On Big Day at Santa Anita, Big Cap Fits Shoe, the $100 Million Jockey

Handicapping horse races is real easy.

The Big Cap at Santa Anita Sunday, for instance, was a snap. The winner was obvious in advance, to anyone who knows anything about horses and history, two subjects at which my expertise runs deep.

Figure it out: Sunday was history day at Santa Anita. Largest attendance ever in the history of the track (85,527), biggest handle ever at any track, largest traffic jams in Arcadia ever, most seagulls ever strafing the infield trash when it was all over.

On this historic day of racing, the 50th anniversary of the first Big Cap, who did you think was going to ride the Big Cap winner?

Gary Stevens? Darrel McHargue? Doug Flutie?

Come on. It had to be The Shoe.

Bill Shoemaker.

On a day like this, how could anyone bet against The Shoe? Would you bet against Santa Claus on Christmas Eve?

Along with all the other historical numbers Sunday, Shoe was going for a money milestone, $100 million in purses. I hate to bring this up, I hesitate to cheapen the sport of horse racing by talking about money, but $100 million is a nice figure.

What did that mean to Shoe?

“It just means I made a hundred million,” he said.

Big deal. Actually he only keeps about 10% of that.

“Ten years from now,” he said, “someone will have $200 million.”

It will probably be Shoemaker. He is only 53 years old.

He was two years old when they ran the first Big Cap in ’35. Shoe didn’t saddle up for that one. Probably had a lousy agent.

Shoe won his first Big Cap in 1954, the same year the Cleveland Indians won the American League pennant. The other big cap that year was the one that flew off Willie Mays’ head when he hauled in Vic Wertz’ long fly in center at the Polo Grounds.

But where are Vic and Willie now?

Of the six other jockeys in the Big Cap Sunday, only two were even born in 1954.

Experience and fame have their advantages. Sunday, Shoemaker had his choice of mounts. He chose Lord at War over Greinton.

That was an easy choice, on names alone.

Greinton finished second Sunday. Shoe made the right choice. Or did he make the difference?

“Nah,” he said. “I don’t think so. Any good rider could have ridden him.”

Maybe. But Shoe liked this horse a lot, and gave him a great ride.

“He’s a great rider up on the pace,” said trainer Charles Whittingham. “Most riders have one of those Big Ben clocks they can’t read.”

Shoe’s got a Swiss watch in his head. Why not? He’s older than Father Time.

“He’s just a phenomenon,” said Chris McCarron, who rode Greinton Sunday. “He’s a great athlete, he’s an inspiration.”

Nobody knows if Shoe is riding as well now as he did when he was a kid, because nobody else was around then. We just have to take his word for it.

“I feel good and I’m riding real good, I think,” Shoemaker said while blow drying his gray hair after the Big Cap.

Has he slowed down in any way?

“Not really,” he said.

How many more Big Caps does he expect to ride?

“Who knows?” he said.

Shoe never was the world’s greatest interview. Just the best jockey. He’s closing in on 8,500 career wins. Johnny Longden is second with 6,032. Laffit Pincay just passed 6,000.

Shoe’s record will likely outlast Bob Beamon’s, or Lou Gehrig’s.

“Somebody’s gonna break that (record for wins), too,” Shoemaker said. “It might take a little longer (than breaking the money record).”

Especially if Shoemaker keeps riding. If somebody wants to take away his record, they’ll have to take away his saddle first.

But he’s not announcing his retirement, and nobody is predicting one. For one thing, Shoe is in great shape and doesn’t have the extreme weight maintainence problems that plague most jocks, who worry if they eat an extra stick of celery.

And who knows what motivates Shoemaker to keep racing? His share of his purses over the years has been roughly $10 million, so he probably doesn’t need the money.

Maybe he still gets a kick out of winning races. For the Big Cap, Shoemaker agonized over his choice of mounts. Even though he decided Greinton had the best shot at winning, he chose Lord at War.

“I really love this little horse,” he said. “He’s one of my favorite horses ever. I had won four stakes in a row with him, and I wasn’t going to desert him when the going got tough.”

So the two little guys--Lord at War and Bill Shoemaker--stole the show on the biggest day ever at Santa Anita.

How could it have been any other way?

Me, I had a fiver to win on Gate Dancer and Laffit Pincay, who finished third.

Hey, I didn’t want to jinx The Shoe and mess up a historic occasion.