Jockey breeds confidence in faithful steed
Gutierrez describes I’ll Have Another as a fellow athlete and expensive race car looking for Triple Crown
As Hastings racetrack jockey Mario Gutierrez heads to the Big Apple for the biggest race of his life, you get no sense of jittery nerves, of building excitement, of everything being on the line.
The humble 25- year- old Mexicanborn jockey who came to Vancouver six years ago remains absolutely true to who he is.
In a conference call with media from across North America Wednesday, Gutierrez spoke of his love for his impoverished family in Mexico, of his love for his adopted city of Vancouver and for his amazing horse, I’ll Have Another, who he is confident will give him a shot at another win when he rides for the Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 9.
Gutierrez first learned to ride as a teenager on quarter horses, with his jockey father as his coach. While many think of quarter horses as plodding plowers of fields, he said they are surprisingly fast out of the gate and very good teachers of jockeys. A number of Triple Crown winners got their start riding quarter horses.
As he heads into his third big race, having won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, Gutierrez will approach the Belmont in the same low- key fashion that seems to be bred in his blood.
“I want to chill out, try not to think too much,” Gutierrez said, speaking from Los Angeles. Thinking too much can cause unwanted pressure.
Just as he did for the previous big races, he plans to head to Belmont a few days in advance, perhaps ride a few horses when he gets there. And, yes, chill out. Don’t get overwrought or too excited. Take it one race at a time.
Not wanting to steal the limelight from his true partner in this breakneck game, he spoke of his unwavering belief in I’ll Have Another.
“I believe in him 100 per cent. He was the one who has guided me here. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here.”
He had to admit that while growing up in Mexico, he didn’t know much about the big American races. Neither did the people in his small town in Veracruz, Mexico. All that has changed now. “I think they know a little bit more of what I am going through.”
Although Bodemeister, the favourite in the previous two races, won’t be in the Belmont, Gutierrez is not over- confident. “There will still be great horses in the race. I’m still going to have to be prepared, to give my horse perfect treatment.”
And again, he comes back to his horse. What confidence he has seems to reside in I’ll Have Another. Right from the start, Gutierrez knew he was different. He speaks of him alternately as a fellow athlete and like an expensive race car. “He is so professional.” When you are in the driver’s seat, he flawlessly switches gears for you. Oh, and by the way, “he has the biggest heart ever.”
The Belmont, at 1 ½ miles, is the longest of the three Triple Crown races. The Kentucky Derby measures in at a mile and a quarter, and the Preakness is slightly shorter at a mile and 3/ 16ths.
Only 11 horses — including legendary steeds War Admiral ( 1935), Secretariat ( 1973) and Seattle Slew ( 1977) — have won the Triple Crown.
That extra quarter- mile at the Belmont can be a big hurdle — and has doomed a dozen Triple Crown contenders since Affirmed last turned the trick in 1978.
How will I’ll Have Another, who isn’t one of the biggest horses in the field, deal with the extra distance?
Gutierrez doesn’t think it will be a problem. “He loves racing.” Only 10 jockeys ( Eddie Arcaro won two Triple Crowns in 1941 and 1948) have won the Triple Crown. It’s something that even the great Bill Shoemaker, who won 8,833 races and 11 Triple Crown races, never accomplished.
Besides humble, Gutierrez is grateful to the horse’s trainer, Doug O’neill, and owner Paul Reddam who have stuck with him while not applying too much pressure.
The overwhelming support he has received from Vancouver has also touched his heart. He didn’t choose to come here.
“Hastings chose me,” he pointed out to reporters.
He credits the people in Vancouver for having embraced him and as such, for having improved the lot of his family in Mexico.
He is just happy he hasn’t disappointed people. Not everyone has always believed in him, he points out. He can’t change the way the larger horsing world has thought of this once- obscure jockey. These doubts, he added, have simply made him prepare harder. “I still have a lot to learn.”