Best of the Rest

When Laffit Pincay Jr. passes Bill Shoemaker as horse racing’s all-time leader in victories by a jockey, it will mark another unforgettable day in the career of the 52-year-old.

His victories have come from owners and trainers big and small, the universally famous to the virtually anonymous, on the cheapest claimers and Hall of Famers. Not long before he tied Shoemaker, Pincay was asked to recount his five favorite moments. They follow in descending order:

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1989

Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Gulfstream Park

This was the first of successive Distaffs Pincay won on Bayakoa, an Argentine-bred mare who was owned by the late Frank Whitham and wife Janice and trained by Ron McAnally.

Supplemented for $200,000 after winning five Grade I races, Bayakoa, the 7-10 favorite, won by 11/2 lengths over Gorgeous.

“Everybody definitely thought Bayakoa had to have the lead to win, but she rated [ran second for the first half-mile], then took the lead when I wanted to,” Pincay said. “She beat a great filly that day. It was satisfying because people didn’t think she could win that way.”

Besides the two Distaffs, Pincay won numerous other stakes with Bayakoa, including the Milady twice and the Vanity at Hollywood Park, the Ruffian at Belmont, the Spinster at Keeneland twice and the Santa Margarita at Santa Anita.

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1986

Breeders’ Cup Classic, Santa Anita

The first Breeders’ Cup run in Arcadia featured a Classic with 11 starters, but the race figured to be won by either Turkoman or Precisionist, the two top older horses.

However, Pincay, riding 10-1 shot Skywalker, upset both of them. A 4-year-old son of Relaunch owned and bred by Tom Tatham’s Oak Cliff Stable and trained by Michael Whittingham, Skywalker took the lead around the far turn, extended his margin to 31/2 lengths with an eighth of a mile to run and held on to win by a little more than a length over 8-5 favorite Turkoman, who was later voted the Eclipse Award as the nation’s top older male.

“That one was special because the [Tathams] were very dear friends of mine,” Pincay said. “They were good people and they were always great to me.”

It remains Pincay’s only victory in the richest Breeders’ Cup race.

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1979

Charles H. Strub Stakes, Santa Anita

Affirmed’s first win as a 4-year-old--after defeats in the Malibu and San Fernando Stakes--was exceptionally sweet for Pincay.

The race--Affirmed won by 10 lengths over Johnny’s Image and seven others--was Pincay’s first aboard the 1978 Triple Crown winner since the colt had been disqualified in the Travers about six months earlier.

“I felt vindicated,” Pincay said.

After the losses in the Malibu and San Fernando, owners Louis and Patrice Wolfson decided to replace jockey Steve Cauthen and Pincay won a coin flip over Angel Cordero Jr. Trained by the late Lazaro Barrera, Affirmed didn’t lose again in 1979, winning six times after the Strub.

“Affirmed was the best horse I ever rode,” Pincay said. “He was a dream to ride. He had speed, but he could do whatever you wanted with him.”

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1979

Jockey Club Gold Cup, Belmont Park

The only meeting of Affirmed and Spectacular Bid lived up to the hype. In a race that attracted only two others--Coastal and Gallant Best--Affirmed, the 3-5 favorite, beat his younger rival, who was ridden by Shoemaker and was 7-5, by three-quarters of a length in the 11/2-mile, Grade I event. It was the last start of Affirmed’s career and he was named horse of the year a second consecutive time.

“It was great because of all the publicity, two champions getting together and Shoemaker on one horse and myself on the other,” Pincay said. “It meant a lot to me to win that race for all those reasons.”

Observers and some other jockeys have said that the race was among Pincay’s finest.

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1984

Kentucky Derby, CHURCHILL DOWNS

After 10 losses, including three seconds and two thirds, Pincay was beginning to wonder if he ever was going to win the world’s most famous race.

Swale, a dark bay son of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew and trained by Woody Stephens, took care of the streak.

Eighteen days after finishing a distant second as the 1-10 favorite in the Lexington Stakes on a sloppy surface at Keeneland, Swale swept to the lead around the turn at Churchill Downs and wound up beating Coax Me Chad by a little more than three lengths.

“That was my favorite race,” Pincay said. “[In the Lexington], he didn’t run a jump and my agent [Tony Matos] wanted to get off him and ride Tsunami Slew but I said no, I wanted to stick with Swale. [Althea] was on the lead. I just stayed very close to her and when I asked him, Swale just said goodbye.”