One of the most discussed questions in horse racing is how much difference does a jockey make?
It depends on the quality of the jockey's horse.
That sounds simple, and not all jockeys are made the same. There have been great ones, journeymen and guys happy to make a living.
Guys such as Pat Day, Willie Shoemaker, Laffit Pincay and Oaklawn Park fixture Larry Snyder, who rode 6,388 winners, were difference-makers.
If there was an inch among horses in front of them, they saw a hole and went for it.
No one could rate a horse like Day, who had powerful hands.
Calvin Borel showed the moxie of a daytime burglar barreling down 4 inches of rail to win big races, including the Kentucky Derby three times.
Gary Stevens and Chris McCarron thought they were supposed to win every race. Day was nicknamed "Pay Day" at Oaklawn, Churchill Downs and just about everywhere he raced.
All of those guys -- except for Borel and Stevens, who both retired but returned to the track -- are retired from racing.
That's not to say there are no longer good jockeys, but great jockeys usually ride great horses.
Ricardo Santana Jr. won his fifth consecutive Oaklawn riding title this season. He's also won other riding titles, including at Churchill Downs, and he's 25 years old. Last year, he won 80 races at Oaklawn but slipped to 53 this season after some sort of falling out with trainer Steve Asmussen during the meet.
Asmussen trains a lot of great horses.
For the third year in a row, 33-year-old Ramon Vazquez finished second to Santana in Oaklawn's jockey standings. Geovanni Franco tied for third, two mounts behind Vazquez with 45 wins, and he's also 25.
Franco really helped his name nationally Saturday when he won the $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap with 19-1 shot Inside Straight. Franco stalked the early speed, odds-on-favorite Midnight Storm, and made his move in the stretch to pull away for a 2-length win.
Midnight Storm was ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, who flew in for Saturday's card but failed to win a race in his six rides despite twice being on favorites.
Julien Leparoux, one of the greats, flew in to ride Classic Empire for his only mount of the day and won the Arkansas Derby. Classic Empire is the early favorite to win the Kentucky Derby.
Leparoux most likely will always ride Classic Empire. The one time a different jockey tried, Irad Ortiz fell off.
Alex Canchari also beat Smith in the sixth race on 9-1 shot Hot Shot Kid. Canchari, 23, tied Franco for the third most wins this meet.
On a side note, Oaklawn Park's increased purses haven't just attracted better horses from around the country; the jockey colony also is young and talented.
Of course, jockeys are human. They can get left in the gate in that split second before the race starts, or go wide or fail to gauge how much horse he has left in the stretch and finish a too-fast-closing second or third.
In most cases, the horse makes the jockey. Stew Elliott was a small-track journeyman, but John Servis liked the way he fit Smarty Jones. Elliott nearly rode his mount to a Triple Crown in 2004 after winning the Arkansas Derby, Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
In fact, many think jockey Jerry Bailey was so determined to not let Elliott win the Triple Crown he used his horse Eddington to stay on the heels of Smarty Jones, who didn't relax down the back stretch and ran out of gas in the the last 100 yards.
Jockeys are important, but the best horse is the most important thing in a horse race.
Sports on 04/19/2017