 May
6, 2007 - Jockey Ramsey Zimmerman earned his 1,000th career win at
Lone Star Park. Pat Lang photo
RAMSEY RELISHING HIS CHANCE TO RIDE AGAIN
NEW ORLEANS (Sunday, January 30, 2012) – Jockey Ramsey Zimmerman
knew that coming back to Fair Grounds this winter would not be easy.
“If it was up to me, I would have crawled back to some little track
where nobody knew anything about me but my wife wouldn’t let me,”
said Zimmerman Sunday morning at Fair Grounds, shortly after
attending mass with Jenny and their 11-month old daughter Race
Hannah. “She said I was too good a rider to do that. She believed in
me, and after what I put her through last summer, I had to do
whatever she wanted. She stuck by me and went through all this with
me. I owe her everything for that.”
What Zimmerman was referring to, of course, was a very dark day last
May when he was arrested in Des Moines, Iowa, and charged with four
felonies, including possession and intent to deliver crack cocaine
and heroin. Police had found the Chicagoland native in an
unresponsive state while operating a motor vehicle.
“What happened was – I messed up big-time,” said Zimmerman. “After a
year and a half of sobriety I went out on a binge. I let everybody
down – my family and a lot of other people who believed in me.”
Exactly 110 days after being picked up by police, Zimmerman was
released from the Polk County, Iowa, jail and went directly into
rehab for another 30 days.
“It was the scariest ordeal I ever went through,” said Zimmerman
Sunday of his summer and fall of incarceration. “It was brutal – an
awful experience. I’d been in trouble with the law before, but never
anything like that. Now, all I can do is put it behind me and move
forward.”
Someone once said, it’s not how you fall, it’s what you do after you
get up that matters most, and if that is so, Zimmerman seems well on
his way to redemption. With limited opportunities, the talented
reinsman entered Sunday’s race day in 12th position in the local
rider standings with 14 winners from 177 mounts.
“I told him when he came to me and asked me to take his book that we
were going to have an uphill battle at first,” said veteran
Louisiana-based agent Rick Mocklin. “But racetrackers tend to be a
very forgiving group of people, and if you mess up one time – a lot
of them are willing to give you a second, or even a third chance if
they see that you are trying to make things right again.
“Since he’s gotten back down here this season, Ramsey has proved
that to a lot of people,” said Mocklin. “In that sense, he’s his own
best agent. He sells himself and he’s proving to people that he’s
dedicated to riding again and wanting to do the right thing. He’s
been showing up every morning and showing everyone he’s willing to
work hard for them.”
Some of Zimmerman’s better moments in the past came here in New
Orleans five years ago when he rode Jerrold and Shirley Schwartz’s
Cloudy’s Knight to victory in the Grade III Fair Grounds Handicap
and then finished second by a half-length to Eclipse Award-winning
turf horse Einstein in the Grade II Mervin Muniz Memorial Handicap.
Later that season, Zimmerman rode Cloudy’s Knight to victory in the
Grade I Canadian International at Woodbine for the biggest win of
his career.
“One of the proudest moments of my life,” said Zimmerman of that
Canadian International win. “I’m proudest of my two children (his
son Ryder is 6), but ‘Cloudy’ is Number Three.
“Actually, coming back down here hasn’t been as bad as I thought it
could be,” said Zimmerman. “A lot of people seem to have accepted me
and have given me a chance to ride their horses. Mike Burgess
started using me right away, and guys like Bob Young and Bernie
Flint have also given me some nice horses to ride. Also, a lot of
the littler guys have used me on their horses.
“Considering what happened to me, I’m doing quite well,” said
Zimmerman, who once rode seven winners in a night card at Fairmount
Park and finished second by a nose with the other two. “If I keep
working hard like I’m doing right now, I think things are going to
keep getting better for me. I really believe that.”
About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, the nation’s third-oldest
racetrack, has been in operation since 1872. Located in New Orleans,
Fair Grounds is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global
Select Market: CHDN); it also operates a slot-machine gaming
facility and 10 off-track betting parlors throughout southeast
Louisiana. The 140th Thoroughbred Racing Season continues through
April 1, 2012, highlighted by the $1 million Louisiana Derby for
Kentucky Derby hopefuls on April 1. More information can be found
online at
www.FairGroundsRaceCourse.com .
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