Being a racehorse is dangerous but being the jockey on the horse’s back is far more perilous. Racehorses run at high speeds for short bursts, yet horses’ ankles are smaller than a human’s ankles, and must support the 1,000-pound charging animal. A top, seasoned jockey may race as many as six or eight races per day, five days per week, totaling nearly 1,500 races per year. A rider falls during a thoroughbred race about every 500 rides, so the statistics indicate that an active top jockey will hit the ground about three times per year.
Stevens had become a leading rider for Lukas by overcoming his traumatic injuries, and because of his talent and hard work. He rode hurt in 1986 and early 1987, still not fully recovered from the Santa Anita accident, but now was finally riding fully fit and healthy. Not yet a star, Stevens was a rising young talent, and was a leading rider at the Southern California race meetings held at Hollywood Park, Del Mar, and Santa Anita. Lukas liked to hire him, and he was a favorite of Klein for his personal stable.
One morning he told his brother Scott, “You can’t imagine what it is like to ride for Mr. Klein. He sends limousines for me to come to his ranch. And, my God, you should see his private jet! He never lets me fly commercial when I ride his horses at other tracks. Brother, we are from Idaho and now it’s the big time!”
Scott as always was happy for his little brother’s success. He knew how hard it had been for Gary to achieve this level of racing achievement. He had watched Gary at age seven be diagnosed with Legg-Calve-Perthes syndrome, a degenerative disease which destroys the hip socket joint, requiring him to wear a metal brace for 19 months. Gary’s first attempt to break into the ultra-competitive Southern California jockey colony had been a disaster; he’d won only four races in 90 attempts. Lukas and Klein had changed his life, yet he remained humble and aware a jockey’s life is a fragile existence. Stevens had only one weakness at the track and that was his penchant for fighting with other jockeys after races. If he could control his temper, and not be suspended, his future was bright. He just needed one special horse to prove his talent.
December 27, 1987, Santa Anita Racetrack, California
Modern thoroughbreds are considered much more fragile now than their predecessors were 50 years ago. For instance, in 1935, the famous Seabiscuit raced 35 times just as a 2-year-old. By comparison, this next race would be Winning Colors’ second and final start as a 2-year-old. Trainers in the 1920s and 1930s believed running 2-year-olds hard and often made them stronger and better able to handle the rigorous demands of racing when they became mature racehorses. Horses of that era were no doubt sounder and sturdier than the ones that run today. If a trainer were to do that in modern racing, they would be chastised and called cruel.
A horse with a five-month layoff between races is usually considered one of the worst wagers at the track, but Winning Colors’ handlers who were with her every day knew she was unusual—so big, fast, and physical for a young horse. She could cruise easily at such a high speed that the daily exercise riders would find their hands worn to the point of bloody and raw by trying to control her in the morning workouts. Now four-and-a-half months since her sparkling race debut she was ready for her second start.
Lukas was becoming known as a “ladies’ man” due to his incredible recent stakes race winning successes with the female horses in his care. Now to close out her 2-year-old season this cool and crisp late December day in California, Winning Colors was racing against five other promising fillies, including several that had shown to be extremely fast in their morning workouts. Winning Colors had drawn the most undesirable post position possible in the number one post, located down next to the inner fence, and this fact worried Lukas. The rail post position can especially bother precocious, young, unseasoned horses that often shy away from being squeezed down inside by horses charging alongside them on their right flank. If the rail horse breaks even a half-step slow, the other horses can come over and squeeze it against the fence, forcing the horse to run around outside the field to have any chance of prevailing.
Lukas told Stevens before the race, “She is like a storm…she can seem peaceful and relaxed…but anything can set her off and she becomes a maniac. Keep her away from noise and commotion or you will be sitting on a tornado. She is big and tough but also very fragile.”
Winning Colors was staying focused as she calmly entered the gate, just as in New York, like a more seasoned veteran racehorse with years of experience. The other horses were jostling and banging against their gates as their Hispanic jockeys yelled to the starter to wait: “Espere! Espere!” as they worked to get their wild fillies settled and straight in the gate for the break.
The track announcer’s voice came over the public address system, “The flag is up!” The horses were fully loaded and ready for the start when the starting bell clanged and the gates popped open.
Winning Colors exploded out of the gate with powerful long strides into the short three-quarter mile, one-turn race. The other fillies could not keep up with the big gray rockets early speed and she was
