Jockeys preparing for Santa Anita say not all change is good

Holiday season means racing season at Santa Anita Park with the curtain lifting Saturday for its traditional day-after-Christmas opener.

Just as customary each winter at “The Great Race Place” is an all-star cast of jockeys taking center stage that features Hall of Famers, Eclipse Award winners and young hot shots looking to make their marks.

What is different this winter is the track itself, and that is not an overnight development.

“Tremendously different than when I first got here,” Victor Espinoza said. “To me it was perfect. But it’s changed so much, particularly over the last two or three years I feel like I’m riding at a different track. And not for the better.”

Espinoza rode American Pharoah to the 2015 Triple Crown and was inducted into the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame-inductee who has been riding at Santa Anita for 27 years.

In the lead-up to the winter-spring meet, several veteran jockeys like Espinoza shared their thoughts with HRN on race riding at Santa Anita, including changes to the dirt track, California’s restrictive crop rules enacted in October, the new turf chute and other changes in Arcadia.

How deep is the dirt?

The dirt main track at Santa Anita, which in days gone-by was one of the fastest racing strips in North America, has been a work in progress since a rash of equine breakdowns marred the 2018-19 meet. At times, presumably in the name of safety, the track has been exceedingly deep and tiring. This was most glaring on Future Stars Friday at the 2019 Breeders’ Cup.

Espinoza noted this has made strategizing a race all the more difficult.

“It’s just inconsistent,” he said. “So now, every day I have to rethink, how am I going to give my horses the best chance to win? Some days it is very deep, and horses will have a hard time getting over it. Other days it is not.”

Espinoza also said he thinks the kickback of dirt on the main track has become more of a factor in recent years.

“Sometimes the kickback can get very bad – and it doesn’t seem to matter how many times a jockey complains. They just don’t care,” Espinoza said. “When I came here many years ago, you could come from behind, no problem. Now, the kickback hurts so bad. Even for me. I feel bad for the horses. It hurts and many of them won’t run through it.”

Fellow Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who won the 2018 Triple Crown with Justify, has also seen Santa Anita’s dirt track evolve, although he is not nearly as critical. Once known as being speed-favoring and producing sizzling times – think track records of 1:06.98 for six furlongs (The Factor, 2010) and 1:39.18 for 1 1/16-miles (Effervescence, 1993) – that no longer seems the case.

“It’s a little deeper and is a different type of dirt than it used to be,” Smith said. “I would say maybe speed doesn’t carry as it used to because of that. But really it all depends. They are trying to be safe. There are days when speed is really holding. It just all depends on how tight they get it because of the weather and other factors.

“Speed is always dangerous. It's just strategy might come more into play.”

A rich riding colony

Espinoza and Smith, along with last year’s leading rider Flavien Prat, headline a Santa Anita jockeys’ room that has added much-needed quality depth in recent years.

Headlining recent additions were Italy native Umberto Rispoli, who arrived in southern California last winter from Hong Kong and was a close second to Prat for the summer riding title at Del Mar, and former northern California kingpins Abel Cedillo and Juan Hernandez, who finished one-two at the recently concluded meet at Los Alamitos. There is also a blossoming apprentice rider on the scene in Jessica Pyfer, who was a close third in the Los Al jockey standings.

Much like Rispoli last winter, Prat was also able to find fast success upon arriving from overseas and riding full time in 2015. He has tallied no fewer than 12 riding titles at both Santa Anita and Del Mar, all despite having never previously raced on dirt.

“I don’t feel it was that difficult, but there was definitely some adjustment,” Prat said. “I love dirt racing. You have to have a lot of speed right out of the gate and there is just a lot more going on. You have to think quick.

“But yeah, the track is also probably a little slower than when I first got here and might not carry you like it did,” Prat added. “Still, dirt racing is about speed and putting yourself in position.”

New crop rules

Count Smith and Espinoza as card-carrying critics of the new crop rules in California that took effect Oct. 1. Jockeys are now limited to six total strikes in a race and no more than two in succession. Additionally, the crop can only be used in an underhanded position.

For Smith the change in how the crop can be held has proven most troublesome.

“We’re OK with the number of strikes, we’re getting along with that,” Smith said. “But underhand only is not working. Especially when you got a big ol’ horse that’s wanting to lay in. You’re trying to finish, and they keep lugging in, and there’s nothing you can do about it. You’re not able to get the best placing you could have if you were using it the proper way, which is overhand and correcting.

“Hopefully, at some point they’ll get that fixed. We can live with the rest of it,” Smith added.

Espinoza views the new crop rules as a gross overstep by state regulators.

“I cannot pretend everything is golden when it is not,” Espinoza said. “I’ve been here 27 years and am the only one that’s stayed here. Other jockeys leave and come back, but I’ve been here. I just don’t get it.

“Who are these people that put in this rule? They make something up like these whip rules, just so people think they are actually working. They can sit in their office and say, ‘OK, I did my work today.’ But in reality, they are affecting everyone. Our own people are ruining the sport, and it is really sad.”

Espinoza noted how he and other jockeys face suspensions and fines for not giving their mounts a chance at their best placing. In his view the new rules fly in the face of this longstanding mandate.

“I can ride either way. But for the horse’s it’s a big difference. They are not going to run their best race,” Espinoza said. “Before, I would get penalized for finishing third. (The stewards) would say, ‘No, you could have finished second with that horse.’ They were always looking out for the gamblers, and we would get in trouble. So what happens now? They don’t care about the gamblers.”

Espinoza spoke with a chuckle when describing watching Eastern-based jockeys ride at Del Mar's Turf Festival on Thanksgiving weekend and trying to adapt to California's rules.

“I was laughing watching them ride,” Espinoza said. “I saw one of those jockeys drop the whip a couple times. He still won with one, because he was on the best horse, but it’s not easy. I don’t care what jockey it is, how many years, how many wins. When they tell you to ride differently, it’s a challenge.”

New turf chute

Following the construction of a new backstretch turf chute, Santa Anita this meet will card turf sprints at both 6 and 6 1/2 furlongs. This month Prat and Rispoli broke from the gate together and took a test spin of the new course.

Turf sprints at 5 1/2 furlongs, which actually started on the dirt track and tended to be mad scrambles, will no longer be run.

Prat said he was happy with the added real estate of the new chute, which is approximately 80 feet wide and 800 feet long.

“It was only the two of us, but it went smooth – really nice,” Prat said of the test run. “This gives you a little more time to break and you don’t have to rush yourself. When you ride 5, 5 1/2 (furlongs) it’s all about breaking and sending and hope you can get lucky.”

Santa Anita’s unique downhill turf course will only be used for the start of grass races at 1 1/4 miles or more, the same as last season.