MCCARRON LIKES HIS STAKES WELL DONE.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI ARCADIA - Chris McCarron Christopher John "Chris" McCarron (b. March 27 1955, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame retired jockey. He was introduced to the sport of thoroughbred racing by his older brother, jockey Gregg McCarron. was first out of the Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may be several places:
``I'm nothing, nothing, nothing but impressed. His dedication to what he does is second to no athlete,'' McCarron said. ``I'd put him up there with (Tour de France Tour de France World's most prestigious and difficult bicycle race. Staged for three weeks each July—usually in some 20 daylong stages—the Tour typically comprises 20 professional teams of nine riders each and covers some 3,600 km (2,235 miles) of flat and winner) Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France—cycling's most prestigious race—seven consecutive times, from 1999 to 2005. .'' But, McCarron admits, Pincay's approach is not for him. In fact, the two Hall of Famers' mindsets when it comes to choosing mounts couldn't be more different. McCarron's devotion is to riding the classiest horses, in the richest races, for the most influential owners and trainers. These days, being choosy choos·y also choos·ey adj. choos·i·er, choos·i·est Very careful in choosing; highly selective. choos  i·ness n. is working better than ever. After riding
the Chilean mare Separata to a front-running victory down the turf
hillside in Thursday's $78,700 Winter Solstice winter solsticen. In the Northern Hemisphere, the solstice that occurs on or about December 22. winter solstice Noun Stakes, McCarron has won 19 races at the Santa Anita meeting, nine in stakes races. That's a sensational ratio, like a golfer scoring half of his victories in major tournaments. McCarron has double the stakes wins of the next Santa Anita jockey. His well-diversified list of stakes winners include 2000 Horse of the Year Tiznow (in the $250,000 San Fernando Stakes), early Kentucky Derby contender Millennium Wind ($100,000 Santa Catalina), turf-distance horse Bienamado ($150,000 San Marcos), sprinter Freespool ($100,000 El Conejo) and 3-year-old filly Golden Ballet ($150,000 Santa Ynez). And he can expect Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf runner-up Tout Charmant to get back in action late in the Santa Anita season. McCarron can add to his bankroll bank·roll n. 1. A roll of paper money. 2. Informal One's ready cash. tr.v. bank·rolled, bank·roll·ing, bank·rolls Informal Saturday, when Jenine Sahadi-trained Golden Ballet goes for her fourth stakes victory in a row in the $200,000 Las Virgenes Stakes The Las Virgenes Stakes is a race for thoroughbred fillies. A Grade I event, it's raced each February at Santa Anita Park and offers a purse of $250,000 for eligible three-year-olds. . Although Santa Anita leader Pincay has twice as many victories as McCarron this year, McCarron's horses have earned more purse money. McCarron attributes some of this to ``happenstance'' - ``I've been blessed with a lot of live horses in the major races here.'' But it's happening for a reason. Nearly a decade ago, tired from the effort to come back from a serious accident, the then-35-year-old Massachusetts native decided to ride fewer races each day, cutting back from seven or eight to five or six. He and longtime agent Scott McClellan decided to cut out the lower claiming races, in which the horses have little promise and more likely are to be in questionable health. McCarron heard whispers that he'd grown complacent, and knows some thought breaking both legs and an arm in the 1990 accident at Hollywood Park had left him gun-shy. He worried that without ``paying dues'' by riding the cheap horses, he wouldn't get the champions. ``I think I'm fortunate to have persuaded the people I ride for that I come here to ride every day, and I ride hard every day,'' McCarron said. The man who once chased victories as tenaciously as Pincay - McCarron led the nation in wins three times before he was 26 - gets away without paying dues now because he's a two-time Kentucky Derby winner with a reputation for making few mistakes on the sport's biggest stages. McCarron said he'd actually like to ride more than his Santa Anita average of three horses a day. In that way he's the same as most of his fellow jockeys, limited by the shortage of horses. Nevertheless, McCarron is on pace to break the Santa Anita record for stakes wins in a meet, 19 by Pincay in 1983 and Corey Nakatani in 1997. He's also on pace to pick up his 7,000th victory before the Santa Anita season ends in April, becoming the seventh jockey to reach that milestone. ``Winning 7,000 will mean a lot,'' McCarron said. Chances are, it will happen in a stakes race. --Look back, look ahead: Last weekend's major stakes results left a muddled outlook for the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during on March 3. After Tiznow's loss to Wooden Phone in the Strub Stakes, the Horse of the Year might skip the Big 'Cap and go to the Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The