 Photo
and story by Ray Sanchez
Ex-apprentice jockey just keeps on winning
Sunland Park, NM - Jan. 2, 2012 - It’s not unusual for a young
jockey with any kind of talent to win some races as an apprentice.
After all, apprentices are given a five pound edge over journeymen
for a year. Some of those apprentice jockeys ride into oblivion when
they lose that advantage, which is called a “bug” because an
asterisk is used by their name in programs. Some others go on to
greatness.
Perhaps fans at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino should start
marking Enrique Portillo Gomez in the latter category. He lost his
“bug” last year and has just kept on winning.
Latest case in point: His performance in the $50,000 Bold Ego
Handicap at Sunland Park on Friday, Dec. 23. His sense of pace, his
masterful handling of horses were all evident – again – in the five
and a half furlongs race. He timed his charge, Twelve Twenty Two,
perfectly to surge past front–running Squiggle and win by a neck.
That victory ran Gomez’s 2011 record to 88 victories, 109 seconds
and 97 thirds with total earnings of $1,697,334 in 717 starts.
All in all after that race he had ridden in 937 races, won 112
races, finished second 129 times and finished third 128 times for
earnings of $2,078,153 since he started riding in races in 2010.
And needless to say, he had taken over first place in the Sunland
jockey standings going into the past week’s action.
Not bad for a 23-year-old. Remember, jockeys get 10 percent of what
their mounts earn so Gomez, who was born in the little town of
Fresnillo, Mexico, is on his way to becoming a rich man at a very
young age if he keeps up his present pace.
What makes him so good? Sunland trainer Johnnie Nall says
admiringly, “He never gives up. He rides hard all the way to the
wire.”
And Sunland’s leading trainer, Henry Dominguez, who helped Gomez get
started as a jockey, says, “He’s just a natural on a horse. His
parents had horses so he just grew into the sport. He works hard and
he’s as polite a young man as you’d ever want to meet.”
Gomez’s outstanding ride kept Twelve Twenty Two perfect at Sunland
Park, having won her last five races over Sunland Park soil. The
six-year-old bay mare earned $30,000 from her Bold Ego victory. The
multiple stakes winner has six career wins from 12 starts with
earnings approaching $200,000.
Winning trainer Dominguez claimed Twelve Twenty Two for $25,000 at
Hollywood Park on Dec. 17, 2010. Her owners are J. Kirk and Judy
Robison and the Solitaire Stable of El Paso.
The runnerup in the race, David Woolchuk’s Squiggle, dug in bravely
in the final furlong but couldn’t quite hold off the winner.
D’Elegance held the lead for much of the way for trainer Chip
Woolley but seemed to lose steam in the final furlong. The 26-1 long
shot outran her odds and finished a solid third after carving out
early fractions of 22.08 and 44.75 seconds. Featured races this
weekend were the $350,000 guaranteed Grade I Championship at Sunland
Park at 400 yards for three year old and older quarter horses and
the $110,000 guaranteed Red Hedeman Mile for two years olds on
Saturday plus today’s, Sunday’s, $110,000 guaranteed Albert
Dominguez Memorial Handicap at a mile and a sixteenth for four year
old and older thoroughbreds.
Sunland Park will resume its regular schedule of holding live racing
in Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays next week. First post
each day is scheduled for 1:25 p.m.
Next weekend’s stakes schedule:
The $110,000 Shur Fly Stakes at 400 yards for four year old foals of
2009 at 400 yards on Saturday, Jan. 7, and the $50,000 Winsham Lad
Handicap for four year old and older thoroughbreds at a mile and 70
yards. |
