Author: Wynn Elliott

Santa Anita Press Release 48-Year-Old Cajun Native Kent Desormeaux, Now Ranks 19Th All Time ARCADIA, Calif. (Jan. 27, 2019)–As he’s done literally thousands of times throughout his Hall of Fame career, Louisiana-born Kent Desormeaux saved his best for when it counted on Sunday at Santa Anita, overcoming what appeared to be a five length deficit with just a furlong to run in garnering his 6,000th career win aboard the Jim Cassidy-trained X S Gold. Owned and bred by Cassidy and Deron Pearson’s D P Racing, X S Gold, a 4-year-old California-bred filly by Golden Balls, out of the In Excess mare Some Excess, got a mile on grass in 1:34.72.  Off as the 5-2 favorite in a field of 10 older fillies and mares, she paid $7.20 to win. “This filly really makes it hard on herself and hard on Mr. Cassidy,” said the ever-loquacious Desormeaux, who will turn 49 on Feb. 27.  “She makes you use both hands when training her and she’s either on or she’s off, and she was spot on today.  She had a lot of work to do from the quarter pole and she just got it done in the nick of time today… “I can humbly say that I’m truly honored and proud of the number 6,000.  I can definitely attest that it wasn’t easy to get here, especially these last two months…I also...

Fair Grounds Press Release By Ryan Martin Jockey James Graham NEW ORLEANS (January 27, 2019) – Sunday afternoon at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots proved to be a banner day for jockey James Graham, who scored a total of five victories on the program, the last three for the owner/trainer combo of Tom Amoss and Maggi Moss. Graham scored his quintet of victories with Great Sky (Race 1, $9.20), Wristlet (Race 4, $43.00), Twin Farms (Race 5, $5.20), Fair Shot (Race 7, $5.60) and Antarctic (Race 8, $6.60). “It was fantastic,” Graham said at the end of his successful day. “Tom has been a big part of my career since I started here. I just appreciate everything that everyone has done for me. I’m having fun, enjoying what I’m doing. I had a bit of a sickness over the weekend and had to take off Friday, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. Things are going great. I’m riding for good people. The horses are running well and they keep knocking on the door. If they aren’t winning, they’re right there. A big thanks to Tom. A large number of the wins on the meet have been from his barn. I was building momentum from the start of the meet, but a big thanks to Tom and all the owners who keep putting me on winners.” With Adam Beschizza riding the Houston Racing Festival card at Sam Houston, Graham was...

Oaklawn Park Press Release Ezequiel Lara And Wes Hamilton (photo Credit: Anthony Schafer) Ezequiel Lara, one of at least two apprentice jockeys scheduled to ride regularly at the 2019 Oaklawn meeting, didn’t have his first mount until he was 21, making him a relatively late bloomer in the industry. “School was the main reason,” Lara, 22, said Friday morning. “I wanted to drop out and get out of it, but my parents wanted me to finish.” Lara grew up near Remington Park in Oklahoma City, where his father, Martin, a former rider, works as valet in the jockeys’ room, before graduating from Del City High School in 2015. Ezequiel Lara said he’s been around horses all his life, but his only riding experience before graduating from high school was “getting on a pony.” “I had to completely wait until I was done, so I’m late, real late,” Lara said of his riding career. “I left my house right when I graduated. Right when I was 18, I left my house.” Lara rode his first race Sept. 14, 2017, at Remington Park. He scored his first victory Feb. 13, 2018, at Sam Houston. “Just a learning process to become a jockey,” Lara said. “It’s just not something you jump into. It’s a learning process.” Lara said he’s fortunate to have somebody to lean on for advice. His agent is retired...

Santa Anita Press Release By Ed Golden Jockey Heriberto Figueroa Heriberto Figueroa is one of the best-kept secrets on the Southern California circuit so far, but that’s likely to change soon. Winning races in bunches for assorted trainers will do that. “He’s learning every day; that’s what we’re concentrating on,” said his agent, Nelson Arroyo. “He’s getting better every day and he has all the natural talent in the world. Now he’s putting it all together. “He watches replays every day, stays humble, and that’s the main thing with him. He’s improving all the time and you’ll see that every week.” Figueroa, like Arroyo a native of Puerto Rico, is a 19-year-old graduate of the Island Nation’s famed Escuela Vocacional Hipica riding school, which has produced the dynamic Ortiz brothers, Jose and Irad Jr., Evin Roman, John Velazquez and Manuel Franco,  among others. “He attended the jockey school for two years in Puerto Rico,” Arroyo said. “He rides for several different top trainers and in the mornings, works for everybody every single set just about every day.” But wait. There’s more. Arroyo expects another promising young rider from Puerto Rico to be under his wing at Santa Anitua shortly. “The same person who called me about Heriberto called me again and told me I had to look at this kid. ‘I think I found you another freak,’” he said....