race is operated through the Emirates Horse Racing Authority (EHRA) whose Chairman is Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, . After Freedom Crest's last-place finish against Guided Tour in the San Antonio Handicap The San Antonio Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park each year. The race is open to horses, age three and up, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt. The Grade II event offers a purse of $250,000. Round Table won this race in 1958. , the former is pointing for the San Bernardino and the latter for the New Orleans Handicap The New Orleans Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Open to horses four years old and up, the race is run at a distance of one and one-eighth miles on the dirt. It currently offers a purse of $500,000. . Tiznow and Freedom Crest were reported to have bled in their races, but trainers Jay Robbins and Richard Baltas didn't use that as an excuse. If Tiznow doesn't run, Santa Anita had better hope Captain Steve goes in the Big 'Cap. But after he won the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park last Saturday, Captain Steve was deemed more likely to go to Dubai for that $6 million race. --The weekend: Santa Anita unveils a new race today, the $75,000 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds who haven't won a stakes at 1 mile or longer. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , for late-bloomers. The Golden Eagle Farm-owned, Bob Baffert-trained entry of Wild and Wise and Special Times are favored over Golden Ticket. --McCarron and Golden Ballet break from post 2 Saturday against eight other fillies in the 1-mile Las Virgenes. --La Brea winner Spain and El Encino winner Chilukki are scheduled for a rubber match in Sunday's La Canada Stakes The La Canada Stakes is a Grade II race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park each year. The La Canada is open to fillies and mares, age three and up, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt and offers a purse of $200,000. for 4-year-old fillies. OUT OF THE GATE SANTA ANITA LEADERS (Through Wednesday) Jockey Wins Laffit Pincay 35 Victor Espinoza 26 Kent Desormeaux 21 David Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the 21 Chris McCarron 17 Alex Solis 17 Gary Stevens 17 Trainer Wins Bob Baffert 17 Bill Spawr 12 Jack Carava 8 Ron Ellis 8 Bobby Frankel 8 THE STAKES SCHEDULE Santa Anita Today --$75,000 Sham Stakes, 3-year-olds, 1 1/8 miles Saturday --$200,000 Las Virgenes, 3-year-old fillies, 1 mile. Sunday -- $200,000 La Canada, 4-year-old fillies, 1 1/8 miles. Gulfstream Park Saturday --$200,000 Gulfstream Breeders' Cup Handicap, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/8 miles on turf. Sunday --$100,000 The Very One Handicap, fillies and mares 3 and up, 1 1/8 miles on turf. PINCAY WATCH Two short-priced victories Wednesday - in a claimer and maiden-claimer - raised Laffit Pincay's record career-wins total to 9,077. A WEEK AT THE RACES At The Races is a British television channel, originally co-founded with Channel 4, but now owned by a partnership between British Sky Broadcasting, Arena Leisure PLC and 28 (out of the 59) UK racecourses. A record 439 3-year-olds have been nominated to the 2001 Triple Crown at a fee of $600 each, including a sharp increase in European nominees (53). D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas (born September 2, 1935 in Antigo, Wisconsin) is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. and Ireland's Aiden O'Brien lead the trainers in nominees (21 each). Dubai's Godolphin Racing led the owners (20). . . . Lasersport, a Triple Crown nominee, though bred for sprinting, came out of his second-place finish in the San Vicente Stakes The San Vicente Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park each year. The race is open to horses, age three, willing to race seven furlongs on the dirt and carries a purse of $150,000. The great racing filly, Busher, won this race against males in 1945. with a right-knee fracture requiring surgery. The Darrell Vienna-trained son of Gilded Time was 3 for 3 after winning the San Miguel. . . . Wagering on thoroughbred racing in the United States and Canada set a record in 2000 at $14.7 billion. The 4 percent increase from 1999, led by the expansion of off-track betting, reflected slower growth than in recent years. The average race included an all-time-low 8.1 horses. . . . Keepscratching's victory in Sunday's third race made the 9-year-old gelding gelding castrated male horse. the first three-time winner at the Santa Anita meet. . . . A Gulfstream Park security guard died of internal injuries after he was struck by a horse who ran loose after dumping his rider at the start of a race. Hunter Pultz was 77. . . . Turfway Park, the Florence, Ky., track that's being dominated by female jockeys this season, plans to run one race on Valentine's Day for women riders only. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: no caption (Laffit Pincay) Box: OUT OF THE GATE (see text) |
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