What a Year for Jockey James Graham
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Photo:
Eclipse Sportswire
What
a year it’s been for Irish-born jockey James Graham! After winning his
first riding championship at Arlington last summer, Graham finished second in
the standings at Keeneland last fall, journeyed on down to New Orleans for the
winter and where he was runner-up in the Fair Grounds standings, and then
returned to Keeneland for its spring meet to win three stakes – two of them
Grade I affairs.
Arriving
back in Chicago in time for Sunday’s races at Arlington, Graham won the second
race of the day aboard Gary and Beth Leverton’s Mr Num Num for trainer Frank
Kirby in a dead-heat finish, won his second by taking the fifth on Thad Ackel’s
Mop Head for trainer Mike Stidham and completed a riding triple by winning the
sixth on Terry Hamilton and Robert Morgan’s Gleam of Hope, again for Stidham.
Graham,
born in Finglas, Dublin, will turn 33 years old next week, but since arriving
in the United States in 2004 he has been an annual staple in the Arlington
jockey colony as well as at Fair Grounds during the winter months.
Regular
guests at Arlington each summer have come to know that they can count on Graham
to deliver his best effort aboard every horse he rides, whether in a Grade I
event or the Daily Double.
“I
ride for good people and they put me on good horses,” Graham said during
training hours this week at Arlington. “That’s all there is to it.”
Of
course, there’s some truth to that, but there’s also the fact that Graham is a
“heady” enough rider to know when to take advantage of a situation. In
Keeneland’s Grade I Ashland, for instance, Graham was aboard Alex Campbell’s
Karlovy Vary, sent off as the second-longest shot in that annual 3-year-old
filly fixture. Graham quickly sprinted to the lead aboard that daughter of
Dynaformer, was able to make the pace with tawdry early splits and then had
enough left to withstand the race’s late runners by three-quarters of a
length. Karlovy Vary paid a generous $32.80 for the win.
“Looking
at the replay makes me laugh,” said Graham. “I can’t believe they let me
get away with early splits like that. I don’t know what they were
thinking.
“I
didn’t think they’d let me go as slow as they did,” Graham said. “I was
the only one in the race that had any speed.”
One
week later, in the Grade I Jenny Wiley, Graham used the same tactics astride
James Miller’s Daisy Devine to be clearly best by a length at the wire.
That daughter of Kafwain was also overlooked by the fans, returning a $16.20
win mutuel. It was the first time Graham had registered two Grade I wins
during the same meeting at the Lexington oval, but he wasn’t finished with his
success in Kentucky.
On
April 26, Graham piloted Stone Farm et al.’s Upperline to a length and a half-tally
in Keeneland’s Grade III Bewitch Stakes after coming from off the pace with a
bold late move in the stretch. That win, aboard the heroine of the
Arlington Oaks two years ago, was for the Chicago-based Stidham.
Despite
earning his first riding championship honors at Arlington last summer, Graham
seems particularly unimpressed by the accomplishment.
“Winning
the title last summer was nice,” said Graham, “because it’s such a major
circuit and I love it here. But it’s hardly the most important thing for
me – no matter where you are riding. The most important thing is for everyone
to stay safe. It’s a long meeting here. For now, we’re here and
just very happy to be back at Arlington.”
REMINDER: NIGHT SCHOOL IN
SESSION THURSDAY EVENING THIS WEEK
Racing
fans are reminded that “Night School” will be held Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
central time this week and concentrate on a preview of the upcoming Arlington
season which will run through Sept. 25.
Hosted
by Arlington line maker Joe Kristufek, this week’s session will feature
Arlington’s senior director of marketing Howard Sudberry and be can be accessed
through arlingtonpark.com.
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