Alma d’Oro (4) with Ramon Dominguez beats In the Juice and Wesley Ho at the wire in the 16th running of the R.R.M. Carpenter Jr. Memorial Stakes at Delaware Park in 2011. WILLIAM BRETZGER/THE NEWS JOURNAL
In a sea of chaos, aboard a highstrung thoroughbred in a tight pack of a dozen other high-strung thoroughbreds, Ramon Dominguez could make his horse feel calm. “It’s all about the hands, and how quiet Ramon was on a horse,” trainer Graham Motion said. “Horses respond to that.”
Delaware Park is ready to pay tribute to the man with the calm hands. Gov. Jack Markell has declared Saturday as Ramon Dominguez Day. The greatest jockey in Delaware Park history will be at the track to greet fans who still remember – and likely bet on – many of the record 1,526 winning rides he produced at the Stanton oval. Dominguez has won the last three Eclipse Awards as the nation’s best jockey. In 2010, 2011 and 2012, he led the nation in purse earnings by a jockey. He was at the top of his game – and the top of his profession – when he suffered head injuries in a fall during a race at Aqueduct on Jan. 18. The 36-year-old announced his retirement from riding on June 13, but Saturday shouldn’t be a sad occasion. A bright future lies ahead, and Dominguez should still have many years to enjoy with his wife, Sharon, and sons, Alexander and Matthew. If he chooses to remain involved in horse racing, his superior knowledge and polite, well-spoken demeanor will open a world of opportunities.
.........Limited-edition Ramon Dominguez bobbleheads will be sold for $20 each or three for $50 on Saturday, with proceeds benefiting the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Free 8by-10 photos of Dominguez will be distributed, and the sixth race has been named in his honor. It’s all part of Delaware Park’s 21st annual Owners Day, which rewards the people who run their horses at the track all season. The 12-race card has a total of 111 entries and features seven stakes races and total purses of $632,000, the track’s second-biggest live racing day behind the Delaware Handicap. Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg also will be on hand to sign copies of his new biography – “Jack, From Grit to Glory” – from 12:30-3:30 p.m.
~*~
0 comments:
Post a Comment