Smith frustrated by lack of opportunities but staying fit and ready
Some numbers are more meaningful to Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith than others.
Through Thursday, Smith had won 2 races from 18 mounts at the Del Mar meeting, far less activity than expected since the season began on July 16.
“I’m aggravated I’m not doing more and riding more,” he said early Thursday afternoon. “I like to win. It’s what I’m about.”
Other digits, such as a 56th birthday this Tuesday, are taken in stride.
“I stopped counting them at 50,” he said. “As long as I keep feeling younger than that, I’ll keep going.”
Smith has no intention of ending a fascinating career that began in New Mexico in 1982 and includes 5,620 wins in North America.
Smith is by far the senior member of the jockey colony at Del Mar. Fellow Hall of Famers Kent Desormeaux (who is 51), and Victor Espinoza (49), and recent Eastern transplant Joe Bravo (49), are the only riders close to Smith in age. Leading rider Flavien Prat turned 29 on Wednesday.
The modern standard for longevity among Southern California riders was established by Bill Shoemaker, who won the Kentucky Derby on Ferdinand at 54 in 1986 and retired at 58 in 1990.
For more than a decade, Smith has been known as a big-race rider, well known for close associations with the popular mare Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year, and Justify, the 2018 Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year.
This year, Smith has lived up to his nickname Big Money Mike. Smith has won 15 races, 10 in stakes at Belmont Park, Delaware Park, Los Alamitos, and Santa Anita. He just wishes they were more frequent.
“It’s the way it goes,” he said. “This game is a roller-coaster. You’ve got to ride the highs when they’re high and stay even keel when they slow down.”
Thursday was emblematic of a typical Del Mar day for Smith, beginning with morning workouts and followed by midday exercise and an afternoon at the races.
Smith worked the multiple stakes winner Royal Ship six furlongs in 1:14.60.
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Royal Ship, trained by Richard Mandella, is a top contender for the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 21. A prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 6, the Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles is the track’s only $1 million race of the summer meeting and one Smith thinks Royal Ship can win.
“He worked dynamite,” Smith said. “The last eighth of a mile past the wire was his best. He really cut galloping out.”
Smith rode Royal Ship to a win in the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at Santa Anita in April. Since then, Royal Ship was second in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on May 31 and third in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar on July 17.
Smith’s year has had its share of disappointment.
The year started with two stakes wins by the exciting 3-year-old Life Is Good, who was sidelined with injury in the spring and missed the Triple Crown. Smith rode Charlatan to a win in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita last December and a second in the $20 million Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia in February. Charlatan was retired to stud in the spring because of injury.
At Santa Anita in the spring, Smith rode the 4-year-old filly As Time Goes By to wins in two Grade 2 stakes. As Time Goes By was fourth, beaten 14 lengths, in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 1 after stumbling at the start. Smith was visibly frustrated after the race, thinking the filly had a chance to challenge eventual winner Shedaresthedevil.
“You want to get a fair shot and she didn’t get it,” he said on Thursday. “I was so disappointed. There was nothing I could do about it. I can’t keep her from slipping.
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“She was looking right down the track. She broke so fast she lost the ground. She was really ready. Hopefully we can stick with her.”
Smith had one mount on Thursday’s eight-race program, finishing last in an allowance race on turf aboard Pawnee.
This weekend, Smith will travel to Saratoga for stakes mounts for English trainer Charlie Appleby and Sheikh Mohammed’s powerful Godolphin Racing. Sunday, Smith rides Creative Flair in the Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks, a $700,000 race for 3-year-old fillies at 1 3/16 miles.
Smith plans to return to Del Mar on Monday where he will spend his Tuesday birthday with his wife of two years, Cynthia.
In between morning workouts and races on Thursday, Smith, who admits to being a fitness freak, jogged five miles on the beach. A jog on the beach, even at Smith’s decent clip of 8 or 9 minutes per mile, sounds like fun, except the New Mexico native would rather be preparing for a larger book of afternoon mounts.
“You’re going to have slow times,” Smith said. “I’m staying in training and staying fit so when things turn around. The good thing about down time, I use it to train even harder.”
The preparation never stops, even in middle age.