GOLDEN GLIMPSES #126

August 4, 1998

By ED GOLDEN

Babe Ruth, Sandy Koufax, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Rocky Marciano, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Unitas, Jim Brown, Wayne Gretzky.

Saying sports icons like these didn’t have the will to win is like saying Mike Tyson doesn’t have a short fuse.

Great athletes from any era have a common bond, a similar strand that puts them on a plateau above and beyond their peers. It’s not talent. It’s not money. It’s not love of the game.

It’s an unflagging competitive urge, one so powerful it overrides all else.

Gary Stevens possesses such a drive, and the Hall of Fame jockey says it’s the primary reason for his success in a consistent and accomplished career that started when be rode his first winner at age 16 in Les Bois Park in Idaho.

"I’m just very competitive," said Stevens. "I don’t like to get beat. That’s all there is to it. I guess you could say I put into everything into any ride." Translation: whether it’s an $8,000 claiming race at Hollywood Park in front of a smattering of 5,000 fans, or the Kentucky Derby before 120,000 mint-juleped junkies and an international television audience, at 35, Gary Stevens still gives his all.

The origin of Gary’s winning desire goes back to his days as a kid in Caldwell, Idaho. "I guess it stems from competitiveness with my brothers (Scott and Craig), to make my father (Ron) proud," Stevens said. "Having two brothers who were good athletes and me being the youngest, I always felt like I had to everything they did a little better to receive recognition."

Stevens hopes he receives further recognition for sticking with Belmont Stakes winner Victory Gallop in Sunday’s $1 million Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park, a race in which he’ll have to beat Wood Memorial winner Coronado’s Quest. Stevens task became easier when Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet was declared from the Haskell due to joint injuries in his hind legs. Real Quiet is expected to be out of training for two months.

It had been widely anticipated that Stevens would ride Real Quiet in the Haskell, since trainer Bob Baffert has given Gary first call on his horses.

"We pride ourselves in not blowing up bridges or slapping people’s faces," said Stevens’ agent, Las Vegas native Ron Anderson, in explaining their decision. "The Prestons (owners of Victory Gallop) have been extra nice to us. We won a Breeders’ Cup race for them (on Da Hoss in the 1996 Mile), we’ve won races in California for them, and they, along with (trainer) Elliott Walden, took Alex Solis off the horse to get us."

Anderson made that statement before Real Quiet was declared from the race.

Earlier, Kent Desormeaux, who won the Derby and the Preakness on Real Quiet, had expressed relief at retaining the mount.

"Who wouldn’t be concerned about losing a horse like Real Quiet?," Desormeaux said with candor. "I am delighted to be keeping the mount."

For now.

DA HOT AFFAIR -- Turned on after-burners when jock pushed the button against claiming maidens in debut at $39 payoff, can surprise again.

THE CHANG -- Appreciated outside post in only second start, rallied furiously to miss by a half-length. Can get up vs. $28,000 maidens, but he won’t be 24-1 next time.

SHARP CAT -- Classy filly has the look of a champion. Mature miss will continue to pile up stakes wins for new trainer Wally Dollase.

THE HOMESTRETCH: On Stevens’ first full term as president of the Jockeys’ Guild: "There have been some great things done in the past 12 months, specifically our relationship with the NTRA (National Thoroughbred Racing Association). Also, the respect gained by riders as perceived by owners and trainers has grown and is much better than it’s ever been. This is an atmosphere that must exist if we want to see the sport prosper and the NTRA’s goals realized. We all have to come together as one. There’s still a long way to go, but I’m very optimistic about the future of horse racing." The Guild’s annual national meeting takes place in December. Included on its agenda, Stevens said, are continued improvement of health care benefits, including dental coverage. On Gary’s decision to not ride full-time at Saratoga this summer: "A move is always tough, especially clear across the country. And it wouldn’t have been me, but my new wife and my four kids, also, so it wasn’t going to be an easy change. Given the offer I was given (first call on Baffert’s horses), it wasn’t a difficult decision to make.". . . It’s no news when Baffert wins back-to-back races, but when the horses pay $23.60 and $68.80, as So Generous and Joe Who did on July 30, it’s man bites dog . . . Touch Gold, who will be ridden by Pat Day, is expected to face Gentlemen, Puerto Madera, Free House, Pacificbounty and possibly Mud Route in the Aug. 15 Pacific Classic . . . Trevor Denman, notorious for calling the winner of a race at the 3/8 pole, outdid himself in the San Diego Handicap, when, at the 1/4 pole, he said 3-10 favorite Silver Charm "is going to finish last." . . . Kudos to KCBS-TV, Los Angeles, in presenting the Swaps Stakes from Hollywood Park to 250,000 viewers, but sportscaster Jim Hill committed a major gaffe when, after 3-year-old Old Trieste won the race by 12 lengths, he said: "Old Trieste is now one of the early favorites for next year’s Kentucky Derby." A horse can only run in a Derby once, when he or she is three years old. Turns out Old Trieste already ran in the Kentucky Derby on May 2, finishing 10th. If he runs in the Derby next year at age four, it will make racing history . . . The audio on the Del Mar replay show was so low the first week it should have been called "The Horse Whisperer" . . . Craig Lewis, on Larry The Legend, his $2,500 bankruptcy sale purchase who was retired recently: "Winning the (1995) Santa Anita Derby was the thrill of a lifetime. I’ve had the good fortune to train a couple of great horses -- Cutlass Reality, who won the Hollywood Gold Cup, and Music Merci, who won the Del Mar Futurity. As thrilling as it was to have horses like that, there wasn’t any comparison to Larry The Legend simply because he was the most courageous horse I’ve ever been around. He gave everything he could have." The 6-year-old, who survived two surgeries to his right knee, will stand at Mira Loma Farm . . . The order of Breeders’ Cup races at Churchill Downs on Nov. 7 returns to its original 1984 format: $1 million Juvenile, $1 million Fillies, $1 million Sprint, $1 million Mile, $2 million Distaff, $2 million Turf and $4 million Classic. For the first time, wagering will be available on a maximum of 14 betting interests instead of the previous limit of 11 . . . When Brice Blanc piloted Canon to victory in the final race of Hollywood’s 67-day meet, it was one time a Blanc fired a Canon.

  ***

Send e-mail to Ed Golden