New faces in Nor Cal

Mike at CurbBlog has reported the arrival of jockeys Rafael Bejarano and Julien Leparoux on the SoCal circuit. There are also several new arrivals at Golden Gate Fields to the north, and not just those fleeing the highly competitive SoCal circuit.

Carlos Gonzalez came in from Louisiana Downs where he had been a top 5 rider. Mario Gutierrez is in from Hastings Park and is getting good business from the Canadian contingency of trainers that always turn up this time of year. Annie Sanguinetti has come in from Thistle and Presque Isle and is the only female rider on our circuit. She was also the only jock to have previously ridden on Tapeta, winning on her first two mounts at Presque Isle Downs during their inaugural meet. There are also rumors that Omar Figueroa, who was a bug in NorCal, will be returning from a few years on the tougher SoCal circuit.

Stockton final joceky standings

[scroll down....blogspot is buggy when it comes to html tables]

Leading Jockeys at Stockton	Races/Wins/2nds/3rds	Earnings
Carlos Ignacio Silva	44 11 9 9	$131,172
Juan Ochoa	44 8 9 6	$97,247
Pedro Flores	33 8 6 8	$73,441
Luis Contreras	28 7 4 3	$87,314
Catalino Martinez	16 6 2 2	$63,468
Francisco Duran	35 5 4 6	$53,451
Modesto Linares	31 5 3 2	$48,649
Joe M. Castro	25 3 7 1	$65,300
Barrington Harvey	47 3 5 3	$46,056
Luis V. Martinez	32 3 4 4	$41,009
Juan Avila	15 3 3 1	$21,810
Kyle Kaenel	16 2 6 2	$31,542

Women in the Irons

Recently The Bug Boys alerted us to an outstanding article about women jockeys. Unlike in other sports, there are not separate women's and men's divisions, but women compete against men directly, and routinely beat them. And like the men, the women too lay claim to the title of pound-for-pound, the toughest athletes on the face of the earth.

Rumor Mill

Word around Bay Meadows is that Roman Chapa, a regular on the leader board at Texas and New Mexico tracks, will be bringing his tack to Northern California for a while. While the jockey enjoys the lucrative status of riding first call for Steve Asmussen in Texas, he apparently wants to give NorCal a crack.

Although his arrival is by no means certain, many trainers seem excited by the prospect. If he does show up, I'd expect him to get live mounts.

--Have you read Dan Illman's report [free subscription required} from the Horseplayers Expo in Las Vegas? He is genuinely excited, dare I say giddy, from hanging with our sport's elite touts, scribblers, & talking heads. This is exactly how I feel when I'm lucky enough to get a little access to those on the inside that I so respect. Here is evidence he is the People's Handicapper--a term he coined for himself (that's SO blogger), but deservedly so. I can't imagine the curmudgeony Watchmaker or the staid Crist, or the bispecticled scholar Paulick having this child like zeal that so many of us regular fans do, much less admitting to it. I feel that way every time I get to talk breed with the horsemen on the backstretch whose names I've been reading in the form for ages. Dan is one of us. Even so, I'm sure he has already experienced the flip side of his adoration of Harvey Pack, and will many more times.