JC / Railbird

Jockeys Archive

P Val’s Pants Sell

With less than half an hour remaining in the auction, a bidder named myenemiescallmecollect swooped in to buy ad space on jockey Patrick Valenzuela’s pants and collar. (eBay)

Posted in Jockeys on March 25, 2005

Sponsor P Val

Jockey Patrick Valenzuela is looking for an advertising sponsor. For $15,000+, he’s offering ad space on his pants and collar. I’m thinking about this for Railbird — I bet my site traffic would really increase with the URL splashed across P Val. As Valenzuela says, “My sport is nationally televised and I have received quite a bit of media coverage lately.” Indeed, he has. Unfortunately, much of it has been for some personal issues, not his great riding. (eBay)

Posted in Jockeys on March 23, 2005

Elliott Held by Immigration

The US immigration bureaucracy is working hard to keep America safe — from pesky Canadian jockeys. Stewart Elliott, who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness on Smarty Jones last year and is the rider of likely Derby contender Rockport Harbor, was arrested by the Customs and Border Protection office in New York and transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Elliott, a Canadian citizen, was detained in connection to a guilty plea in an assault case four years ago. He’s to appear before a federal judge today. (Detroit Free Press)
Related: Elliott talks with Dick Jerardi about his past. “I just want to tell everybody that I’m not proud of what I did. I have nothing to hide. I’ll tell everybody. I was a bleep-up, and now I just want to straighten out and ride good horses and do my job.” (Philadelphia Daily News)
3/4 Update: Elliott was released yesterday and returned to New York to ride four mounts at Aqueduct in the afternoon. “The jockey’s spokeswoman said she is confident the problem will be cleared up quickly.” (Boston Globe)

Posted in Jockeys on March 3, 2005

Guild Meeting Underway

“The Jockeys’ Guild began its annual meeting Dec. 6 with a call for solidarity — even in the face of the dismissal of member Eddie King, who had sued the organization — and a call for members not to talk to the press.” (Blood-Horse)
Related: “Former jockeys associated with the Disabled Jockeys’ Fund, which will be terminated at the end of the year, on Dec. 6 said they’re comfortable with a plan by the Jockeys’ Guild to make payments to disabled riders from the Guild’s primary account.” (Blood-Horse)
Also: “Disabled jockey Gary Donahue, co-chairman of the Disabled Jockeys’ Fund, said he is considering dropping out of a lawsuit against the Jockeys’ Guild after Guild management presented evidence that finances earmarked for accident victims are accounted for.” (Thoroughbred Times)

Posted in Jockeys on December 7, 2004

Ladies’ Night Ends in Tie

Hoosier Park’s fourth annual Female Jockey Challenge ended in a tie between Francine Villeneuve and Jill Jellison, a first in the event’s history. Villeneuve, with more than 800 career wins, is the leading female rider in Canada; Jellison, based at Suffolk Downs, is the fourth-leading American female rider with more than 1800 wins.

Posted in Jockeys on November 7, 2004

Not Fallon’s Year

Kieren Fallon has had his share of trouble this year. “The 39-year-old Irish-born rider is among the elite jockeys in England, where he and Frankie Dettori dominate top class racing. He’s among the most talented jockeys in the world and has won hundreds of major stakes across the continent. But it’s been his off-track problems that have dominated the headlines this year in Europe, and there’s been a bit of everything. He was stung by undercover reporters from a British tabloid, was suspended 21 days for lack of effort in a race that was among the most controversial in Britain in years and was arrested, along with 16 others, as part of a major investigation into alleged corruption and race fixing in Britain.” (ESPN)
Related: “Fallon given new date in fixing case” (Guardian) and Bailey tops Fallon in International Jockey Championship (Dallas Morning News)

Posted in Jockeys on October 29, 2004

Risky Rides

For jockey Gary Birzer, it was another day of work. “As the seventh race began July 20 at Mountaineer Park, Birzer’s wife, Amy, 26, and their daughter, Robyn, stood at a track concession stand. Amy was eating a Popsicle. Another jockey’s wife rushed up and said, ‘Gary went down.'” The Baltimore Sun profiles the jockey whose accident sparked the national debate over jockeys’ insurance.

Posted in Jockeys on October 27, 2004

Aqueduct Honors “Wink”

Aqueduct announced Friday that the track would hold the first Jimmy Winkfield Stakes, a six-furlong $75,000 race for three-year-olds, on Martin Luther King Day next January. The honor follows the release of “Wink: The Incredible Life and Epic Journey of Jimmy Winkfield,” by Ed Hotaling. The late Winkfield was one of the great black jockeys of the early 20th century, winning the Kentucky Derby twice and more than 2600 races in the course of his career. He was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame last August.

Posted in Jockeys on October 23, 2004

Good Luck

Despite being 17 wins behind Frankie Dettori as of Thursday, Kieren Fallon vows to fight for the champion jockey’s title. (BBC)

Posted in Jockeys on October 15, 2004

Fallon Off Track

“The frustration of seeing the jockeys’ championship slipping from his grasp was almost too much for Kieren Fallon to bear at Leicester yesterday. First, he failed to pass a doctor’s examination before taking six scheduled rides, following a heavy fall at the same track on Monday. Then, as he was leaving the course, he almost came to blows with a photographer as he tried to reach his car.” (Guardian)

Posted in Jockeys on October 13, 2004