Change of Rider for Victory Gallop Changes Fortune

It can be a dicey proposition, changing jockeys in the middle of a Triple Crown series, but the Preston brothers--who own Victory Gallop--are crafty, never-sit- still guys.

Ever since they bought the Belmont Stakes winner in November, for something like $500,000, they have been switching jockeys, moving up through the riding echelon until they arrived at Hall of Famer Gary Stevens.

Jack, Art and J.R. Preston and their trainer, Elliott Walden, started with Eibar Coa as their rider. Coa, a young Panamanian now riding in New York, dropped his whip in the rough stretch run of the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., in March, but Victory Gallop still won the race by a head.

Three weeks later, Alex Solis was hired for the Arkansas Derby. The Prestons said that the change was unrelated to the whip incident, that they just wanted a jockey with big-race experience and Solis was the best available.

The California-based Solis won the Arkansas Derby with Victory Gallop and, despite a six-wide trip in the Kentucky Derby, finished second, half a length behind Real Quiet.

Enter Stevens. He had ridden Indian Charlie, the Santa Anita Derby winner, to a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby but became available for the Preakness when trainer Bob Baffert pulled a fatigued Indian Charlie out of the race.

Walden said that the decision to drop Solis was made by the Prestons.

“It had nothing to do with Alex or his ability,” Walden said. “The Prestons loved the way Gary had ridden Da Hoss [another Preston horse]. I’m sure, someplace down the road, if Gary’s not available, we’d all love to have Alex ride this horse again.”

Stevens won the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Woodbine, near Toronto, with Da Hoss. The owners of Victory Gallop live in Houston and own the 400-acre Prestonwood Farm near Lexington, Ky. In Texas, the Prestons have been in the oil business since 1970 and also are involved in cattle ranching and real estate. Art Preston owns a 5,000-acre ranch near Marquez, Texas.

Stevens finished second to Real Quiet with Victory Gallop in the Preakness, getting the Preston colt closer to the lead than he had been in some of his other races.

“Gary was just getting to know the colt then,” said Baffert, Real Quiet’s trainer, after the Belmont.

One of the things that impressed Stevens in the Preakness was that Victory Gallop galloped out after the race with the same enthusiasm he had shown during the stretch run, a sure sign that the added distance at Belmont Park was going to be right down this horse’s alley.

*

The two jockeys who battled to the wire in the Belmont had talked at length about the vagaries of the 1 1/2-mile race before they left California. Kent Desormeaux, relatively inexperienced at riding the Belmont distance, had sought out Stevens for advice. Stevens had won his first Belmont with Thunder Gulch in 1995, and he was a 1 1/2-mile winner on grass with In The Wings in the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Belmont.

If Desormeaux erred during his Belmont ride, it was in jerking Real Quiet’s head in the direction of the onrushing Victory Gallop in the final strides. Desormeaux thought his mount might dig in more if he could see, through his blinkers, the nostrils of the challenger.

The abrupt move resulted in Real Quiet’s lugging out, though, and making contact with Victory Gallop the first time. Straight-ahead race riding might have served Real Quiet better in a finish that was so close.

Desormeaux’s tactics were not unlike those of Pat Day aboard Easy Goer in the 1989 Preakness. On the inside, Day angled Easy Goer’s head to the right, and Sunday Silence and Pat Valenzuela beat them in a photo finish.

Baffert, to his credit, didn’t criticize Desormeaux’s ride, even after sleeping on the Belmont.

“Kent’s being too hard on himself,” the former quarter horse jockey said. “He’s a very emotional guy. But it’s all coulda-woulda-shoulda. I told him to forget about it. That’s the one thing I don’t like to do--dwell on a jock’s ride after the race.”

*

Stevens and Desormeaux will be at it again this weekend, both riding Baffert’s horses in Saturday’s $750,000 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.

Stevens will ride Silver Charm, making his first start since winning the Dubai World Cup on March 28. Desormeaux has the assignment on Semoran, who will carry 114 pounds, 13 less than the top-weighted Silver Charm.

“Silver Charm’s always vulnerable off a layoff,” Baffert said. “I really don’t have him cranked up full steam. But I think he’s good enough.”

Others in the 1 1/8-mile race include Announce, carrying 110 pounds; Awesome Again, 113, and Precocity, the Oaklawn Handicap winner formerly trained by Baffert, with 115.

Horse Racing Notes

Preparing for the $1-million Hollywood Gold Cup on June 28, Skip Away worked half a mile in :46 4/5 at Belmont Park Wednesday. . . . Last Monday, Gentlemen worked a mile at Hollywood Park in an excellent 1:36 3/5. . . . Others who could run in the Gold Cup are Deputy Commander, Mud Route and Don’t Blame Rio. Malek, the Santa Anita Handicap winner, will miss the race because of a sore back.

Hot Wells, scratched from the Belmont because of licensing problems by his owner, Mike Lasky, is scheduled to run Sunday in the $150,000 Leonard Richards Stakes at Delaware Park. . . . Even though he was third, six lengths behind, in the Belmont, Thomas Jo could be a factor in the 3-year-old division. “He ran a huge race,” jockey Chris McCarron said. “He was moving up in class, but I went to New York thinking I had a chance to win. He went in with a lot of [victories] next to his name.”

Rick Baedeker, vice president of marketing and public relations at Hollywood Park, has been named senior vice president for marketing for the fledgling National Thoroughbred Racing Assn.