Ramirez pulls herself back into the saddle, avoiding a serious accident

Apprentice jockey Paulina Ramirez and her mount, St Teresa, left those watching a maiden race for 2-year-old fillies last Wednesday at Delta Downs gasping. The pair seemed home free in the stretch drive when St Teresa ducked into the rail, nearly unseating Ramirez. The rider clung to St Teresa’s neck before dramatically swinging back up into the saddle.

“I was very scared,” said Ramirez, 22.

“The only thing that kept me up was that my foot stayed on top of the saddle.”

Ramirez and St Teresa managed to save third. The filly was making the second start of her career.

Ramirez believes the inexperienced filly, who was racing in blinkers for the first time, reacted to the crowd on the grandstand apron.

“It was a good crowd,” she said.

Ramirez said that after being unseated she remembers seeing only the filly’s feet and the ground. The jockey, who weighs 105 pounds, said she never touched the rail during the incident. Ramirez’s show of composure, horsemanship, and athleticism belied the fact that she has been race-riding less than a year. Her first mount came last November at Delta Downs.

Ramirez grew up in racing, with four members of her immediate family becoming jockeys. They include her father, Randy Edison, and one of her uncles, J.R. Ramirez. The men are well known Quarter Horse jockeys.

“I’m the first Thoroughbred rider,” she said.

Paulina Ramirez has been riding horses since she was a child. Her family started teaching her race-riding skills at home on the farm.

“They taught me to get out of the gate when I was 11,” she said. “With ponies.”

Ramirez is putting the ride with St Teresa behind her and working on having a strong meet at Delta, where she was tied for third in the standings heading into the raceweek.

“I’ve seen the video one time,” she said. “I don’t want to watch it again.”

Ramirez this year has won 67 races from 530 starts for mount earnings of $1.2 million. She’s also had 73 seconds and 76 thirds – with one of those third-place finishes unforgettable.