Former Jockey Cardoza Uses Horse Sense to Succeed

There are horsemen and there are jockeys. But rarely does someone succeed at both professions the way Danny Cardoza has.

The leading rider in Los Alamitos Race Course history, Cardoza, 49, earned his biggest victory as a trainer May 21, when Natovas Princess won the $390,800 Kindergarten Futurity.

It was a startling result for the 2-year-old syndicated filly, which went off at 12 to 1 odds. And it pushed Cardoza, who in 25 years has won 3,321 races overall, to fourth place in seasonal trainer earnings at the track.

“Not many jockeys are good horsemen, but Danny definitely fits the bill,” said Frank “Scoop” Vessels III, grandson of Los Alamitos founder Frank Vessels and owner of the Vessels Stallion Farm in Bonsall, where most of the 20 horses in Cardoza’s barn were bred. “I feel lucky to have him. He’s that good and he enjoys it that much. He’s become an extension of our farm.”

Cardoza grew up roping horses in Hanford in the San Joaquin Valley and went on to win nine titles and ride to victory at Los Alamitos a record 2,528 times, including 93 major stakes races. He retired in January, 1992, and became ranch manager for track owner Edward C. Allred at the Rolling A Ranch in Atascadero.

In 1994, when Cardoza was hired by Vessels to manage the stallion farm located in the rolling hills of San Luis Rey Downs in Northern San Diego County, a full-time breeding program was just getting started. Not long after he arrived, however, the farm’s trainer, Earl Holmes, died. Cardoza found himself being stretched, overseeing not only ranch operations but also the training and breeding programs.

“I needed a good guy to manage the ranch,” Vessels said. “He’d never been a breeding manager, but he sat up nights and read all about it, and used the phone to ask questions. He talked to a lot of other breeders around the country and became one hell of a breeding man in a short period of time, and this farm never missed a beat.”

Cardoza credits his upbringing for the successful career change, but agrees that most jockeys don’t become savvy enough to earn a living as horsemen.

“I was born and raised around horses,” Cardoza said by cellular phone the other day as he headed from El Paso to Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico, where one of his horses was running. “Today there aren’t many jockeys riding that can break a horse to ride them, or rope a horse. Most of them started by galloping and then riding horses in flat saddles. They’ve never gone out on a weekend to rope and just ride all night.”

Cardoza intends to send out Halftime Attraction and Chivoto Tabasco to the trials of the Governor Cup on Saturday. Like most of the horses in his charge, they’ll do workouts at the Vessels Farm at San Luis Rey Downs, then be shipped to the track to run.

“They are foiled at the ranch. We break them right there and then we send them out to win derbies and futurities,” Cardoza said. “It’s a real challenge to do it the way we do, but I’ve always loved a challenge.”

LUKAS’ LUCK

Trainer Wayne Lukas came within a half-length of winning his first major quarter horse stakes race since 1979 when the filly Short List finished behind Natovas Princess in the Kindergarten.

Short List is owned by Lukas’ wife, Laura Lukas. The second-place finish was worth $66,896.

Earlier in the day, another highly touted Wayne Lukas entry, the $1 million thoroughbred Magicalmysterycat, won by one length in her debut at Hollywood Park.

RECONDITIONED

Jesus Enriquez is another in a line of young trainers who have ventured to Los Alamitos to find their fortune.

Enriquez, 25, ranked 19th last season among trainers with 40 or more starts. His winning percentage (17.2%) was among the best at the track. Enriquez’s horses won 20 of their 116 starts.

He learned his trade from his father, Carlos Enriquez, a ranch manager in Barstow. Last fall he had a successful conditioning effort with El Fujito, had not won in eight starts. But shortly after Enriquez got the horse, it won the Sausalito and Paradise handicaps.

His most recent reclamation product is Ryans Ridge, which had three consecutive victories going into last Saturday’s Sires Cup, where it finished second, but was disqualified for interference.

FINISH LINES

Jockey Dusty Stimpson, who was aboard Natovas Princess in the Kindergarten win, is a hot stakes rider. He has tied his career-high with three major stakes titles this year, while becoming a regular rider for Spencer Childers and Danny Cardoza. “I couldn’t ask for a better start,” Stimpson, 26, said. “Everything’s just going right.” Last season, Stimpson’s mounts earned $753,934 and had three stakes wins.