LOS ALAMITOS : Nicotine 1988 Provides Jockey, Trainer With Suspenseful Joy

Jockey Carlos Aguilar and trainer Ward Brookfield should have been smiling.

Nicotine 1988 had won the $20,000 Pat Hyland Memorial Handicap on Friday, his first stakes victory. But as they posed for a picture in the winner’s circle with the 5-year-old quarter horse gelding, they looked as if they would have preferred to have been somewhere else. The inquiry sign was flashing next to Nicotine 1988’s number and Brookfield, four years removed from his last stakes victory, was fearing the worst.

“When Carlos got off the phone with the stewards, he said, ‘I think they’re going to take us down.’ I was in shock,” Brookfield said.

It wasn’t until Aguilar brought Nicotine 1988 back to be unsaddled that the stewards announced the inquiry. For the 33-year-old trainer and the 25-year-old jockey, the next seven minutes were probably the longest of the year, but the inquiry ended favorably for them.

When the eight-horse field turned into the stretch, Aguilar and Nicotine 1988 were fourth, behind a wall of horses. In mid-stretch, he moved to the rail, forcing the 1-2 favorite, Rebs Sign Off, to check. By that time, Aguilar had Nicotine 1988 in high gear and he took the lead in the final 10 yards.

Nicotine 1988, claimed by Brookfield for only $2,000 last year on behalf of owner John Emoto of Cypress, wasn’t disqualified, instead earning $11,000 for the victory, or almost as much as he earned in 1992. It gave Brookfield his first stakes victory since Here Comes The Band’s victory in the 1989 Juvenile Handicap. It also furthered the comeback of Aguilar, who took 18 months off before returning to the saddle last winter.

“(Nicotine 1988’s) come all the way to the top,” Brookfield said. “I can’t believe it. I thought he was the best horse (in the race). I’ve been needing a stakes win, but it’s hard to get good horses with a small barn.”

Brookfield trains 10 quarter horses but hopes to add a few thoroughbreds, since those horses are now racing at Los Alamitos, too.

Nicotine 1988 won a $1,600 claiming race for Brookfield and Emoto in July of 1992, and slowly began climbing the claiming ladder. Over his next seven starts, Nicotine 1988 won five races, including a $20,000 claiming race in December.

His next start, a third-place finish in the $75,000 Marathon Handicap, justified Brookfield and Emoto’s claiming gamble. After a few months off, Nicotine 1988 returned in early May and finished seventh in the War Chic Handicap. He failed to win two $16,000 claiming races before running fourth in the Table Tennis Handicap.

In his first start this meeting, Nicotine 1988 was second in an allowance race on July 31. By then, Brookfield and Aguilar, who has ridden Nicotine 1988 four times this year, were certain he was ready for his best effort.

It was Aguilar’s first stakes victory since 1990. That year, at 22, he rode his first champion, Baychaino, who won four stakes and was voted the champion distance horse. And Aguilar was aboard for all four stakes victories.

Aguilar, who grew up among gangs in Santa Ana and still bears a chest scar from a gunshot wound suffered in a 1988 drive-by shooting, had finally made it as a jockey.

The next summer, Aguilar was among the leading riders at the Bay Meadows quarter horse meeting. On June 15, 1991, however, everything changed. In the ninth race that night, jockey Lute Proctor died as a result of injuries suffered in a spill. Aguilar had ridden in that race.

Jockeys are never far from injury on the track. On Saturday, 24 hours after guiding Nicotine 1988 to victory, Aguilar was aboard Desert Shield in an 870-yard race for maidens. He was slightly behind the leaders in the turn when Desert Shield’s left rein broke. Aguilar tried to keep his seat but lost control and fell off when Desert Shield stumbled. Fortunately, he was at the back of the field.

He complained of a headache but rode the final race and finished third.

In 1991, though, Proctor’s death weighed heavily on him and he was out of the saddle by the end of the year. He moved to Guadalajara, where he worked on a ranch, breaking quarter horses and riding in an occasional match race.

Last fall, though, the desire to ride in Southern California became too strong and he returned before the two-month winter meeting, winning only once.

This season, things have gone much better. He has won 17 races and is tied for 11th among the quarter horse jockeys. He says he feels most comfortable riding 870-yard races, but also rides a few straightaway races.