In span of an hour, Payeras goes from ambulance to winner's circle

When Instinct D’Oro won a nondescript $20,000 claimer at Los Alamitos last Saturday, it was little more than the result of the day’s seventh race to most observers.

For winning rider Edgar Payeras, it was a welcome achievement less than an hour after being unseated and taken off the track in an ambulance.

Payeras, 30, was aboard the longshot Takamakahara in the day’s fifth race when a rival, Smiling Tony, drifted to the inside and caused Takamakahara to clip heels. Payeras escaped injury and rode the following race.

“I was very lucky,” Payeras said.

Although he complained of shoulder pain after winning aboard Instinct D’Oro, Payeras was back for a full day, and early evening, of activity at Los Alamitos on Sunday. He rode four races in the afternoon, winning the sixth race on Wrong Turn Cupid in a $6,250 claimer, and the first three races of the track’s evening program, winning the first race on Sweet Tempest in a $10,000 claimer.

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For Payeras, the brief daytime meetings at Los Alamitos that are held three times a year allow him to ride both daytime and evenings at the track he considers his base.

At the current year-long evening meeting of Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds at Los Alamitos, Payeras ranks second in the standings with 48 wins, 18 fewer than leader Ricardo Ramirez.

At the current daytime Thoroughbred meeting, which began on Sept. 13 and continues through Sunday, Payeras was in a four-way tie for the lead with three wins along with Armando Ayuso, Diego Herrera, and Edwin Maldonado through last Sunday.

On Friday, the next day of racing, Payeras has two mounts in maiden claimers. On Saturday, Payeras has four mounts on the afternoon program and one on the evening card.

“This is what I’m waiting for,” he said after winning on Instinct D’Oro. “I focus on this meet.”

The incident that led to Payeras being unseated came at a hefty cost for jockey Francisco Ramirez, who rode Smiling Tony. On Sunday, the stewards suspended Ramirez for seven racing days – Sunday, Sept. 27-28 and Oct. 4-6, for altering course without sufficient clearance.

Ramirez, 31, has ridden five winners this year.

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