Jockey Takes Stock of His Career, Future

As a young rodeo rider growing up on a ranch in Utah, Billy Peterson found that most jockeys live in a world that revolves around horses, racing and not much more. They seldom plan for the day they won’t be able to ride.

“Time and time again, throughout history in this profession, you see great riders,” Peterson said. “Then you hunt them down today and they’re living in some shack, just getting by working in a bar or something, and you wonder what happened to them.”

In an industry where many jockeys are in the money one day and out of luck the next, Peterson has emerged as a different breed by planning for his future after racing. He has a business degree and is training to become a stockbroker. Twice a week he works at a Long Beach brokerage firm.

“I always wanted to be different,” he said. “I always wanted to be an example to somebody.”

It appears that it will be some time, though, before Peterson, 23, trades in his silks for a coat and tie. Last year, he ranked No. 1 in the nation in earnings, topping $1.6 million. Most of that was aboard Winalota Cash, the nation’s top quarter horse. This season, his first at Los Alamitos, he ranks among the top five riders, placing in the money 38% of the time.

Peterson has adjusted nicely to his new surroundings.

“I feel like this is the place for me to be,” he said. “Everything seems to be falling into place for me here.”

Peterson put himself through the University of Texas El Paso, earning his degree last December. He got some money from an academic scholarship, but when he wasn’t in class, he was putting food on the table for himself and his wife, Angie, by riding horses at New Mexico Sunland Park track near El Paso.

His daily grind wasn’t easy. Peterson began workouts each morning at 6 and made it to class by 10. At 2 p.m. he was back at the track for races. By 7 p.m. he was back in classes. At 10 p.m. he went home to study.

Things haven’t slowed much since he and his wife came west. Peterson rides each morning from 6 to 10 and turns in a full slate of races Thursdays through Sundays. On Mondays and Tuesdays he gets to the track at 6 a.m. to work out horses, then he showers and heads off to Paine Webber in Long Beach for the rest of the day.

“I’m the type of person that hates to have days off just sitting around,” he said.

Peterson’s work ethic and success rate has impressed many.

“This guy has a lot on the ball and he’ll work his tail off for you,” Paine Webber sales manager Danny Thomas said. “He’s got great potential and he has the ability to be coached. That is very, very important. You like to see that in people.”

Peterson, who has 10 victories at Los Alamitos, expects to be aboard Winalota Cash this fall for a West Coast swing. More than likely the horse will make its debut in the Los Alamitos Futurity. It’s a million-dollar race, so it seems appropriate for a guy who wants to handle someone else’s money someday to be on board.

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Handicapping the net: The American Quarter Horse Assn. went on-line with its home page last October. In January, when the last data was available, the service recorded 12,000 contacts from readers. Jan Roberts, an association spokesman, said the service is scheduled to be expanded in the next few months. The service provides headlines from The Quarter Horse Journal, as well as other information. A hot tip this month: There’s plenty of work for good ropers.

Eventually, Roberts said, plans call for horse racing results from tracks around the country to be available weekly on the net.

“We also want to link up with all the state associations, corporate sponsors, other offices and other track home pages,” she said.

Los Alamitos’ home page is supposed to feature results of each day’s races, but as yet, results haven’t been posted. Spokesman John Petti explained that the track is researching why those results aren’t getting online and hopes to have the problem corrected soon.

On the Internet, you can reach the AQHA home page at https://www.aqha.com

The address for Los Alamitos is https://www.losalamitos.com

Los Alamitos notes

The surprising win by Oklahoma-bred Streakin Victory in last Saturday’s 870-yard, $20,000 James S. Smith Memorial Handicap was the first for the 8-year-old gelding at Los Alamitos. The winner, who went off at odds of 26-1, has been a valid performer on the New Mexico circuit. Its big payoff over favorites Brotherly and Speedy Lunch, however, bolstered trainer Scout Willoughby, who also earned his first victory at the track. Willoughby said he’ll keep Streakin Victory in California through the remainder of the meeting. . . Secret Seraph, a horse belonging to Los Alamitos majority owner Edward C. Allred, posted the best time (17.74 seconds) among 60 2-year-old horses in trials for the May 24 Kindergarten Futurity. . .The Grade 3 $20,000 Double Bid Handicap will be run Friday. . . Red Hot Rhythm, winner of the $106,000 El Primero Del Ano Derby, is expected to take a couple of months off from racing, according to trainer Brian Korinder.

The Los Alamitos Notebook is a weekly feature of the Times, Orange County Edition. Send comments to Paul.McLeod@latimes.com