Pincay needs one for 9,500

ARCADIA, Calif. - Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. is one winner away from the 9,500th of his career, and has five chances to achieve the milestone on Wednesday's eight-race program at Santa Anita.

"I know about it," he said after the races on Sunday, with a hint of frustration in his voice. "I'm trying."

The world's all-time leading rider, Pincay was winless on Sunday. He won the 9,499th winner of his career aboard Total Limit in Saturday's first race.

Wednesday, Pincay rides Jaciro in the second race, Rubin's Rose in the fourth, Saxony in the fifth, Brocky's Dream in the seventh, and Exy in the eighth race.

Several of his mounts deserve respect.

Brocky's Dream starts in the richest race of the day, a $65,000 allowance race for fillies and mares over about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course. The race drew nine runners, including Pina Colada and I'm the Business, the second and third finishers in the Monrovia Handicap on the hillside Dec. 31.

Other contenders are Alexine, a three-time stakes winner in the last two years who makes her first start since April, and the European imports Embassy Belle and Swiss Lake.

Brocky's Dream is seeking her second consecutive win. A 5-year-old, Brocky's Dream won an optional claimer over 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Hollywood Park on Nov. 15, her first win in nine starts since arriving from Australia in late 2001.

Pincay will ride Jaciro for the first time in a six-furlong optional claimer. She won a maiden race at Golden Gate Fields on Dec. 1, and finished seventh in the California Breeders Champion Stakes on Dec. 27.

Pincay has won aboard Saxony. A 4-year-old filly, Saxony won a maiden race at Del Mar by six lengths last August under Pincay, but is winless in six subsequent starts. Pincay is her sixth different rider in as many starts. He was aboard for a third in a starter allowance last September, but has not ridden her since. Most recently, Saxony was third in a five-horse field.

In the last race, for maiden claimers over a mile, Exy is hard to place. A 4-year-old, she has been third once, in a turf maiden race in November, but returned to finish fourth in an maiden special weight at Golden Gate Fields on Jan. 5. Wednesday's race marks the first time she has been entered for a claiming price.

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