For Davenport, a First Becomes a Last

Sixty-to-one odds you didn’t notice the only female jockey during Wednesday’s season opener at Del Mar.

She was aboard the 60-1 longshot in the fourth race.

And although Christine Davenport has built her still-budding career on cashing in longshots, she didn’t with French Silk Toy. Despite Davenport’s best efforts, French Silk Toy, which had not raced in a year, looked more like a French silkworm and crept across last.

Although the finish was a big disappointment, Davenport nonetheless looked at the mount as a big accomplishment.

“July 24, 1991, the day of my first opening-day mount,” she said, reminiscing less than an hour after the experience. “I’ve never had an opening-day mount, and it was a pickup mount at that, so I carried full weight, instead of apprentice weight.”

French Silk Toy carried 120 pounds, including jockey, but would have been saddled with 115 pounds if Davenport’s apprenticeship been accounted for.

It also carried some significance that Davenport’s first opening-day mount came at Del Mar, a 45-minute drive from Caliente in Tijuana, where she began riding.

“I love it here,” Davenport said. “It’s a lot more fun (than Los Angeles-area tracks). It’s like a vacation here. The people tend to be in better moods at Del Mar.”

Davenport, a third-year apprentice, would like to lose that status by the end of the Del Mar meet. She’s nine victories from doing so. And 43 days of racing should provide ample opportunity.

Except when it is considered that Davenport, 25, isn’t among the top choices when trainers are looking for riders. Southern California’s jockey colony is not only the strongest in the country, but is being touted as possibly the most competitive of all time.

It’s not that women like Davenport don’t get to race with the guys; it’s that young jockeys like Davenport don’t get to race with the guys.

“It’s tough for everyone,” Davenport said when asked if she faces a bias. “Especially in the six- (or) seven-horse fields. But I won races at Hollywood Park and some of the guys didn’t. When I do ride, I get the most out of the horse.”

And bettors, more than the odds might suggest, get the most out of their $2.

After recovering from a broken pelvis and returning to the circuit in April, Davenport had 51 mounts at Hollywood Park and finished in the money eight times with three victories and five third-place finishes.

Her victories paid between $20 and $50. Her show finishes paid no less than $10.

Davenport realizes she has no special talent when it comes to bringing in longshots. It’s just that she’s assigned to them so often.

“All the horses I ride,” she said, “are longshots.”

Which isn’t a problem--until trainers start pulling Davenport off their horses that, with her help, drop their longshot billing.

Once Davenport wins a mount, the horse moves up in weight class, and Davenport is allowed to race it once again. Although she has finished third in such races a couple times, she is never given the chance to remount that horse for another race.

“They put another rider on him and, since he moves back down (in weight), he wins again,” Davenport said.

Davenport will get a chance to stay with two of the horses she won with at Hollywood, Gabbing Gloria and London Spouce, later in the Del Mar season.

Despite her seemingly endless apprenticeship, Davenport, who will be moonlighting at Los Alamitos this summer, does not regret her decision to carve a niche in such a competitive jockey colony.

“I’ve been riding at a much higher level here,” she said. “There’s more money here, tougher riders, and I think I’ve done really well. I’m improving every year. If I’m going to learn, I might as well learn from the best.”