Bailey Profile

[asfufh]

Jerry Bailey Profile
 
 
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Jan 18, 7:39 PM (ET)

By The Associated Press
NAME - Jerry Bailey

AGE, BIRTHDAY - 48, Aug. 29, 1957, in Dallas

RESIDENCE - Davie, Fla.

FAMILY - Suzee (wife); Justin (son)

TRIPLE CROWN WINS - Sea Hero (1993 Kentucky Derby); Grindstone (1996 Derby); Hansel (1991 Preakness, Belmont); Red Bullet (2000 Preakness); Empire Maker (2003 Belmont Stakes)

 
OTHER TOP WINS - 15 Breeders\' Cup victories, including five Classics (Black Tie Affair, 1991); (Arcangues, 1993); (Concern, 1994); (Cigar, 1995); (Saint Liam, 2005) ... Travers (Wise Times, 1986); (Sea Hero, 1993); (Medaglia d\'Oro, 2002) ... Dubai World Cup (Cigar, 1996); (Singspiel, 1997); (Captain Steve, 2000); (Street Cry, 2002).

ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Won seven Eclipse Awards for best jockey in 1995, \'96, \'97, 2000, \'01, \'02, \'03 ... Inducted into racing\'s Hall of Fame in 1995 ... Became first rider to top $20 million in seasonal earnings, in 2001 ... All-time leading rider at Saratoga. Recorded record-setting win No. 641 on Aug. 6, 2004 ... Leading rider in Breeders\' Cup history with record 15 wins, including record five in Breeders\' Cup Classic. Total Breeders\' Cup earnings are $22,006,440, second to Pat Day ... Second-leading money-earning rider with $295,868,139 through Jan. 17 ... Has 5,890 winners as of Jan. 17 ... Won five Belmont fall riding titles, four spring/summer titles and seven Saratoga titles ... Former president of Jockeys\' Guild.

[sighthound]

I was killing an hour in the local bookstore, and picked up his biography yesterday, so far very interesting and engaging.

[miff]

Sight,

Does it have anything about the numerous times he personally called the owners of good horses to ask them to take off their jock and put him on.He used to sell some story about how he \"saw\" something flawed in their current jocks ride.

Also, does it say anything about how a great majority of his fellow jocks despise his sneaky ways.

[sighthound]

I\'m only just through the first half (had to work yesterday) ... Bailey just joined AA and has seen the light.  Shall see what is revealed in the second and third acts

There are not many books published about the TB horse business. I guess the standard of general interest would be \"Wild Ride\".  Just finished that new book about the Hancocks, which sparked some fascinating hours of pedigree research review and study - which horses, what conformation, what bloodlines, why?  Can that model even be repeated in today\'s business climate?  Should it be?

I find most books about this sport thinner on content and depth than I\'d like.

[richiebee]

Sighthound:

  (With apologies to Bobphilo and D-Rex for yet another post on my behalf which refuses to go anywhere near the Ky Calvary Charge).

   Second your vote on WILD RIDE, the story of the incredible implosion of Calumet, the death of Alydar, and how R. Lundy turned the Wright family fortune in excess of $600 million into a bunch of claims in Bankruptcy Court.

   SEABISCUIT of course must be mentioned, amazing that a book about thoroughbred racing could be at the top of bestseller lists. THE BIG HORSE, by Joe McGinnis (the biography of PG Johnson) also a good read. GUESS I\'M LUCKY, a bio of Woodford Cephis Stephens was a very good read, may be out of print. THE KID, the late Pete Axthelm\'s profile of apprentice Steve Cauthen, a great look at NY racing in the 70s, Team Affirmed and Laz Barrera.

   D WAYNE, by Carlo Devito could have been a great read if written by a sportswriter who knew racing... actually a good read considering it is poorly written and even more poorly edited, if at all. A book I have not read is called LUKAS AT AUCTION, which chronicles how the Lukas/ Gene Klein juggernaut of the 80s was nowhere near as lucrative a proposition as one might have been lead to believe.

[TGJB]

Get hold of Tarnsished Crown, the best non-fiction racing book I have ever read by far (I didn\'t read Seabiscuit). It\'s out of print, you might be able to find it in the library.

