Mountaineer Jockeys: Age Matter?

by Ralph the Cat

With the recent discussion on who will take home this up and coming jockey title I figured why not talk about some of these ole timers still getting a leg up. Whats considered to be too old for a jockey? Does age matter? When handicapping, do you consider the age of a rider if you know the circuit/jockeys well enough? or is your main concern ability? For the most part I think ability directly relates to age. But there's always the guys that don't look their age. You know, that 20 year old bug that rides like a stiff 50 year old. How about that 20 year old that just rides a bit cautious like an older vet that just wants to make it to the finish line. Then you have those guys pushing 40 that ride as gutsy and athletic as if they were in their prime. The reason why I brought this up is I don't think the Mountaineer community realizes how old our top riders are. The youngest set of top riders were Rex and Ricky who are in their early 20s, but it appears a future at Mountaineer may be doubtful. Besides them, the youngest jockeys that compete at the top our Oswald Pereira at 34 and the streaky Joe Stokes 31, who rides at several different circuits throughout the year. The names we are so use to seeing on top at Mountaineer our guys like Tho Nguyen 37, Deshawn Parker who just turned 38, Dana Whitney who will be turning 39, Scott Spieth who's 44, and Andrew Ramgeet 45, not to mention the recently retired Chad Murphy who is 44.

I've been browsing forums for a couple years now, and never did I see as many Mountaineer riding "effort" complaints as I have seen this past year. All were directed at these top riders. I was surprised and glad to see threads about how guys like Jesus Barria deserve more credit, how Arizona Miller puts in solid rides, how guys like Freddy P need better mounts, how Luis Rivera is ballsy, the list goes on and on. I'm pleased to see the handicappers step up and make these bold observations about the top riders, so I don't feel like the Grinch that knocks too many "highly respected riders". I was beginning to think I was losing my mind, did that jockey even want to win that race? I've asked myself that question one too many times. I'm just glad to see the Mountaineer community make such solid observations on Mountaineer jockeys, beyond just saying, ..."that rider sucks"... I will say this though, before Parker even made that huge run at 100 wins in one meet this year, there weren't many complaints about "Mr. Dependable". When you get zero complaints from the guys who watch every race and every move, you're destined for success. Hes one rider where age does not show, closing in on forty, he looks at his best. I cant say the same for the others in that group of "40" year olds.