Gomez Plagued By Personal Problems

Photo: Eclipse Sportswire

Garrett Gomez, who took off his six riding assignments at Santa Anita Sunday due to a missed flight from Kentucky where he won two races at Keeneland the day before, took off his scheduled five mounts at Santa Anita today. Both of his of his scheduled mounts here on Sunday won as well.

“He’s going through personal problems,” said his agent, Tony Matos. “He texted me yesterday and said he didn’t want to ride for a while.”

A two-time Eclipse Award winner in 2007 and 2008 as the nation’s leading rider and winner of the Shoemaker Award for outstanding performance by a jockey in the 2005, 2007 and 2008 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Gomez, who has been dogged by personal issues throughout his career, took time off this past summer during Hollywood Park and Del Mar.  He turns 42 on Jan. 1, 2014.

A native of Tucson, Gomez had three wins, three seconds and six thirds from 24 mounts at Santa Anita through the first seven racing days. His mounts had earned $163, 206.

Since he began riding in 1988, Gomez has won 3,769 races from 21,639 mounts, with purse earnings of $205,224,899, an average of $9,484 per start.

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