Eclipse Observation: Dominguez got Hosed!
I finally got around to watching last week’s Eclipse Awards. I know it’s a bit late, but I was tied up last Monday. And by tied up, I mean watching “How I Met Your Mother” and “24.”All I can say about the telecast is “thank God for Tivo!” I was able to blow past the boring parts which meant it took about 10 minutes to watch the whole thing.
In those ten minutes I made the following observations:
- That Kenny Rice is hilarious. Ok not really, so why not make Kenny Mayne (sans Hank!) permanent host of the Eclipse awards?
- Shane Ryan reminds me of Colin Farrell
- Jess Jackson used his sleeve to hold notes for his speech; keep that in mind if you ever play poker against him
- Jerry Moss is the epitome of California cool . . . when California cool is 74 about years old
- George Strawbridge scares me
- Jackson & Moss are doing great things for horse racing, despite their huge egos
And most notably, Ramon Dominguez got royally screwed on the Jockey Eclipse Award!
Let’s see, he won every riding title in 2009 on the competitive NYRA circuit: Aqueduct inner track, Aqueduct spring, Belmont spring, Saratoga, Belmont fall, and Aqueduct fall. In his first year riding full-time in New York, he dominated the competition and broke the record for wins: 376 to Angel Cordero’s 1992 record of 340.
And even more surprising was that the votes weren’t even close. Leparoux received 122 votes to 46 for Gomez and 45 for Dominguez.
Stats for 2009 Eclipse Finalists - Jockeys
| Jockey | Starts | Wins | Win % | Graded Stakes Wins | G1 Wins | Earnings | Eclipse Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julien Leparoux | 1,286 | 247 | 19% | 34 | 10 | $18.5M | 122 |
| Garrett Gomez | 967 | 210 | 22% | 34 | 13 | $18.6M | 46 |
| Ramon Dominguez | 1,651 | 391 | 24% | 14 | 5 | $18.3M | 45 |
I know Leparoux and Gomez won more graded stakes races. But you know what the difference is between a grade 1 stakes and a claiming race? Nothing. The difference between 24% and 19%? About 61 trips to the winner’s circle over 1,286 starts.
Graded stakes and G1 wins might raise your profile among the media, but it has less to do with a jockey’s talent than that of their agents. So maybe we should give Ron Anderson an Eclipse for the best jockey’s agent.
Ramon Dominguez has won at an incredible rate since moving to the U.S. from his native Venezuela. As a highly professional and consistent jock, it’s rare that you hear about him being penalized for riding infractions.
During the 2005 Preakness, Ramon’s horse Scrappy T, suddenly veered into the path of Afleet Alex causing him to stumble badly. Afleet Alex and Jeremy Rose miraculously recovered and continued on to a dramatic victory. Dominguez gained my respect for the way he handled the scrutiny afterward. He could have blamed the horse, the crowd, a shadow; anything but himself. Instead, he immediately took full responsibility and apologized sincerely on national TV.
We could use more like him in horse racing, in any capacity, and I’m hoping this year he finally gets the recognition he deserves.
28 January 2010, 1:13 am
This is one of these cases where the stats lie. Leparoux’s stats are more impressive if you realize that he skipped across tracks east of the Mississippi on any given weekend, often giving up a full card worth of rides just to ride in a stakes race. That matters.
Also, the fact that most of the voters are east coast hurts Dominguez more, as they see him on a daily basis. That means they know the good and the bad about him. They see him screw up on more than a few favorites per week, That is a big reason he lost.
28 January 2010, 9:43 am
I tend to agree with you on the Jockey Eclipse Awards.
Love the humorous remarks about everybody else, had me laughing and looking for the next one! (:
29 January 2010, 12:43 am
Thx Brian, the Dominguez Eclipse snub (IMO) has been bugging me all week.
Tencent, I thought the east coast bias would’ve helped Ramon rather than work against him, but you offer an intriguing counter perspective.
One thing about Dominguez & favorites: a lot of those horses would not have been favored if Dominguez wasn’t the jock. Even his mediocre mounts get pounded by the NYRA bettors just because he hits the board at such a high percentage. PowerCap mentioned this “jockey-capping” phenomenon last week. Similar to when Jerry Bailey rode in NY – you’d rarely see him go off higher than 7/2.
31 January 2010, 3:26 pm
My vote would have gone to Calvin Borel, but it is hard to argue against any of the four.
How’s about Kenny Mayne and his dance partner as hosts…could boost the ratings!
31 January 2010, 9:44 pm
Brian,
Calivn’s a great jock and has been under appreciated by a lot of the the leading trainers outside of KY. I think Calvin’s earnest & engaging personality, as demonstrated in your interview, makes him an asset to the sport.
That’s a terrific idea – I’ll take Kenny and Andrea over Kenny and Hank any day!
02 February 2010, 6:44 am
I agee with the selection of Julien Leparoux even though I am a New York racing junkie that appreciates Ramon Dominguez almost everyday.
Julian Leparoux seemed to run all over the continent this year and win everywhere he went.
Ramon will probably have to spend more time travelling to get national recognition. That won’t please me. New York isn’t the same when he is out of town.