jimbo,
in the east, i make bailey, velazquez, dominguez, castellano, and prado the ones. bailey is the best, possibly the best ever (although his excellence has been priced into the market for a while now, not much there in terms of making money). i think velazquez is the second best. in todays wind em up speed game, he adds so much to his mounts in terms of getting them on the engine early, in a fast but comfortable pace. the amount of races the guy steals is amazing. i make castellano the third best. he is even better than johnnyv in getting his mounts on the engine. if you are wondering why he has been on a lot of the horese recently running the huge figs, it is because he has an unbeliveable ability to get horses to run fast. sounds awful simplistic, and most sheet players won't agree with this, but just look at the way he has moved up so many of his mounts, and look at the prices his horses have paid. the guy is a natural, and will be regarded as one of the best in a few years. i make prado the fourth best overall. i think the first three do a better job of getting their mounts in good position in quickly run races. prado has learned the wind em up game quickly though, just look at yesterday's ride in the woodward. if he keeps on improving on dirt, he might jump to the top of the list quickly. as for turf racing, edgar might already be the best. when it comes to rating a horse, and making one winning move, i think the guy is the best. since most jocks tend to play the rating game on turf these days, having edgar aboard is a big plus. i have not seen dominguez ride that much, but he wins everywhere, and when i bet him, i always get a good trip. has to be considered up there somewhere.