Hoss Talk

     Another bizarre story in the life of a runny-nosed kid from Boston who became a jockey: 

     The first time I met Ray Brody we were both riding at Santa Anita racetrack in California, perhaps the toughest race meeting in the world. 

     The Santa Anita jockeys' room was the home of many top riders, including Bill Shoemaker, Sandy Hawley, Eddie Delahoussaye and a strong contingent of good Latin American jockeys. 

     Brody didn't take kindly to losing. He especially didn't like losing to riders who were not from the U.S. 

     One afternoon, Brody is riding the No. 10 horse in a 12-horse race, gets creamed leaving the starting gate and loses all chance for victory. 

     He has to ride like hell to finish third and arrives back at the jocks' room screaming and cursing. 

     He decides to take matters into his own hands. Brody looks around the room and sees Fernando Torres, a young Latin rider, washing his face in his bucket. Brody assumes Torres's horse bumped him and cost him the race. So he goes over and assaults the rider with his helmet. He then declares war on all the Latin riders in the room. He warns them all to stay out of his way in the future. 

     After reviewing the race on the jocks room monitor, Brody notices that Torres was on the No. 1 horse. 

     Watching the race with him is jockey Johnny Sales, who asks Brody, "Why did you hit that jock? 

     "It was my horse that hit you. I was on the 11 horse," says Sales. Brody now realizes he is in big trouble. Within minutes the stewards call him by telephone to discuss his altercation in the jocks room. Rather than apologizing, he proceeds with an outburst at the stewards. 

     Now in a whole lot of trouble, he disappears. 

     Later that night, I get a phone call from Ray who has checked himself into a hospital. "Can you bring me some clothes right away?" asks Brody. 

     When we arrive with his clothes, we learn that to avoid a potential lawsuit by the assaulted jockey and a severe penalty by the stewards, he has chosen a mental hospital to check into. 

     For several days, we visit with him and he tells us as soon as all the trouble settles down, he will check himself out of the hospital. He whiles away his time weaving baskets. Two weeks later, there is a call from Brody. "Come pick me up, I'm ready to go home," he says. 

     We arrive at the hospital only to find a distraught rider. "They won't release me. They want to keep me for another week for more observations. Why was it so easy to get in and     now so hard to get out?" says Brody. 

     He was eventually released and allowed to resume riding. 

     Now retired, the time spent weaving baskets has paid off huge. He now operates a large company in California making fishing lures. 

     FINISH LINES 

     The Sport of Kings, Saturday at 11 a.m. on Citytv, goes behind the scenes of last week's exciting B.C. Derby. ... Saturday's race card at Hastings is a horse player's delight. More than 133 horses will be racing on a 13-race card filled with full fields. ... The $100,000 Jack Diamond Futurity and $100,000 Sadie Diamond Futurity highlight the afternoon program. ... Sunday's $35,000 Sir Winston Churchill handicap has attracted a fine field of older horses including California invader Kim Hart's Futural, a winner of $678,970. 

     Tom Wolski can be seen on the Sport of Kings, (new time) 11 a.m. Saturday on Citytv.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Source: Vancouver Province
E-mail Tommy Wolski at twolski@shaw.ca