HORSE RACING: JOCKEY TAKES THE LONG ROAD HOME GRYDER RETURNS TO SANTA ANITA FOR OPENING DAY.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer ARCADIA - Listen to Aaron Gryder talk about the joys of opening day at Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
``I always thought opening day at Santa Anita was magical,'' said Gryder, the West Covina West Covina, city (1990 pop. 96,086), Los Angeles co., S Calif., in the San Gabriel valley; settled 1905, inc. 1923. Before World War II, West Covina was a small rural community where walnuts, wheat, and livestock were raised. native who rejoins the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, jockeys' roster this afternoon, the first of 86 racing days in the Arcadia track's 69th season. ``It's the end of an old year and the start of a new year. Everybody's in a good mood. You see kids in their Christmas clothes. It's fun to look on the other side of the (rail) and see that it's an event. Santa Anita definitely brings that out.'' Today's nine-race card begins at noon. Gryder has five mounts, including Lumbre and Ticafic in divisions of the Sir Beaufort Stakes, the warm-up act for the featured Malibu Stakes The Malibu Stakes is a race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses of either gender held each December at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The race is at a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt and is the first leg of Santa Anita Park's Strub Series. . Gryder, 35 now, didn't come from a horse-racing family but grew up watching Santa Anita races from the infield with his grandparents grandparents npl → abuelos mpl grandparents grand npl → grands-parents mpl grandparents grand npl and fell in love with the spectacle. By the time he was 16, he was an apprentice jockey, tutored by former jockey Rudy Campas. He recorded his first victory at Tijuana's Caliente racetrack in January 1987 and became the only apprentice to lead the Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may be several places:
The success at Hollywood Park was viewed as a sign of the young rider's uncommon poise, coming as it did about a month after Gryder lost his father to a car accident. But business lagged after his apprentice weight allowance expired, and by the end of the following season Gryder was leaving Southern California for the softer circuit in the Bay Area. He would travel constantly for years, winning championships at Churchill Downs Churchill Downs, Ky.: see Louisville. , Arlington Park Arlington Park is a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago region has been a popular sport since the early days of the city in the 1830s, and at one time Chicago had more horse racing tracks (six) than any other major and Aqueduct, the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of track whose inner track Gryder ruled each winter from 1999 to 2001. Shortly after leaving California, Gryder said his ``long-range goal'' was to come back here. He wasn't kidding about ``long range.'' ``I never put a timetable on it,'' Gryder said on the telephone last week. ``I always said I'll know it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a when somebody calls me.'' This fall, Gryder got a call from veteran California jockeys' agent Nick Cosato, who made the case that the time was now. Gryder wasn't convinced, believing it would be too difficult to be apart from his wife Karen and two kids, who are in school in New York until June. Karen, who is from Temple City, surprised him with her opinion. ``She said, 'I'd rather it be tough for six months, knowing we're going home, than to have it easy, knowing we might never go home,''' Gryder said. So, 17 years after he left, Gryder is home, living for now in an apartment in Pasadena. He has sold his house in Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs, resort and residential city (1990 pop. 25,001), Saratoga co., E N.Y.; inc. as a village 1826, as a city 1915. Skidmore College is the largest source of employment, but the city also has light manufacturing. , N.Y., and will sell the one on Long Island when his family moves here. His mother and older brother are still in the L.A. area. ``I'm not coming out here for the winter,'' Gryder said. ``I'm coming out here for the rest of my career.'' When Gryder was here before, he'd look around the jockeys' room and see Bill Shoemaker William Lee Shoemaker (August 19, 1931 – October 12, 2003) was an American jockey. Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," and "The Shoe", William Lee Shoemaker was born in the town of Fabens, Texas. At 2. , Laffit Pincay, Chris McCarron, Eddie Delahoussaye and Gary Stevens, the five winningest riders in Santa Anita history. All of those Hall of Famers have retired. Now, Gryder should fit in better. ``Although the room's changed, there are a lot of talented riders - and young riders - here,'' he said. ``I don't come in here thinking I should be near the top.'' Gryder has mounts today for leading Southern California trainers Doug O'Neill (Truckee Trend in the first race) and Jeff Mullins (Lumbre in the first division of the Sir Beaufort), but he won't ride in the $250,000 Malibu. The Malibu, a 7-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds, has Wilko (Corey Nakatani riding) and Greeley's Galaxy (Kent Desormeaux) trying to get back their pre-Kentucky Derby form, and Attila's Storm (Patrick Valenzuela) looking like the ``now'' horse. The split Sir Beaufort accounts for two of the four turf races on the program, marking the return of grass racing after Hollywood Park was unable to use its grass course. Crowds of nearly 30,000 have become the norm at Santa Anita openers. That's about half of what Gryder remembers, but enough to have him excited. ``It'll be fun to be home,'' Gryder said. ``I think it's great we're starting on opening day at Santa Anita.'' Kevin Modesti, (818) 713-3616 heymodesti(at)aol.com CAPTION(S): box Box: SANTA ANITA AT A GLANCE |
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