On Dec. 31, sometime in the afternoon at Calder Race Course, jockey Jorge Velasquez will say it’s over.
No more early mornings. No more late afternoons. No more rides in the freezing cold of New York or the sweltering heat of South Florida. Velasquez, after 34 years in the saddle, will finally hang up his tack.
“I had a great career,” said Velasquez, who was honored Saturday at Aqueduct and will ride his final race New Year’s Eve at Calder, “but you have to retire someday, and this is the time to get out.”
The time for Velasquez to ride his last race is now, at the age of 50, after riding 40,847 races and booting home 6,795 winners. He will fall short of his dream _ becoming only the sixth rider to win 7,000 or more races _ but he will be recognized as a versatile rider who remained among North America’s elite for nearly three decades. Over that period of time, Velasquez, inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame in 1990, not only won the 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness aboard Pleasant Colony and the 1985 Breeders’ Cup Classic with Proud Truth, but he took part in racing’s greatest rivalry: the 1978 Triple Crown with Affirmed and Alydar.
For six weeks in the spring of 1978, Velasquez and Alydar chased Affirmed and jockey Steve Cauthen through the Triple Crown. In a trio of races each more exciting than the last, Affirmed and Alydar hooked up in classic stretch duels. In each of the races, however, Velasquez could never push Alydar in front of Affirmed.
“My connection with him, of course, came through the Triple Crown, and it is a very personal connection,” Cauthen said. “As happy as I was to win those races, I felt for Jorge because he did nothing but ride his best every time, and he still remained a gentleman throughout it all.”
Recalled John Veitch, who trained Alydar, “He rode Alydar perfectly, and I’ve never had a problem with how he rode that horse against Affirmed.
“Jorge had a great versatility as a rider. He could fit any horse, and that is a rare quality in jockeys.”
But as time went on, and Velasquez grew older, he had trouble securing mounts in New York, Chicago and Florida. Former jockey Angel Cordero Jr., now a trainer in New York, said he wished his former opponent could have reached his milestone.
“I feel bad because Jorge is so close to 7,000 victories, and he can’t get the mounts,” Cordero Jr. said. “Believe me, he rode a horse for me the other day and he still looked good. But when jockey’s get to a certain age, people just think they can’t ride anymore.
“Time didn’t take away any of Jorge’s talent. It took away his customers.”
Notebook
Calder has decided to try and attract larger crowds through music. Country performer Marty Stuart will be at Calder for a concert Saturday at 2 p.m. Stuart, once a member of Johnny Cash’s touring band, plays guitar and mandolin and anything from bluegrass to gospel to hillbilly rock. He’s a good musician whose recordings have tended to be over-produced. . . . Horse of the Year candidate Gentlemen is being pointed toward the San Pasqual Handicap Jan. 10 at Santa Anita. . . . In comparison to Velasquez’s 40,847, Julie Krone was 35 mounts shy of 3,500 through Thursday’s program at the Meadowlands. . . . There is talk that thoroughbred racing may return to Green Mountain in Pownal, Vt. The track was probably one of the prettiest in the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s. An old train ran along the backstretch and the track was indeed surrounded by the Green Mountains. But the track has been closed since 1992 when a change to greyhound racing failed to keep the facility open. Two local business people are talking about leasing the track from current owner John Tietgens to run 100 days of racing, four days a week, from Memorial Day to the end of the summer.
Dave Joseph’s horse racing column appears Sundays.
