GOLDEN GLIMPSES #165

May 11, 1999

By ED GOLDEN

It would be fitting if Laffit Pincay Jr. surpassed Bill Shoemaker�s career riding record of 8,833 wins at Santa Anita later this year.

"We�d love to do it at Santa Anita," says Pincay�s agent, Bob Meldahl, who also handles business for Corey Nakatani. "It would be great to do it there because of all the media attention it would draw, plus Santa Anita has such a rich tradition. But you can�t worry about when you get it done. You just have to get it done."

A year and a half ago, the 52-year-old Pincay was winning races at a snail�s pace, a rate that would have carried him into the year 2000 before he came within a sniff of Shoe�s mark. Pincay won only two races in 27 days at the 1997 Oak Tree meet, and was seriously considering moving his tack to Northern California in hope of getting more wins. But Pincay�s unflagging dedication to the sport he loves paid off. A bleak outlook turned bright overnight and Pincay was winning races in bunches again, like he did 20 years ago.

"He�s a good rider," said Meldahl succinctly, summing up why he thinks Pincay won 58 races to finish third in the recent Santa Anita standings. "Things have gone well for him and when Laffit�s winning races, he gets a lot of mounts. When the barns you ride for aren�t doing good, and we�re not doing as good, it�s harder. But right now, everybody we�re riding for is winning."

That�s why Pincay won nine races in the second week of the Hollywood Park meet. When Pincay won with his first four mounts on April 28, it marked his first four-win day in almost four years, since June 5, 1994, also at Hollywood. Laffit was sitting on 8,740 wins, just 93 shy of Shoe.

"Mike Mitchell has given us a big boost by riding Laffit," Meldahl said. "And Bill Spawr�s always been supportive. (Ron) McAnally has tried to use us in some spots. Lots of trainers are using us now, and Laffit is more in demand."

So when will Pincay pass Shoemaker?

"You never know," Meldahl said. "We�re not looking at winning nine races every week. You�ve got to do this whenever you can, hopefully, at Santa Anita."

THE HOMESTRETCH: Gary Stevens will leave after the Belmont Stakes on June 5 to ride full time in England for trainer Michael Stoute, so who will be Bob Baffert�s No. 1 rider? Not David Flores and Kent Desormeaux. Bet on Chris McCarron. "I actually have not to talked to Gary about his leaving," Baffert told me Sunday morning from Kentucky, after saddling Real Quiet to a neck upset of 3-5 favorite Free House in the Pimlico Special. "We haven�t had a chance to sit down yet. But I think you�ll see McCarron in there more than Kent." Baffert said McCarron leap-frogging to the top had nothing to do with Baffert�s controversial last-minute replacement of him with Stevens on General Challenge in the Santa Anita Derby. "That was so blown out of proportion," Baffert said. "Chris was in the right. I just needed them to do me a favor and they let me off. I�ve always had a lot of good luck with Chris, and I use riders I have good luck with." Baffert said he will run both of his star fillies, Silverbulletday and Excellent Meeting, in Saturday�s Preakness. "Silverbulletday was a cinch to go in the Preakness," said one cynic. "You think Baffert was gonna let Lukas get all the press?" . . . On the status of Silver Charm: "He�s breezing, he�s working, he looks great and we�re charging people here 50 cents to come see him to make some extra dough," said Baffert, who seemed happier than usual on ABC�s telecast of the Pimlico Special. "We were very excited, because I didn�t think we could beat Free House," Baffert said. "We thought Real Quiet was training great but we were wondering if he was going to get back to last year�s form. He hadn�t shown that until he won, and the Pimlico Special has a lot of history to it and we�d never won it. I get bored winning the same old races. I like challenges.". . .When Pincay does surpass Shoe, bet on this: he�ll do it wearing his underwear inside out. "When I first began riding," Pincay says, "my mother said it would bring good luck if I wore a piece of my clothing that way. So I put on my underwear inside out and, not that I�m superstitious, but I�ve been doing it ever since." That�s 35 years, ever since he broke his maiden on May 19, 1964, at Panama�s Presidente Remon aboard Heulen, his second career mount . . . Pincay, Nakatani and Desormeaux are scheduled to compete in an international jockeys� competition in Taby, Sweden, on June 8 . . . One trainer who was not surprised by Chris Antley�s Kentucky Derby shocker on Charismatic was Cliff Sise Jr., one of the first to give Antley a chance when he returned from his one-year layoff. "I think I put him on his first or second horse when he came back," Sise said. "In the past, he�s always ridden a lot of horses for me. Why? He tries. He rides hard and he�s a good 2-year-old rider because his attitude is very carefree. When he�s going to the gate (on a 2-year-old) and they�re bucking, he doesn�t care. He gets a 2-year-old over there nice and relaxed. Antley and Flores are probably the best 2-year-old riders out there--unless P. Val (Patrick Valenzuela) is here." The 36-year-old Valenzuela, whose career has been interrupted by drug problems and scrapes with the law, hasn�t ridden since he was suspended in October, 1997. He wants to make a comeback but faces shoulder surgery before getting into riding shape, which could take two months. His fate ultimately rests with the California Horse Racing Board, which could remand a ruling on Valenzuela to the stewards or an administrative law judge . . . This e-mail compliment from "Sulky Bob" in the Windy City: "When I found your website, I was ecstatic. In Chicago, we don�t get much horse racing coverage. Since I�ve been online, I�ve searched for all the horse racing articles I could find. I intend to read everything you�ve written, and I�m a regular reader of Gaming Today and your columns there. Keep up the good work." . . . April 23 marked the 52nd anniversary of a maiden win at long-defunct Havre de Grace race course in Maryland by a horse who became a legend: Citation.

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