Re: The 4 Pound Betting Coup (615 Views)
Posted by:
MO (IP Logged)
Date: September 21, 2005 04:21PM
CTC said:
Baeza was a tall man for a jockey and his career was cut short due to weight issues. He battled weight for a good part of his abbreviated career. IF Baeza allowed jockeys to run overweight, its certainly possible he did so out of empathy for their plight.
I know BB. He taught me everything I know about race riding when I was dating his (then) stable rider back in 1988. He ran rings around Shoemaker when Bill was in his prime. BB rode horse of the year 5 years in a row, when Bill was in his prime. BB was indeed the best. And the above comment by CTC is probably accurate. BB was always aware of the perception people had on racing and was always very careful to teach his students the right way of doing things, like keeping your mouth shut, riding your horse out past the finish line, keep your weight in check, don't use the whip unless needed, save ground, don't make a move on the turn with a sore horse, etc. He was as good a teacher as he was a rider. I asked him a few years back why he wasn't the COS and Mario HIS assistant. He said he didn't want the job. I knew right then why. I won't tell but to say that there's a lot more to this story than meets the eye. And there's a very good chance he's only guilty by association here in this case.
As for the 5 riders accused of conspiracy here, one speaks no English, and 2 others are known cheaters. And all five would rather rat on BB than take the fall themselves. Its the nature of the game.
http://www.brauliobaeza.com
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2005 04:26PM by MO.