SARATOGA SPRINGS – Has a jockey ever dominated the game the way Jerry Bailey does today? Seven years after entering the Hall of Fame and 11 days short of his 45th birthday, Bailey continues to pad his stats aboard one superhorse after another, a list has included champion mounts like Cigar, Skip Away and Black Tie Affair.
Although he’s out of town this weekend for stakes assignments at Arlington and Monmouth, Bailey is on target to win another title at the old Spa. Next Saturday, he shoots for his third Travers victory aboard Medaglia d’Oro.
But statistics hardly tell the story. On horseback Bailey is brilliant – nearly flawless, always fearless, in every race he rides. “Right now, Bailey is as good as Eddie Arcaro at his best,” said the Daily Racing Form‘s legendary columnist, Joe Hirsch, and there is no higher praise than that.
“He’s one of the best ever,” agreed Hall-of-Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, who frequently rides Bailey on his top horses. “The key is, he really does his homework before he comes to the paddock. He studies the Form like he’s going to gamble.
“Physically, all riders are the same. Some are even more athletic than he is. But mentally, it’s a matter of his confidence level. That’s what it’s all about.”
Bailey’s daredevil ride aboard Frankel’s You in the Test Stakes earlier this meet spotlighted his prowess. Splitting horses with a bold rush turning for home, he drove the filly up an airtight hole along the rail, kept her going through a stretch-long duel and was a nose best at the wire.
“I’ve been in this business in 30 years, and I don’t remember ever seeing anybody make a move like that,” said his agent, Ron Anderson.
“I take a chance when I think the opportunity to get through is high-percentage,” Bailey said of the Test. “Even though the hole was small, I had a lot of horse, and I’m going to do what I think it takes to win.
“I don’t stop during a race to think, ‘Is it dangerous? Is it safe?’ If the chances are minimal of getting through, what’s the point of even trying? In that particular case, it was the only option I had. You have to take advantage of the situation, and not be afraid to pull the trigger.”
Bailey’s competitiveness, said Anderson, “is what makes him the Michael Jordan of this business. Even if you play pool with him in the jocks’ room, he’s got that edge. That’s why, with the media and all of us, he does on occasion get edgy. That edginess is what drives him and makes him that good.”
Jockey Rich Migliore, who’s ridden against Bailey for 20 years, noted, “He’s earned his place. Nobody handed him anything. Anybody who stays as focused, who comes as prepared as he does for over a decade deserves to be admired. Those are attributes we should instill in our children.”
Despite Migliore’s kind words, as with other great athletes in other sports, there’s a flip side to Bailey’s success. When he strikes out aboard an odds-on favorite, some fans heckle him mercilessly. Many perceive him as arrogant and aloof. And the grudging respect he gets from his peers and others in the sport is often accompanied by resentment.
“It’s hard not to [resent his success],” said former jockey Ron Ebanks, now the agent for Jorge Chavez. “It’s the competitive nature of our business. Agents, jockeys, trainers, all of us. If we don’t win, nobody knows you’re alive.
“I respect Jerry’s ability, but it’s frustrating to see him riding every 2-5 shot. All the rest of us are chasing after a winner, and they’re piling in his lap. You can’t help but be envious when he rides a hundred chalks.
“It helps he’s got [leading trainer Bill] Mott and Frankel. Take them away, and he’s just another guy in white pants.”
Trainer Nick Zito said, “Of course they’re jealous of Bailey. His brain is three times the size of the other guys, that’s why. He’s one of the great riders of all time and deserves all the respect he gets.
“But if Chris Antley was still alive, if Gary Stevens wasn’t injured, if Chris McCarron didn’t retire, if Pat Day rode every day in New York and if Corey Nakatani had his head on straight, maybe he wouldn’t be that smart.”
Anderson said, “Absolutely there’s a lot of jealousy. It’s very simple. It’s a totem-pole business, and if you can knock somebody off the totem pole, you can move up.”
Bailey acknowledged, “It’s in all walks of racing. Trainers with trainers, riders with riders. There’s a lot of jealousy, and it’s probably the thing I like least about this game.”
As for the jibes he’s standoffish and self-absorbed, Bailey said, “I know that’s the perception, but it’s wrong. I don’t drink, and I don’t go out to places where people drink or socialize with a lot of the guys, because they’re young and go out and do those things. I go home to my family.
“As far as around [the jocks’ room], I’m thinking, studying, trying to focus on my job. I try to not let anything or anybody distract me. If that’s being considered arrogant or aloof, then it’s taken wrongly.”
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TOP DOG IN THE HORSE GAME
5 Eclipse Awards
7 Riding titles at saratoga in eight years, with another in sight
517 graded stakes won
5,300 races won
$22,857,720 in purse earnings last year, a record
$233,000,000 in purse earnings for his career