Mountaineer fixture Parker expanding his horizons

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockey Deshawn Parker, who recently arrived at Oaklawn Park, was hooked on riding the minute he first sat on a horse. Fast forward a few decades, and he has established himself as one of the winningest riders in the game, with more than 5,200 victories. Parker twice has led all North American riders in wins in a year and is considered the kingpin of Mountaineer Racetrack.

But Parker recently has been looking to change up his circuit and said that following the close of the Oaklawn meet April 15, he plans to move his tack to either Indiana Grand or Presque Isle. And next year, Parker said he plans to ride the entire Oaklawn meet, from January into April.

“I’m going to stay here through the end of the meet, and then I’m kind of leaning toward Indiana,” said Parker. “I never rode at Indiana. It’s hard to do, make a move, after winning so many races [at Mountaineer]. It’s getting to a time that I’ve got to make a move.”

Parker spent some time this winter at Fair Grounds and said he made contacts with some of the Kentucky-based trainers who plan to run horses at Indiana. He figures to make more of the same contacts at Oaklawn as some outfits from here head to Indiana. Parker also rode the winter at Sam Houston, where he closed out the final week of the meet by riding four stakes winners for trainer Bret Calhoun.

Parker, a 46-year-old native of Ohio, grew up in racing. His father, Daryl Parker, is a steward in Ohio.

“When I was a little kid, my dad was the outrider at Latonia, now Turfway, and after the races, I got to ride the pony back to the barn,” Parker said. “I just fell in love with it.”

Parker’s career path was further solidified when his father became the clerk of scales at Thistledown.

“Growing up, I actually got to sit in the jocks’ room and watched everything every day and just idolized the riders,” said Parker.

Parker’s feats on the track include riding the 9,000th winner for the late trainer Dale Baird. Baird is the winningest trainer in North American history. Parker also was one of the regular riders of Rapid Redux during the horse’s record streak of 22 consecutive wins.

Parker said he last was based at Oaklawn about six years ago to get out of the cold at Mountaineer.

“I love the area,” he said. “The people here are so great. They love horse racing, and that makes you excited, to see people smiling, enjoying what we do. It really makes you love what you do.”