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(Gonzalez began with the idea of rewarding all graded-stakes winners but said he would be fine if it included only Grade I races, which number about two dozen a year in the state.) It would help reward jockeys financially, but also incentivize the best - like Flavien Prat and Umberto Rispoli, dominant riders who bolted from Southern California - to rethink big races like Del Mar’s Pacific Classic. The move by Gonzales is two-fold, at its core. “It’s significant, because of the big stage. “Jerry, with one win, with one gesture, put a spotlight on a very important issue,” said Gonzales, whose uncle, “Milo” Valenzuela, rode Kentucky Derby winner Tim Tam in 1958 and DQ-advanced winner Forward Pass in 1968. Gonzales pointed to Donegal’s co-owner and managing partner Jerry Crawford as someone who may begin to reshape a small corner of the sport’s financial structure. Yet, the feet drag.Ĭhange comes glacially in horse racing, particularly when money is involved. The proposal is far from offering jockeys the key to Scrooge McDuck’s vault. The one-time, one-season deal is what Gonzales is promoting in California. A horse with the right lineage and resume might continue to breed at that pace for a decade, churning out untold riches. Owners, meanwhile, rake in the 100-something times the stallion breeds in a season. We’re the only sport where ambulances chase the athletes during competition.īut here’s what Gonzales and Donegal Racing members are talking about: Ortiz received the right to pair Mo Donegal with a mare until realizing a viable foal, or sell that right. I know how hard jockeys work, putting their lives on the line. “This difference between us is how they treat their athletes. “Any other sport would have done this already,” said Gonzales, a former UC San Diego student who used to work the backstretch barns at Del Mar.
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Why is Oscar Gonzales, vice chairman of the California Horse Racing Board, fighting subtle and not-so-subtle blowback for suggesting the idea acted upon by some gracious Midwesterners becomes the norm? If those chasing a dream with meager margins can do what’s right, why can’t the sheiks, business magnates and celebrity clingers? Here was a Des Moines, Iowa-based group of 54 - famed for roots with everyone from teachers to prep coaches some shares as small as a quarter of a percent - deciding to shave off a manageable piece of the Triple Crown pie for someone risking life and limb to get there. would receive a rare share of Mo Donegal’s future work as a stallion, the ripples reached the shores of California. When Donegal Racing decided Belmont Stakes-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.