THOROUGHBRED RACING : For Olivares, It’s a Fitting Farewell

It makes perfect sense that Frank Olivares should try to end his career Johnny Longden-style on a horse trained by Jerry Fanning. Without Longden and Fanning, there wouldn’t have been as much of a career to celebrate.

Olivares, 41, will say farewell to 22 years in the saddle when he rides Marty and Eileen Alpert’s Pleasant Variety for Fanning in the $250,000 Bay Meadows Handicap in San Francisco on Saturday. A victory by Olivares in the 1 1/8-mile turf race would be reminiscent of Longden’s last ride, when the Hall of Famer won the San Juan Capistrano Handicap in 1966 at 59.

Not long after that, Longden turned to training and a 17-year-old Olivares showed up at his stable door, asking for a job. Longden put him to work cleaning stalls, but soon Olivares was exercising horses and learning jockey skills from his legendary mentor.

Olivares won his first race at Bay Meadows on Nov. 7, 1968. He will retire with 1,775 victories--1,776 if Pleasant Variety comes through--and total purses of $30.7 million. The Olivares trophy case includes cups and plates from such major events as the Santa Margarita Handicap, Ramona Handicap, Sunset Handicap, Del Mar Handicap and two runnings of the Del Mar Futurity. He also won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1977.

Olivares had enjoyed many of his biggest moments aboard horses trained by Fanning. Their connection began in the late 1960s and was still going strong as recently as 1989, when the jockey rode Present Value to stakes wins in Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois.

In 1983, Olivares and Fanning won the Florida Derby with Croeso, a $172 upset. In 1982 they came within a neck of beating Roving Boy in the Hollywood Futurity with Desert Wine. Other collaborations included such stakes-class runners as Top Crowd, Gonquin, Murrtheblurr, Imacornishprince and Fortunate Betty.

For many years, Olivares was the regular on Fanning’s 2-year-olds.

“He was good with young horses because he was aggressive,” Fanning said. “He got them running right away, which is what they need.”

Once his last ride is in the books, Olivares will set up shop as a trainer. History says that jockeys usually have a hard time making the transition, but Fanning thinks Olivares will buck the trend.

“If he gets the horses and the clients, I think he’ll make it,” Fanning said. “Heck, he’s been around here for 20 years. He ought to know a lot of people by now. There’s guys training here who’ve only been around for six months.”

Fanning also pointed out that today’s jockeys--Olivares included--are a more disciplined group compared to their counterparts in the 1950s and ‘60s. As a result, they are more likely to adapt to the long hours and constant pressures of training.

“Jockeys used to all be partyers and drinkers,” Fanning said. “They’d never come out in the morning but maybe once a week to work a stakes horse. They’d ride for six or seven years, outgrow the weight and disappear.

“Now there’s a different breed of jockeys. These days, they have to be dedicated athletes just to make it. When I get to the barn at 5:30 there’s always two or three waiting to get on horses.”

And what will be the greatest shock for Olivares when he starts his new career?

“Overhead,” Fanning quickly replied. “The only expenses a jock has is his agent, his boots and a couple of saddles. A trainer has costs that never stop--including workers’ compensation at 31 cents on the dollar. If you don’t win races, you don’t make any money. It’s as simple as that.”

Steve Wood, the new track superintendent at Santa Anita, said he almost turned down the job because he can’t stand the sight of horses breaking down.

“I’m a horseman,” Wood said while overseeing track renovations earlier this week. “I’ve raised horses and been around them all my life. It tears me up to see them get hurt.”

That being the case, Wood was justified in cringing at the thought of taking responsibility for the Santa Anita dirt track. Although the reasons for thoroughbred injuries are myriad, many trainers tend to focus on the surface itself as the primary scapegoat. Santa Anita’s track was vilified during the Oak Tree meeting last fall when there were an unusual number of breakdowns.

Management’s move to hire Wood has been greeted favorably by the vast majority of trainers. They know his work from Fairplex Park, which is widely regarded as the safest racing surface in Southern California. Wood also was hired by Del Mar last summer and received good reviews for his first season there.

Wood’s first move at Santa Anita was to loosen the base of the track and plow in 419 yards of finely ground pine bark. He will be adjusting the balance of sand, bark and clay soil to create a surface that is more binding and therefore easier to grip by the hoofs of a thoroughbred running full tilt.

“There’s a dark side to this kind of track, though,” Wood noted. “When you do get rain, it’s going to take longer to dry out. But why create a track just for a few days of rain and have problems the rest of the meeting?

“I can’t promise that horses will stop breaking down,” Wood added. “But I am telling trainers that they will leave here at the end of the meet with a lot more sound horses than they thought they would.”