Smith hires ex-jockey Stevens as agent
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A Hall of Fame jockey will represent a Hall of Fame rider beginning at Del Mar this summer.
Mike Smith has hired his former riding colleague Gary Stevens to book his mounts. The arrangement begins with opening day at Del Mar on July 17.
“It’s something that works out for all of us,” Smith said on Friday morning. "We’ve been very close and good friends for so many years. I think it’s kind of cool. I’m feeling really good right now. I’m excited about the move. We’ll go where it takes us.”
Smith is parting ways with Brad Pegram, who currently books mounts for Flavien Prat, the winner of the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding jockey in 2024 and 2025. Prat rides in New York.
Smith, 59, and Pegram began working together in 2004, a remarkably long partnership for a jockey and an agent.
“I can’t thank him enough for the job he did,” Smith said of Pegram. “Look at the way he’s represented Flavien right now. We did so much good together. He kept me healthy and going.”
Stevens has been based as an agent in the Midwest in recent years. Stevens, who won the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding jockey of 1998, won 5,187 races in North America from 1979 to 2018.
Smith, who began riding in 1982, has won 5,804 races in North America. This year, Smith has won 12 races, including the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in April with So Happy. Smith was aboard So Happy for a ninth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby on May 2.
– additional reporting by Brad Free
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