Miscellaneous Ramblings
June 22, 2008 by Ryan
I heard someone earlier today say that jockeys from small tracks weren’t as good as jockeys from the bigger tracks. I happen to take exception to that statement. Hearing that quickly reminded me of a horse named Old Man Buck, and a jockey named Perry Wayne Ouzts. Last fall Ouzt’s was the regular rider for Ken McPeek’s 2 year old colt, Old Man Buck. Ouzts successfully won the Cradle Stakes aboard Old Man Buck at his local track, River Downs. Trainer Ken McPeek decided to head to the Grade 1 Lanes End Breeders Futurity next out. I can’t remember the exact odds, but Old Man Buck was sent off around 30-1. Ouzts got the horse home third, just missing for second. He proved once again, its not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’d like to take a moment to discuss Saturday’s races. Eclisse finished second in the All Along Stakes at the morning line odds of 20-1. I didn’t happen to see what she went off at, but she did end up paying 8.80 to place, so my guess would be around 9-1. I had a feeling she could get loose on the lead. I still haven’t got to watch the video, but I am pretty sure that’s how it went down. You could’ve boxed my top 3 choices in that race for a return of $197. Not a bad return huh?!
The Colonial Turf Cup didn’t go exactly the way I had anticipated. You could probably attribute that to the downpour that hit the track prior to the race. Sailor’s Cap ended up winning the race. In retrospect I should’ve given him more respect. He was improving, but I didn’t think he was good enough. Fabulous Strike won his comeback with the utmost ease. He will add more depth to an already tough sprint division. Keep an eye out for him. I’ll wrap up this post with a selection in tomorrow’s Queen Plate. I’m going to go with the filly, Ginger Brew at 4-1. She has been winning easily, and the fact that they have her in this spot tells me they are for real. Drop me a comment, and let me know what you think!
Perry Outz has won over 5,000 races and is still a regular rider at River Downs at the age of 54. That puts him in a rather elite group of riders, including Pat Day, Laffite Pincay, and Willie Shoemaker.
I blogged an article about this event at:
http://watzman.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/jockey-wins-5000/
I would agree that some lesser named jocks at lesser named tracks can give you a good ride. However, like many of the nations top jockeys, they will stay at the small track for a short time, on the way up. You can always find a diamond in the rough, but for the most part, jockeys are riding where they belong.
I remember that day Neal, I was at River Downs. Baloo, I agree with you, that for the most part they are where they belong. Guys like Glenn Corbett and Ouzts could ride at top tracks though.