By Jim Charvat

Mike Smith © Benoit Photo

MIKE SMITH AT 58: STILL RIDING WITH THE BEST OF THEM

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”

- Satchel Paige -

Jockey Mike Smith turns 58 today. You wouldn’t know it by looking at him. Certainly not by the way he still rides horses.

The grizzled veteran of the Del Mar jockey colony is anything but ‘grizzled.’ In fact, he’s in as a good shape, if not better, than everyone else in the jocks room. He reportedly invited some of the young jockeys to accompany him during his morning exercises and, as the story goes, most of them quit half way through the workout.

Smith has been riding for 43 years. He moved his tack to Southern California in 2001. He has ridden several Hall of Fame horses and was himself inducted into the Hall in 2003. He has won a record number of Breeders’ Cups, a couple of Eclipse Awards and a Triple Crown.

So it begs the question: In what sport does a 58-year old man compete with 20- and 30-year-olds and beat the youngsters on a regular basis?

“The only thing that feels old on me is my memories of the past,” Smith says with a smile following yet another victory on Sunday.

Coming into the fourth week of racing at the summer meet at Del Mar, Smith is in the top 10 in the jockey standings with four wins. Last year, he finished fourth with 19 victories and that was with considerably fewer mounts than everyone else in the top 10.

“As far as the way I feel,” Smith notes, “I feel like a machine. I feel good, I’m really taking good care of myself and I’ve been working out hard. I’m still able to do everything I was doing in my thirties.”

For part of his thirties, Smith was riding back east on the New York circuit, venturing out now and then to win big races in other regions like Kentucky and Florida. They don’t call him ‘Big Money Mike’ for nothing.

Smith has won four Pacific Classics and if Geaux Rocket Ride makes it to the race this year, Smith will have his eleventh shot at Del Mar’s marquee race. He has won 77 stakes races at Del Mar, eleventh best all-time.

“I still feel great,” Smith says. “I’m going to keep going until I don’t.”

FRIDAY POST TIME MOVED UP TO 3:30 P.M. TO AVOID BLINDING SUNSET

While most people enjoy watching the setting sun, maybe even catching a Green Flash, it’s not so much fun when you’re on the back of a speeding racehorse. Friday’s first post has been moved up a half hour to 3:30 p.m. in hopes of eliminating a glaring problem for the jockeys and the horses.

Over the past couple of weeks the jockeys have voiced their concerns about being unable to see because of the brightness of the setting sun. The riders in the final race of the day on Friday’s say it’s blinding them at a point in the race when they start to move on their horses.

“Anywhere from the quarter pole to in between the 3/8’s pole is a crucial time,” jockey Joe Bravo says. “Everybody is starting to ask their horse to run and it’s blinding, you really can’t see anything.”

It’s apparently blinding the horses, too. That’s what happened to jockey Edwin Maldonado aboard Bus Buzz, who was leading the pack in the Real Good Deal Stakes last Friday.

“If they (the horse) can’t see anything they tend to slow down,” Maldonado says. “He jumped sharp out of the gate and then the second or third jump he slowed down a whole lot.”

Bravo says it’s been going on for a while.

“If they wait for the sun to set, that would be okay,” Bravo says. “Or they have to do it (run the last race) before because at that angle, at that exact time when the sun is down for about 20 minutes, it’s tough to see.

“It’s fine on cloudy days,” Bravo continues. “But who can predict when it’s going to be cloudy and not cloudy.”

“It blinds you,” Maldonado reiterates. “It’s all about timing, five minutes too soon, five minutes too late. Timing when the sun drops.”

Both agree the earlier post time will go a long way in eliminating the problem. 

STAKES TESTED 2-YEAR-OLDS CLASH IN GRADUATION STAKES FRIDAY

2-year-old Cal-breds grab the spotlight Friday when eight of them line up for the 72^nd running of the $125,000 Graduation Stakes at Del Mar. Half the field is made up of horses who are coming off of their first forays into stakes competition.

One of those is Last Call London, a son of Stay Thirsty who broke his maiden at Santa Anita in June and then shipped up north and ran in the $75,000 Everett Nevin. He stumbled at the start and lost by six lengths, finishing fifth in a seven-horse field.

“He broke terrible,” trainer Peter Miller says. “He lost the race right at the start. He shipped fine, it wasn’t that. He just didn’t break. He came running so hopefully we’ll get a better break this time.”

Miller has put a couple of drills into Last Call London since they returned from Northern California.

Shady Appeal also ran in the Everett Nevin Stakes at Pleasanton last out and finished last.

“He ran real impressive the first time out,” trainer Jeff Bonde says. “We thought that was a logical place, to go back to my hometown for his second start. He was well bet and never ran a step, from the flag pole to the finish. He came back and he’s worked well here. It was a head scratcher.”

Shady Appeal is one of two horses Bonde is bringing to the Graduation. The other is Lord Prancealot, who broke his maiden at first asking at Del Mar last month.

“He had an easy race and he was impressive in his first start,” Bonde says about his decision to run his colt in a stakes race out of a maiden victory. “He’s doing well and it’s a logical spot.”

