Just when I thought Pimlico and the Maryland Jockey Club had topped themselves with InfieldFEST and all the entertaining additions that are going along with it, they’ve announced yet another new and exciting event to take place on Black-Eyed Susan Day. The Inaugural Jockey Challenge promises to deliver the nation’s leading riders as they compete in some of the best racing Maryland has to offer. It’s a sort of Pro Bowl for these top jocks with a cash incentive.
On Friday, May 15, Eclipse Award winning jockeys Edgar Prado, Kent Desormeaux, Garrett Gomez, and John Velasquez in addition to four other leading North American riders will compete for a top prize of $14,000, with $10,000 going to second, $8,000 to third, and $3,500 to places fourth through eighth. The MJC is not doing this alone either- the Jockey’s Guild is the co-producer and together they will contribute $5,000 to the Permanently Disabled Jockey’s Fund.
Fans will also be able to get up close and personal with these well known riders, when they participate in an autograph session that morning in the Pimlico grandstand. Who knows, you could get the autograph of the Preakness winning jock. And it looks like Rafael Bejarano, Julien Leparoux, Prado, Desormeaux and Velazquez will have Preakness mounts, with Gomez on possible starter Pioneer of the Nile, the Derby runner-up.
The aspect of this showdown that gets me the most excited is that this gathering of outstanding jocks is comprised mostly of former and current Maryland riders.
Mario Pino is a Maryland institution winning the majority of his 6,100 plus wins at the Laurel and Pimlico ovals. His biggest racing moments came two years ago when he was aboard Larry Jones’ first Triple Crown hopeful, Hard Spun. Pino rode the consistent colt to a second in the Derby, a third in the Preakness, a third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and several graded stakes wins. Like his champion three year old steed, Mario Pino is the model of consistency and class.
Kent Desormeaux became somebody in Maryland when he went on to win the most races in one year and grab his second Eclipse award- but he also won my heart. While competing on the Maryland circuit, Desormeaux rode and won a lot of races for my dad, Howard. One afternoon as he made one of his several jaunts to the winner’s circle on one of our horses, he told my mother, who had me in tow, to put me on the horse in front of him for the picture. Well she did and the rest was history. I carried around my Kent Desormeaux trading card everywhere and put it on the wall at my three-year-old eye level. The horse A Magic Spray has been immortalized in that very special picture and still hangs on my wall today.
Another jockey who spent his early days in the Old Line state is Edgar Prado. Prado definitely had a strong presence in Maryland winning 24 riding titles at Laurel Park and Pimlico. Just last year he received one of the highest honors in horseracing when he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame. My personal memories of Prado include when he rode my now show horse, Colonel Hill, to his second stakes victory as a three-year-old back in 1991. The always sharp as a tack Prado still remembered winning that race 16 years later when I saw him in the jocks room for the 2007 Preakness. To say the least, I was impressed.
Not to show too much favoritism, but I will be rooting for one former Maryland rider more than the others. Ramon Dominguez is probably my favorite rider not only for his skills in the saddle but also for the person he is when his feet are on the ground. I would describe Dominguez’s riding style as somewhat passive aggressive in that he has extremely light hands and a knack for having exquisite timing on a horse. He knows how much horse he has underneath him, keeps the horse out of trouble, and only asks the horse for just the right amount to get to the wire first. Prior to moving his tack to Delaware and now to New York, Dominguez rode here in Maryland during the late 90’s and early 2000’s. He was able to build a strong rapport with Maryland trainers with his dedicated work ethic and easy going, yet classy demeanor. And now, even though he has moved up the ladder to the elite racetracks and well-bred horses, he never forgets where he came from.
