Tuesday, November 20, 2001
Q. & A. with Jerry Bailey
By Kenny Mayne
Special to ESPN.com
Through Nov. 22, jockey Jerry Bailey has earned over $22 million in purses by winning 225 races in 900 starts (exactly 25 percent). He must know something about racing. But he doesn't claim to know a thing about picking winners.
KM: Do you go to the track when not riding? As a fan that is. And if so, do you bet? And if you do are you any good?
JB: I don't go to the track when I'm off. And I wouldn't consider betting (laughs). Jockeys are the worst handicappers in the world.
KM: But you've said you study the Daily Racing Form for
your races.
JB: I handicap to the quarter pole. I handicap to stay out of
trouble and give myself a chance. From the quarter pole, I either
win or lose.
KM: With all the money you've earned this season are you
oblivious to any problems in the game? I mean, I keep hearing about and reading about this so called need for
the sport to be saved.
JB: I'm not oblivious to it. But I don't think it (any improvements) will affect me so much as I have only two
or three years left (to ride). I hope to have done something to help things by the time I'm done.
KM: I don't buy into that notion about how the sport needs
a superhorse or something to draw people. I mean it's happened to a degree. You were on Cigar not long ago.
We've had near Triple Crown winners several times recently.
JB: I'm of the opinion you market your stars. And that's
really the jockeys and the trainers. They're the ones
the people see. There are some upcoming jockeys they
need to pay attention to. You remember that Dan and Dave
thing in the Olympic campaign? Nobody knew who they
were before that, did they? And everybody cared about them
afterward.
KM: As great a thing as the Triple Crown Series is,
when you see the injuries, when you see how tough it
is on the animals, do you wish the events could be
spread out more? But then, I'll make the counter-argument
it wouldn't be the same test would it?
JB: No it wouldn't. It has to stay the same. But I think
the horses should do less as 2-year-olds. Most of the
3-year-old-setbacks are because of the amount of
racing done at two. One or two races at two and that's
about all they need.
KM: But you always hear about the 2-year-old foundation
needed for the Triple Crown events.
JB: I think the over-racing at two creates the hidden injuries
that show up at three.
KM: Do you try to compare eras? I mean Seabiscuit vs.
Secretariat, Cigar vs Citation. There doesn't seem to be
a way to really compare. You can't just go off the times.
JB: It's impossible. I look at some of the things those horses did back then. Citation would run a race in the middle
of the Triple Crown races. A lot of horses did that.
War Admiral had a tight schedule. But then they didn't
use to have as many racing dates in the year. They packed
it all in
KM: Is it disappointing to you, as it is to many fans,
that we see so many animals going to stud so early?
Sometimes as 3-year-olds even. We never see them
in long campaigns it seems.
JB: Very much. It's like seeing the kids leave college for the NBA. Leave high school even. You want to see them perform more. But they become so valuable. It's a Catch-22.
And the thing is we need those people (owners) who make the early deals because they'll reinvest and keep the sport
going.
KM: Do you ever listen to an owner or trainer give instructions in the paddock and then pretty much throw
it out the window by the time you've reached the track?
JB: (Laughs) I always try to acquiesce to the owners
and trainers unless they're totally out of line.
I usually have my own plan in mind. But I'll change that
too once the gates open if events in the race dictate a change.
KM: Do you second-guess yourself?
JB: The plan can change sometimes right at the start.
KM: If you throw out their plan and win they're OK
with that. But if you do your own thing and lose ... ?
JB: I'm fortunate enough in my position that I can overcome
second-guessing more often than not.
KM: Do you think there are a lot of jockeys out there
who say "If I had his mounts, I'd earn 20-odd million too."
That is to say you ride a lot of quality. But you had to
earn the right and I guess you could lose it.
JB: I have needed top quality horses to get the numbers
I've attained. But I think I've made the difference in several
cases too.
KM: You must have empathy for those who aren't
getting the big rides.
JB: Absolutely. We were all there at one point (riding
lower class horses). You just hope to get a break and get
to the top.
KM: How do you keep time during a race? I mean how do
you know the difference between taking a horse out in
21 flat versus 22?
JB: By experience and repetition from pole to pole.
Even if you do know how fast you're going you can't ask
a horse to do too much or he's done. It's more about how
a horse feels.
KM: How he feels? What do you mean exactly?
JB: You want the horse to take you. If you're encouraging
him in the middle of a race, he's more than likely going to
come up flat on you.
KM: Do you have any goals left?
JB: I want to win the Triple Crown.
KM: From what you've mentioned, that
has to happen pretty quick for you. Two or three years?
JB: If if doesn't happen for me, it'll happen for somebody
else. There will be another one.
KM: Do you remember your first win?
JB: Fetch. F-E-T-C-H. At Sunland Park in New Mexico.
It was a mile and a sixteenth. First time I'd gone that far.
KM: Could you have imagined then that you'd do anything
approaching what you've accomplished?
JB: I didn't think I'd ever leave New Mexico.