[HP]

I will add two pretty good ones:

I just read \"Horseplayers\" by Ted McClelland.  The guy spends a year at the track in Chicago.  I can\'t say it gave me much in the way of handicapping insight, but I enjoyed it and it made me feel...normal for enjoying horse racing.  

I\'m in the middle of one now that is really different...it\'s called \"Laughing In The Hills\" by Bill Barich.  Again, the emphasis is on life around the track instead of handicapping.  Barich is unique as a racing writer as he\'s able to wax poetic and convey nuts and bolts at the same time.  

[richiebee]

I read Laughing in the Hills when it was first published, and again a couple of summers ago. It has a different perspective, but personally I thought it could have been better if its setting was a larger track, with more prominent jocks and trainers and more significant horses... and whats up with all that medieval Italian stuff?

In a darker shade, Track Conditions, A Memoir by Michael Klein. Klein, an openly homosexual college age man with substance abuse problems, ends up on the backstretch, getting to the point where he is grooming Swale as a 2YO. The next Spring, having run afoul of Woody Stephens the entire winter (Woody was much more tolerant of Klein\'s substance problems than he was of some of Klein\'s other lifestyle choices) Klein and Swale end up in the winner\'s circle at Churchill. Before the running of the Preakness Klein goes on a drunk that even scares the Woodman, gets fired and of course later emerges as a prime suspect in Swale\'s  tragic death before the Belmont.

Klein\'s narrative of his drunken, abusive father taking him to the track as a young teen, his descriptions of life behind the scenes at tracks large and small are very incisive, as are his observations about the legendary Stephens. I could have done without the graphic descriptions of homosexual acts, but it didn\'t get to the point where it detracted from the story.

The only thing better than a lie is a true story which nobody can believe. What I find unbelievable is that the creator/ distributor of a world renowned product, which carries the name of a truly legendary pioneer in the business, would allow his bulletin board to be used for hate speech which reaches near libelous levels each day. I feel badly for a fellow who has to carry such a strong hatred around with him each day, chafing his nates till they are burned to a crispy crunch, but its even more unfortunate that he brings down the integrity of a certain product each time he cries out in pain.

[tmon]

The full title and author is Tarnished Crown: The Quest for a Racetrack Champion by Flake, Carol. It can be found through Bookfinder.com and abebooks.com

[shanahan]

JB - the book Seabiscuit makes the movie look like a commercial...the book is fantastic.

[Uncle Buck]

I liked Bailey\'s book. Being a recovering alcoholic myself, I found his jounrey similar to mine and a good read. He admits his sour behavior and when he was in the depths of his disease would ride a bad horse and bring it back to be unsaddled and bark out \"this horse belongs at finger lakes!\" LOL

Love him or hate him, I think he\'s changed his behavior and his life for the better. People who know him closely would really be the only one\'s to pass faire judgement on him.

The Cigar portion of the book was very special as I came along to the game in 1995 when the big horse was in his prime.

This book is a great read no matter whatg you think of the man

[shanahan]

I think Jerry Bailey will be the first truly honest color man in any sport and I am looking forward to listening to him on TV.  I doubt he\'ll have any of the cliches and \"it just didn\'t happen for him today, Tom\"...I think it\'ll be more of \"the problem was he was afraid to go inside and take the rail\"...I really do.

[texasdolly]

Let me second shanahan\'s appraisal of Seabiscuit.  The prose crackles like fiction.  I gave this book to two people who barely knew one end of a horse from another and both thought it was among the best books they had ever read.  Dwarfs the movie.

[magicnight]

I post this only because you seem to have read every recent, good book about racing. It is certainly out of print and may be hard to find, but, This Was Racing by Joe Palmer is one of the best and funniest books on racing you will ever read.

Bob

[sighthound]

There is a \"bigger\" edition of Seabiscuit out with many more pics - if you are going to purchase a copy, I\'d recommend this edition.

Finished Bailey\'s biog, now halfway through \"Ruffian, Burning From The Start\" by Jane Schwartz.    Excellent.   It\'s bringing it all back from years ago, with overwhelming sadness.