Lopez brings veteran’s appreciation to Derby bid

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Jockey Chuck C. Lopez is living the dream – as hard as he tries not to dream at all.

Lopez is the regular rider of El Kabeir, a multiple-stakes-winning 3-year-old who is one step – or more correctly, nine furlongs – away from making it to the Kentucky Derby. Lopez, 54, has never ridden in a Kentucky Derby, and if he were somehow to win it this year, he would match Bill Shoemaker as the oldest rider to accomplish the feat. Shoemaker was 54 when he won the 1986 Derby on Ferdinand.

Lopez will be aboard El Kabeir for the fourth consecutive time in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Together, they have won the Jerome and Gotham and finished second in the Withers, all Grade 3 races at Aqueduct.

“I haven’t allowed myself to dream of anything,” Lopez said Tuesday. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. I’m still savoring the Gotham, and I want that to last as long as possible. I don’t want to take away from how important that race was to win for my career. That’s why I haven’t allowed myself to dream of the Wood or, further yet, the Derby.”

At $400,000, the Gotham was the richest race Lopez has won among the 4,171 victories he has recorded in a career that began in 1979. Lopez has never won a Grade 1 race. In 2008, he rode Gottcha Gold to within a neck of Student Council when second in the Grade 1 Pimlico Special.

“You can’t win 4,000 races and not have at least one Grade 1, right?” Lopez said.

Lopez, a native of Brooklyn who goes simply by C.C., was born to be a jockey. His father, Carlos Sr., rode for 40 years, mainly on the New Jersey circuit. C.C. Lopez has a brother and a cousin who ride, and now his sons, David and Erick, also ride.

“When I started riding, the only thing I ever wanted to do was be half as good as my father and ride a season at Santa Anita,” Lopez said.

Lopez is more successful than his father, though his one attempt at riding a meet at Santa Anita, in 2003, fizzled out after a few weeks. He returned to Monmouth, where he is a mainstay and was the leading rider in 1998.

Lopez has carved out a niche as a speed rider, which is one reason why he landed the mount on El Kabeir.

Calvin Borel rode El Kabeir to a front-running victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes last November and was named to ride him in the Grade 3 Jerome on Jan. 3 at Aqueduct. A few days before the Jerome, however, Borel’s sister-in-law died, and he could not make it to New York.

John Terranova, who trains El Kabeir for Ahmed Zayat, selected Lopez in part because El Kabeir was a speed horse and because Lopez was a veteran of the inner track. Simon Harris, the exercise rider of El Kabeir, is also Lopez’s valet.

Said Terranova: “He’s an experienced, older, seasoned rider. He’s not going to get nervous or panic. He’s been in all kinds of situations by this point.”

Indeed, Lopez did not panic when El Kabeir stumbled a few strides out of the gate in the Jerome. He was third going into the first turn, something new for him. Lopez got El Kabeir to settle, and when he called on him, El Kabeir galloped to a 4 3/4-length victory.

In the Withers on Feb. 7, Lopez had El Kabeir go after Classy Class, who had gotten away with an easy first quarter. Ultimately, El Kabeir and Classy Class set things up for Far From Over to come and get them both, with El Kabeir finishing second.

In the Gotham on March 7, Lopez and Terranova decided that they were going to send El Kabeir to the lead. But the others were faster into the turn, and El Kabeir was at the back of the pack. Saving ground along the inside, Lopez had El Kabeir launch a bid at the five-furlong pole. He tipped him four wide for the stretch, El Kabeir accelerated to the front, and cruised home a 2 3/4-length winner.

Lopez said after the Gotham that he rode El Kabeir like it would be the last time he would ride him, thinking that the owners would look for a rider with more big-race experience and success. The day after the Gotham, Zayat told Lopez he would not make a change.

“It was a great relief to know that no matter what happened, he wouldn‘t take me off the horse,” Lopez said. “But I still ride him just like I’ve been riding him. It’s the safe thing to do. I don’t want to project; I don’t want to set myself up for any disappointment. This is, after all, horse racing.”

If there is any disappointment for Lopez, it’s that his longtime agent, Joe Rosen, isn’t here to enjoy this potential march to the Derby. Rosen, who booked mounts for Lopez for two decades, died in 2012 at the age of 61.

“We used to joke all the time that our professional relationship has outlasted most of our personal relationships,” Lopez said. “My only regret about all of this is that he’s not here to see it.

“In thinking quite a bit about what the Wood and possibly the Derby would mean, I intend to dedicate both of those races to Joe Rosen.”