LOS ALAMITOS : He’s Making Most of Second Chance

Carlos Aguilar remembered the sound of the gunshot, the pain in his chest and the fleeting thought that his life was going to be senselessly snuffed out.

Standing in front of his locker at Los Alamitos Race Course, the 23-year-old quarter horse rider displayed a scar on the right side of his chest and thanked God that he had lived to tell about it.

“It was in February of 1989,” said Aguilar, who had grown up in the gang-infested Santa Ana barrio. “It was lunchtime, and I was standing outside with nine or 10 friends across from Santa Ana High School.

“All of a sudden, a car pulled up, and somebody shouted, ‘West Myrtle F Troop,’ the name of a rival gang. I heard three shots, and one hit me in the chest.

“An ambulance took me to the hospital. The bullet hit the rib cage and luckily just missed the lung. They removed it, put in some stitches, and I was released the next day. It was a miracle it wasn’t serious.

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Luckily, nobody was seriously hurt. The gun was a .22-caliber pistol. Another friend, Alex Gutierrez, was hit in the elbow but not seriously hurt either.

“The police caught the car 10 minutes later. The guy who did the shooting got nine years.”

Aguilar, wiry at 5 feet 7 and 117 pounds, still counts his blessings. “The bullet could have just as easily hit me in the heart,” he said.

Aguilar thanked racing for giving him a direction in life and eventually the financial means to leave the barrio behind. “I moved to Anaheim two months later and have not been back to Santa Ana,” he said. “On the streets, there’s nothing to fall back on. When I got into horse racing, that got me inspired. There was a future for me. A lot of people back there don’t have that chance.”

Aguilar was born in Sonora, Mexico, but his family moved to Santa Ana when he was 2. “Our gang was named the ‘Myrtle Street Centros Santa Ana,’ ” he said. “We had about 11 members. It’s really lucky none of us has been killed.”

With that background, the thought of riding 1,000-pound horses at more than 40 m.p.h. seemed practically inviting. “One night when I was 14, I tagged along with a neighbor who was a big racing fan,” said Aguilar of his first visit to a track. “I thought horses ran alone. I didn’t know they had jockeys. Ever since, I had it in mind to ride.”

Aguilar dropped out of Santa Ana High in his sophomore year, at 16, to break yearlings for Nelson Bunker Hunt on his thoroughbred farm in Texas. He returned to California to work horses at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar and became intrigued with quarter horses three years ago at Hollywood Park.

He has emerged as one of the best young jockeys in the colony. In 1989, he earned the Val Tonks Award for up-and-coming riders, joining Kip Didericksen and Henry Garcia as the only winners of the honor during the past decade.

Baychaino, a 3-year-old gelding trained by Chuck Treece, is Aguilar’s favorite horse. He has won seven of 14 starts this year and earned more than $120,000. His victory in the $100,000 Marathon Invitational at Los Alamitos in July in near-track-record time of 44.49 seconds for 870 yards was the biggest for both horse and jockey. He finished a tough-luck second in the Breeders Championship Marathon Nov. 17, beaten by a neck after being carried three-wide from the outside post most of the way.

“Chuck Treece has been a big help to me,” Aguilar said. “And Baychaino is the best horse I ever rode. He had problems leaving the gate as a 2-year-old, and we always thought he could go on to a half-mile and be best.

“Winning the Marathon Invitational meant a lot because he was a 3-year-old hooking older horses, and a lot of people (had) doubted him. I think, pound for pound, he’s the best horse alive at a half-mile. He just comes back feeling better after every race. The only word for him is incredible .” The adjective might also be used for his jockey. Los Alamitos’ off-track business continues to grow, after Canterbury Downs in Minnesota joined the network on Fridays earlier this month.

“Les Bois Park in Idaho is coming on board Friday,” said James Smith, executive vice president. “Birmingham (Ala.) will be joining later.

“We have 50 satellites now and will have 100 within two years. We’ll double Nevada from 20 to 40. We’ll have seven to 10 locations in Mexico. We’ll have all the Northwest--Minnesota, Wyoming, Idaho, the Dakotas, plus Washington, Oregon and Montana. We’re looking into Hawaii, and eventually Texas. You might even see us in Asia. We’re looking into the Far East.

“We’re fortunate that we’re night racing, and we’re the only night racing in the western time zone. The day is not that far off when we do $1 million off-track. Within five years, we will be handling more off-track than we are doing total now.”

Los Alamitos Notes

Four remaining spots for the $250,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 15 will be determined Saturday in a $30,000 trial. Leading threats include Lil Bit Rusty and Isaws Sugar Bear, 1-2 finishers in the Breeders Distaff Classic; Sandys Love Bug, winner of the Breeders Sprint Classic; Ourautograph, runner-up in the Breeders Sophomore Classic, and Tee Roy Reb, who finished third in a photo finish behind Heisajoy and Jazzing Hi in the Breeders Championship Classic. Six horses have already qualified--defending champion See Me Do It, Breeders Champion Classic winner Heisajoy, Vessels Maturity winner Jazzing Hi, Los Alamitos Championship winner Dash For Speed, Peninsula Championship winner Barbs Bounce and El Primero Del Ano Derby winner Icy Alibi.

Bob Baffert, who trains Ourautograph, figures to saddle a potent one-two punch in the $100,000 Grade III Gold Rush Derby at 870 yards Friday. Baffert has the two fastest qualifiers in front-running Genuine Article and stretch-running Shake Six. Genuine Article won his trial division last week in 44.92 seconds.

Entering this week, Kip Didericksen leads the meeting’s jockey standings with 27 victories, followed by Eddie Garcia and John Creager with 18 each, and Bruce Pilkenton and Henry Garcia with 17 apiece. Blane Schvaneveldt is setting the pace among trainers with 22 firsts, followed by Henry Dominguez and Rodney Hart with 15 each, Frank Monteleone with 13 and Bob Baffert with 11.

The $250,000 Champion of Champions Dec. 15 and the $500,000 Golden State Futurity on Dec. 29 will be taped and telecast on Prime Network, which has 16 million subscribers. The Champion of Champions will be shown on Dec. 16, the Futurity on Dec. 30, both at 6 p.m., PST.