Wins Add Up to Great Laffit

By J.A. ADANDE

Dec. 6, 1999 12 AM PT

Along the way to becoming the winningest jockey of all time, Laffit Pincay also learned to be a good loser.

Baseball is considered tough because its best hitters fail 70% of the time. Well, two of horse racing’s all-time greats, Pincay and Bill Shoemaker, lost 80% of their races.

Even though you still make money to place or show at the track, competitive athletes need to win. You don’t see the names of the runner-ups engraved anywhere around Hollywood Park. And at first, Pincay had difficulty accepting losses.

“I was very hard on myself,” he said. “I used to get mad at myself all the time. I would go home and it was hard to relax. It was tough.

“But it’s easier now.”

More than 8,800 victories will take the sting out of losing. But in the process of getting those victories he also has tasted defeat more than 44,000 times in 35 years of racing. If he couldn’t accept that and get over it, he’d drive himself nuts. Shoemaker served as the model for much of Pincay’s career, so Pincay turned to him for another lesson.

“I used to see the way Shoemaker was,” he said. “He was very gracious the way he handled a loss.”

So Pincay decided he needed to act the same way.

“I still don’t like to lose,” he said. “But you forget right away and you go to your next race.”

Pincay is closing in on Shoemaker’s record of 8,833 victories. He picked up No. 8,831 on Sunday in the second race at Hollywood Park.

The excitement is starting to build. The crowd comes to life whenever his horse is in the hunt coming down the stretch. The fans let out a roar when he won the Hollywood Turf Cup on Saturday in his only victory of the day.

All of the trimmings are in place for the party that’s set to happen.

There’s a fireworks sign on the infield that reads “CONGRATULATIONS 8834 WINS LAFFIT PINCAY JR” just waiting to be set off after he crosses the line on his record-breaking ride.

Near the winner’s circle is a board that reads “COUNTDOWN TO HISTORY.” It has Shoemaker’s record, with Pincay’s tally beneath it. Pincay gets to do the honors and hang the updated count himself following each victory. Meanwhile, a couple of maintenance workers run across the track to change the number on a big yellow sign above the main tote board.

Eight thousand, eight hundred thirty-one, and holding. What a number. These aren’t points or yards or hits. These are victories.

When you win that much, it almost becomes an addiction.

“You get used to the feeling of winning,” Pincay said. “It’s a hell of a feeling. It’s great.

“I feel great every time I win a race. You just feel good.”

He said he doesn’t try to comprehend the sheer volume of the numbers. The 52-year-old jockey is more amazed by the passage of time.

“The years go by so fast,” he said. “The other day I was looking at some of my past performances in different years. I was surprised. There was one year I had 420 wins [in 1979]. I forget I had such a good year. I don’t think about how many races I’ve won.”

He can’t help but be aware of the numbers now, however. And he has a sense of timing. The family was on hand Sunday, including his mother and oldest son, Laffit III, who flew in from New York in the morning.

“I wanted to do it today,” Pincay said. “I was trying really hard.”

Even though he rode a favorite and three second choices, Sunday wasn’t the day. The fireworks sign came down, and everything will have to wait until racing resumes Wednesday.

That was fine with Pincay’s 6-year-old son, Jean-Laffit; he sees it as a good excuse to skip school. He also predicted that the record will fall.

Little Jean knows the importance of what’s about to transpire, even if he can’t quite get a handle on the specifics.

“Do you know how to count to 8,833?” Jean-Laffit was asked.

“No,” he replied.

Do you know how many that is?

“Yes,” he said. “A very high number.”

J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com

COUNTDOWN TO 8,833 / RIDING TO THE RECORD

Charting Laffit Pincay Jr. as he closes in on Bill Shoemaker’s record for victories by a jockey:

Sunday at Hollywood Park

Mounts: 7

Victories: 1