Insights

During a career that spans more than 35 years, Laffit Pincay Jr. has ridden for countless trainers and against countless jockeys. Times staff writer Bob Mieszerski talked to some of those in horse racing’s inner circle about Pincay as the jockey approached his latest milestone:

Trainers

WAYNE LUKAS: “I admire his consistency. Even with the adversity he has had in his personal life and his struggles with his weight, he continues to ride every kind of horse all the time. He doesn’t show up just for the 100 granders or the other big races. He’s there for the third on Wednesday or whenever it happens to be. He absolutely comes to play every day and that’s why he has gotten this record.

“He rode a lot of great horses for me--Capote, Althea, Terlingua and Landaluce and that’s just a few of them. I think the one that sticks out in my mind is the day Landaluce won the Hollywood Lassie [now the Landaluce] by 21 lengths. I don’t think he expected anything like that.”

RICHARD MANDELLA: “Laffit has always been one of my favorite people. Young people should use him as an example of how to act, both personally and professionally. He’s the most dedicated person to one thing that I have ever seen. He eats, drinks and sleeps race riding.

“He’s won races for me every year for 25 years and there’s been a lot of big wins. . . . To name any races that he has won for me that stick out in my mind is an unending question.”

BOBBY FRANKEL: “Laffit’s mind is what has made him so great. He’s so intense, concentrating only on what he’s doing. The only thought on his mind is race riding. His dedication is the main thing.

“He is as good as there ever was. He rode a couple hundred winners or so for me in the past. I can’t say enough good things about him. He never let his body get out of shape. He always took care of himself because he knew riding was his life and he did a great job. There are some very good riders who blew it. He never did. He wanted to ride every day.”

BILL SPAWR: “His dedication and discipline are the things that stick out to me. . . .

“He just loves to ride. There have been times when other jockeys haven’t wanted to ride because of the rain or the track condition, but Laffit always said he would ride.

“I remember when he rode Exchange [a multiple stakes winner Spawr had claimed] in the [1993] Santa Barbara [Handicap at Santa Anita]. She hooked up with Trishyde and they went head and head for the last half mile. Laffit was on the inside, but the way he knew her, I knew he would know what to do and he did. Exchange got her head down right on the wire.”

MIKE MITCHELL: “Doc Kerlan [the late Dr. Robert Kerlan] told me many years ago that he’s never seen an athlete in as good a shape as Laffit and he was around the Rams, the Lakers and a lot of other ballplayers.

“You have to give him so much credit because he has had to diet all of his life. A lot of riders just go in and put a jacket on and go out and ride. I remember him running in sweats before the races, getting in the hot box and dieting. He just has a will that other people don’t have.”

JOCKEYS

SANDY HAWLEY: “He’s an extremely tough competitor. I hated to hook him at the head of the stretch because he was so strong. He was tough to get by if he was on the lead and difficult to hold off if you were in front of him.

“I didn’t think Laffit would go this long and it is amazing that he is still going strong. A lot of jockeys take time off in the winter or at some other point in the year, but Laffit has always ridden year-round. He’s getting the horses now and showing everybody that he hasn’t lost anything.”

ANGEL CORDERO JR.: “He’s a great athlete with a lot of power. He’s got great discipline and he’s very cool and an example of what an athlete should be. He’s a very nice person who never tried to do any harm to anybody. . . .

“He was very good at improvising. Jorge Velasquez and Laffit were the two hardest riders for me to read. You knew what a lot of guys would do in certain situations, but those two played it by ear and were never predictable. . . .

“If he would have left California, he would have broken the record a long time ago. Racing has a tendency to forget about its older people and I’m proud of the way he has hung in there with the kids.”

COREY NAKATANI: “I admire his desire and determination. He’s almost 53 years old, but he looks better than half of the teenagers in the world. He’s had a problem with weight his whole career, but look at what he’s been able to do. It shows you what kind of a person he is.

“When I first started riding, I was riding in a claiming race one day and I wound up in a stretch duel with Laffit. We went head and head all the way down the stretch and he wound up beating me by a head. I didn’t like losing, but being involved in that situation with him was a thrill and I loved it. I still have a picture of that race at home.”

CHRIS McCARRON: “The No. 1 thing that has made him so great for so long is his work ethic and his dedication to the principles that he goes by. He shows up for work every day. A lot of us get the sniffles or find some other reason not to ride, but he has ridden in pain and has ridden when he’s sick. . . .

“The race that sticks out in my mind is the [1979] Jockey Club Gold with Affirmed and Spectacular Bid. Laffit gave Affirmed an awesome ride and I believe he won with the second-best horse. He rose to the occasion and he beat the master [Bill Shoemaker].”