Mitchell's comeback continues

AUBURN, Wash. – It’s been 14 months since Gallyn Mitchell suffered a massive heart attack, splayed out on his front porch, near death, clutching his chest and screaming for help. These days, every live mount is a blessing, says the 51-year-old jockey, whose improbable comeback continues Sunday when he rides Del Rio Harbor in the Coca-Cola Handicap at Emerald Downs.

After 17,300 mounts and 2,684 riding victories, some might be enthused about the prospect of retirement, but not Mitchell. It’s not that he can’t let go; he simply doesn’t want to. Nothing seems to excite him as much as the prospect of getting on a good horse and going for a fast ride. He has cut back some since making a tentative return to the saddle last fall, which means that instead of riding seven or eight horses a day, he’ll happily ride five.

“That’s pretty much what we want to do,” said Mitchell, whose wife, Denise, doubles as his agent. “I’m kind of picking and choosing a bit since my incident last year. I just want to have fun right now and enjoy myself and do my job. I want to ride a few, and that way I can give 100 percent on everything I’m on. Maybe another year or two. We’ll see.”

Mitchell landed on Del Rio Harbor after trainer Doris Harwood began playing musical chairs with the four horses she entered in the Coca-Cola Handicap. Isaias Enriquez, who steered Del Rio Harbor to a third-place finish in the Auburn Handicap in his last start, will ride Trick Or Retreat. Rocco Bowen has the call on Kenai King, replacing Mitchell. And Mitchell gets Del Rio Harbor, Emerald’s champion 2-year-old in 2013.

“I’ve been on him a couple of times now,” Mitchell said Friday. “He seems to me like a colt who has a lot in the tank. I worked him by himself, and he’s a lollygagger, kind of a teenager. And then I worked him in company, and it was like, ‘Holy smokes.’ So, I like him. I like him quite a bit. I’m excited to ride him.”

Mitchell sits sixth in the Emerald standings with 15 wins, far behind leader Leslie Mawing, who has 38. But it’s not about volume for Mitchell anymore. He has three kids, three stents near his heart, and ample reason to slow down and smell the roses.

“I feel fortunate, so lucky to be out there riding again,” he said. “So many things can happen – should have happened – after my heart attack. But I was like a little kid to be back out there again.”

Mawing doing it for family

Mawing wins races in droves at Emerald Downs, but victories somehow eluded him Wednesday, when he rode four horses at Les Bois Park in Boise, Idaho, and only one of them hit the board.

Mawing lives in Kuna, Idaho, about 15 miles from Les Bois Park, and commutes each week to and from Emerald Downs, arriving late Thursday or early Friday and returning home early in the day Monday. He’ll generally ride a few horses on Wednesday evenings at Les Bois, where he has won with 5 of 31 mounts at the current meeting.

“I had never been on any of the horses; I was flying blind,” Mawing said of his most recent Les Bois misadventure. “A couple of my horses stumbled out of the gate. It’s a three-quarters track, and when you’re going five furlongs and lose ground at the break, you have a lot to make up.”

Mawing captured the riding title at Emerald in 2011 and has been highly competitive in Northern California and elsewhere. He returned to Emerald this year after a one-year absence because of its relative proximity to home. Mawing has three children – Aidan, 10; Dominic, 8; and Jade, 4 – and said that they, along with his wife, Caty, are his top priority.

“I had shoulder surgery last February and was sidelined until June,” Mawing said. “My original plan was to come back to Emerald, but I looked at it, and it was too late in the season – all the good horses were gone. So, I did the California fairs, but it took a toll on me, and it took a toll on my family. It’s tough on my wife. She’s pretty much raising a family of three by herself.

“I lost my mom when I was 9 and my dad when I was 16, so I know what it’s like to not have two parents around. Family is the most important thing to me. I see friends who work, work, work, and then it’s time to retire, and they can’t do the things they could have done with their family.”

Mawing won’t win the riding title at Les Bois – he’s a distant sixth in the standings – but he’s on pace for another one at Emerald.

“It’s always important to win riding titles,” he said. “That means you’re in demand. And when you’re in demand, you can have your pick of three or even four horses in a race. My agent has been doing a fantastic job, and the trainers have been really loyal. I pretty much have to go home every week.”