Legendary former jockey Laffit Pincay Jr., one-time world record holder in races won with 9,530 victories, answers the questions
Laffit Pinc
ay Jr., former all-time world-record holder for wins with more than 9,500 to his name, is one of the most decorated jockeys in the history of US racing.
The son of a jockey, he began his career in his native Panama until he was sponsored to move to the US in 1966. He soon established himself by winning on eight of his first 11 rides at Arlington Park and then racking up riding titles on both coasts. In 1970 he was honored with the George Woolff Memorial Award; he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975.
In 1979 he took over from Steve Cauthen as regular rider of Affirmed, winning nine of his ten races aboard the Triple Crown winner; a DQ from first place in the 1978 Travers Stakes was the sole blemish an otherwise perfect record.
Pincay landed the Kentucky Derby in 1984 on Swale, who also provided the jockey with the last of three consecutive successes in the Belmont.
In 1999 he broke Bill Shoemaker’s all-time record as the sport’s winningmost jockey and by the time he retired in 2003 – as a five-time Eclipse award winner and eight-time Breeders’ Cup winner – he had stretched his total to 9,530. He remains third on the all-time list behind Jorge Ricardo and Russell Baze.
Now 75, Pincay lives in retirement close to Santa Anita racetrack in San Gabriel, California.
Which racing figure past or present do you most admire?
Where can I start? There are so many guys I admire. Guys like Bill Shoemaker, Jerry Bailey, Angel Cordero, Chris McCarron, Mike Smith, Gary Stevens, Pat Day. It’s hard to pick one from them.
But there were only two riders that caused me to change my way of riding. If I hadn’t done so I wouldn’t have been able to beat them. One of those was Sandy Hawley and the other was Pat Valenzuela. They had something so special
Which is your favorite venue and race anywhere in the world?
The one I preferred out of them all was Del Mar. I used to rent a house on the beach and from there I could do many things. I could go fishing in the morning before the races. It was so convenient. The first race was at 2pm and I would get up early in the morning, go fishing, go running on the beach and still had time to go to the track and go in the sweatbox if I had to lose more weight. It was a pleasure being there.
The race I most wanted to win was the Kentucky Derby. For many years I finished second, finished third and some of those races I should’ve won. I got myself in trouble during the race and it was very painful to know you could have won the race. Finally I did and it was everything I thought it would be. You feel like you have done something great. You’ve won the best race in the world – or the United States – and everyone is clapping for you and your horse. That is something I will never forget and I am glad I was able to enjoy it at least once.
Who is your favorite racehorse and why?
My favorite horse to ride was Affirmed because I could always count on him. You could do anything you wanted with him. You could send him to the lead or you could take him back and he was a fighter. He wanted to win. He always responded to me. Another thing was he would go in the gate and he knew when to break. If you watch his races, every single time when the door opens they will call him first. That’s how good he was; it was a plus riding a horse like that. He was very smart.
What is your fondest memory in racing?
There have to be two, the first is winning the Kentucky Derby because it was the race I wanted to win. The other is the day that I won seven races at Santa Anita. In Panama, I had come close six times to winning seven races and I couldn’t. There was always one race that got away. There were only two jockeys over there that had won seven races so I always wanted to do it but didn’t. Then I came to the US and got it done at Santa Anita which nobody had done. It’s a record that I might have forever as right now they have only three days a week and jockeys don’t get so many chances to win seven.
If you could change one thing in racing, what would it be?
I would try to do something to bring people to the track. I don’t know what because I am pretty sure they are trying but I would love to see more people show up to enjoy the races, the horses and the rides the jockeys give.
It’s sad now in California. You drive to the track and don’t see too many people. Last year I got the opportunity to go to Kentucky and I was in Keeneland. It was a Friday or Saturday and the track was packed. It was so much fun to see those people having a good time.
Laffit Pincay Jr. was speaking to Jon Lees
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