Wild Jewels also ran in the Everett Nevin and finished second. But he’s based in Northern California so this time he’s the shipper, while Shady Appeal and Last Call London are on their home court.

Smoken Ez, the morning line favorite, won at first asking back in May at Santa Anita breaking his maiden by 4 ½ lengths.

Refocus won his debut, a maiden special weight at Santa Anita, by 4 ¼ lengths in May. He then took the plunge into stakes company and finished third in the $100,000 Fasig-Tipton Futurity in June.

The sleeper could be Mici’s Express, a son of Slew’s Tiznow out of the Steve Knapp barn. He broke his maiden on his fifth try at Del Mar opening weekend. Most were surprised at the effort, indicative of his 32-1 longshot odds, except for his trainer.

“If you go back and watch his race at Los Alamitos,” Knapp says. “The horse got left 15 lengths and closed six or seven lengths down the lane. I thought it was a tremendous race. I thought he was the best that day.”

That was the race preceding his maiden victory. Knapp says they learned a valuable lesson in the Los Al race and it led to the winning effort at Del Mar last out.

“When he got left at the gate,” Knapp says. “I learned that him sitting back is better than pressing him on the pace. We tried pressing him on the pace a couple of times and he faded a little bit.

“He broke on top in his last race so we grabbed him and let him settle,” Knapp continues. “He had problems at the 3/8’s pole and got bumped coming home and still won the race.”

The Graduation Stakes is a 5 ½ furlong sprint on the main track. It goes off as race #6 on the eight-race Friday card. Approximate post time is 6 p.m.

Here’s the field from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds: Refocus (Mario Gutierrez, 5/2 ); Mici’s Express (Tiago Pereira, 6-1 ); Last Call London (Juan Hernandez, 6-1); Shady Appeal (Mike Smith, 10-1); Smoken Ez (Ramon Vasquez, 3-1 ): Lord Prancealot (Kent Desormeaux, 3-1 ); Salsation (Edwin Maldonado, 15-1), and Wild Jewels (Assael Espinoza, 12-1).

HERNANDEZ, D’AMATO TAKE FAMILIAR PLACES IN WEEKLY STANDINGS

Juan Hernandez has assumed his place atop the Del Mar jockey standings as we approach the half way point of the summer meet. Despite missing two days last week due to a riding infraction, Hernandez notched four wins to increase his overall total to 15. That’s two better than Hector Berrios, whose blazing pace slowed a bit last week. He managed two victories after posting back-to-back riding triples the weekend before.

Umberto Rispoli is another two wins back with 11. The top three riders are the only jockeys to have exceeded $1 million in earnings at Del Mar so far this year.

They’re followed by Ramon Vasquez, who was the only rider to keep pace with Hernandez. His four wins last week lifted him into a tie with Edwin Maldonado, who also has a total of eight victories.

Antonio Fresu (7) and Tiago Pereira (6) are next followed by the newest Top 10 member, Armando Aguilar with five wins. Joe Bravo and Mike Smith round out the top 10 with four wins each.

The status quo also remains in place in the trainers standings. Last year’s co-champions are one-two again this year. Philip D’Amato has the slight advantage at this point with 10 wins, one better than Bob Baffert, who posted the best week of all the trainers with four victories.

D’Amato is the only trainer to collect more than $1-million in earnings so far in the meet.

Doug O’Neill and Peter Miller are within striking distance with seven wins apiece followed by Leonard Powell with five victories. Michael McCarthy and Mark Glatt have four each. John Sadler, Peter Eurton, and Steve Knapp round out the Top 10 with three wins apiece.

Reddam Racing is the leading owner after three weeks with three wins.

COOLING OUT:  Trainer Leonard Powell says Maltese Falcon came out of his win in the G3 La Jolla Sunday in “very good shape.” He says they will target the G2 Caesar’s Sportsbook Del Mar Derby on September 2…Trainer Michael McCarthy says Pushiness, winner of the CTBA Stakes Sunday, is fine and being considered for two races toward the end of the meet, the Generous Portion for Cal-breds September 4 or the G1 FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante September 9…Notable works this week, all on dirt: Monday – Teena Ella (3f, :36.60); Defunded (4f, :49.20); Lady T (4f, :50.20); Bran (5f, 1:00.60, and Rose Maddox (5f, 1:01.60). Tuesday – Order and Law (4f, :50.20), and Faiza (5f, 1:00.20). Wednesday – Brickyard Ride (5f, 1:05.60). Thursday – C Z Rocket (4f, :49.80); Eddie’s New Dream (5f, 1:00.00), and Hudson Ridge (1:00.40).

Del Mar Statistics

 Jockey Standings
(Current Through August 6, 2023 Inclusive)

Trainer Standings
(Current Through August 6, 2023 Inclusive)

Winning Favorites Report
(Current Through August 6, 2023 Inclusive)

 Winning favorites -- 36 out of 108 -- 33.33%
Winning favorites on dirt -- 21 out of 60 -- 35.00%
Winning favorites on turf -- 15 out of 48 -- 31.25%
Winning odds-on favorites -- 7 out of 15 -- 46.67%
In-the-Money favorites -- 64 out of 108 -- 59.26%
In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 10 out of 15 -- 66.67%