Tempers Flare, Jockeys Jab Following Derby
By Monrovia Weekly
Published: Friday, April 9th, 2010
By Nina Kathryn Hauptman
Those who attended the Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, April 4th got a bit more of a show than they paid for when jockey Garret Gomez threw a punch at competitor Victor Espinoza at the end of the big race.
Gomez was riding race-favorite Lookin At Lucky that day, and attempted to edge his way from the third place position into second, where Espinoza (atop Who’s Up) was holding his ground. On the far turn of the track, Gomez tried to maneuver his horse into a gap by the inside rail to pass Espinoza, but was blocked when Espinoza sharply angled Who’s Up towards the rail. Gomez was forced back into his third place slot (which is where he finished the race), and there is speculation that Lucky may have even hit the rail as a result of Espinoza’s maneuver.
Stated Gomez, “I can’t tell if I did hit the fence, but it was close.”
After the race, across from the winner’s circle by the weigh-in scales, words were exchanged and Gomez threw a punch at Espinoza.
Gomez has stated in interviews that he had ample space to pass along the rail, but that Espinoza veered his horse right into him and forced him back. “I was having a perfect trip,” he is quoted as saying to multiple media outlets. He also said that he believes this act was intentional, claiming that Espinoza had expressed the desire to get even with him after a quarrel following a race the previous week.
Espinoza claims that Gomez should have been more aggressive with his horse, and that he waited too long to make his move, also stating, “I’m one of the safest riders around. You can ask anybody.”
Lookin at Lucky’s trainer, Bob Baffert, expressed dissatisfaction with the way that Gomez positioned his horse. “I was upset with Garrett,” said Baffert. “When you ride the heavy favorite, especially at Santa Anita on the synthetic, where there’s no pace, you can’t put yourself in a spot where people can mess with you. You’re inviting trouble.”
Baffert and Gomez have been on somewhat shaky terms since Gomez was replaced by jockey Martin Garcia for the Santa Anita Handicap, who ended up winning on the horse Gomez would have rode, Misremembered.
On the Sunday following the race, Santa Anita stewards Kim Sawyer, Tom Ward and Scott Chaney interviewed both of the jockeys about the incident and weighed both sides of the story. It was finally decided that both jockeys had acted inappropriately. Espinoza was suspended from racing for 3 days (beginning on April 11th) for changing his course without adequate clearance, while Gomez was penalized with a fine of $750 for disorderly conduct.
Sidney’s Candy, ridden by Joe Talamo, ended up winning the Derby that day, by a margin of 4 ½ lengths (the final eighth of a mile was run in 12.1 seconds). Longshot horse Setsuko came in second, followed by Lucky. Espinoza finished ninth with Who’s Up in the ten-horse field.
The Santa Anita Derby is widely held to be the most important race for 3-year-old thoroughbreds in the West. The length of the race is 1 and 1/8 miles (9 furlongs), and it is run on the track’s artificial dirt surface. The Derby, which is held in April each year at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, carries a $750,000 purse.
The Santa Anita Derby, a Grade I stakes race, has earned a reputation as a stepping-stone for other major contests. A number of horses, including Winning Colors, Sunday Silence and Silver Charm have gone on to win in the Kentucky Derby, and Santa Anita winner Affirmed succeeded in taking the Triple Crown.
Photographs by Terry Miller
Leave a Reply
