nearly 22,000 people turned out for Oaklawn’s opening. “A packed apron watched as Swift Trieste edged Silly’s Brother in a photo finish that took several minutes for officials to decipher. When the results were known, a roar rose up from the apron that few tracks hear during a weekday program.”
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Taking advantage of a stretch duel between Catonight and Urban Guy, Celluloid Hero charged to the front along the rail to win Oaklawn’s opening day feature, the Dixieland Stakes. “He’s a pretty nice horse,” trainer Mac Robertson said. “It set up for him. They let him through on the rail. We got a perfect trip.” Tim Ritchey’s Urban Guy finished second, while the John Servis-trained Fidrych came up for third. Servis did better in the day’s fifth race, a maiden special weight, with Jolted and Jostled overcoming a wide trip to win his third career start.
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Menacing, one of Ritchey’s better three-year-olds, ran a disappointing tenth in Saturday’s eighth, a one-mile allowance/optional claiming. The colt dropped steadily back through the stretch after encountering a little traffic trouble while running fourth on the rail at the half.
Posted by JC in Races/Results on 01/21/2006 @ 9:25 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
– Sunshine Millions draws 140 pre-entries. The Classic drew 26 pre-entries, including Malibu winner Proud Tower Too, Lava Man, and Buzzards Bay.
– French apprentice Julien Leparoux leads Turfway standings. The protegé of trainer Patrick Biancone has won 23 of 78 races so far this meet.
– Officials meet on possible plan to save Atlantic City Race Course. The talks are centered around a plan to renovate the 1940s era facility and add racing days.
– Equine herpes outbreak might force Pimlico closure.
Posted by JC in News on 01/20/2006 @ 1:00 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
