Signature Ride Caps Special Day for Pincay

A small boy stood next to Laffit Pincay, sticking out an 8-by-10 color photo of the jockey just after he had won Sunday’s $100,000 Vernon O. Underwood Stakes.

The kid asked for Pincay’s autograph. The glossy already had Pincay’s signature on it, but the boy knew better; the autographs on the 5,000 or so pictures distributed by Hollywood Park on Laffit Pincay Day might have looked authentic, but they were stamped on.

Pincay signed for real under his printed signature. Now the boy had his authentic autograph, and Pincay, with Men’s Exclusive, had his 9,029th victory, which came on the one-year anniversary of No. 8,834, the one with Irish Nip that broke Bill Shoemaker’s record.

Pincay will turn 54 on Dec. 29 and Men’s Exclusive will become an 8-year-old on Jan. 1, the official birthday for all thoroughbreds.

“I got beat by the two old men,” said Bob Hess Jr., who trains Love All The Way, the 2-1 favorite and second-place finisher. “They were awesome. My hat’s off to both of them.”

Men’s Exclusive, who won by three lengths, is the first horse older than 5 to win the Underwood, first run in 1981. Pincay’s previous victory in the stake came with Pancho Villa in 1985.

Men’s Exclusive, assigned 114 pounds, carried two pounds of Pincay overweight. Pincay, who hadn’t ridden in seven days, was actually finishing off a five-day suspension Sunday, but was able to ride in the Underwood because of California’s designated-race rule. His weight is usually 116 or 117 pounds--it has been for years--and he had been careful all last week with his already-rigid diet, mindful that the time when he might add pounds is when he’s not riding.

“I eliminated some things I might ordinarily eat, just to make sure,” Pincay said. “I stuck to chicken, turkey mainly and some fish. It’s great that I was able to win this race on this day. I thought my horse was in some tough company.”

Paying $16.40 as the fifth choice in the seven-horse field, Men’s Exclusive lurked behind Lexicon and Straight Man early, took the lead in midstretch and finished off the six furlongs in 1:09. H.E. Reed’s California-bred earned $60,000.

Trained by Wesley Ward, Men’s Exclusive has a solid record--eight wins, 11 seconds and two thirds in 28 starts--but he had won only one of his last 16 starts.

“Maybe it didn’t look like he had much of a chance,” Pincay said, “but once I go out there I’m always trying to win. You just never know about horses, they’re all liable to throw in a good race sometime.”

At the eighth pole, Men’s Exclusive moved ahead of Straight Man, but he still trailed Lexicon by 1 1/2 lengths. Lexicon finished third, beaten by four lengths.

“My horse didn’t break that sharp,” Pincay said, “but that was all right, because I wanted to place him behind horses anyway, and I think that made the difference. When I had gotten him close to the pace in other races, he hadn’t been firing. This time, I had a lot of horse left, and he finished up good.”

Men’s Exclusive’s only previous victory since October 1997 came in the Bull Dog, a $43,000 stake for California-breds, at the Fresno Fair in October.

“He’s an old horse,” Ward said, “and he might look like he’s on the downward cycle, but he’s a very lightly raced horse. Laffit rode him like the champion he is. I’ve been riding Laffit ever since I started training, and I’ve only given him instructions one time. Otherwise I just tell him ‘good luck’ and tell him how a horse is training in the morning. Laffit knows this horse very, very well, and when he decided to try a different tactic today, that made the difference.”

Pincay has no thoughts about retiring. But asked if he might shoot for 10,000 wins, he said: “I don’t think so.”

The math is not that far-fetched. He has won 180 races this year, his highest total since he won 194 in 1992. At this rate, 10,000 would be about 5 1/2 years away, which would mean he’d be riding until he was almost 60.

That’s too much for Pincay to comprehend, or even contemplate. “With the days off, I wasn’t completely fit for this race,” he said. “I better be fitter next week. I ride five on Wednesday.”

Notes

Kona Gold, the Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner, will begin his next campaign with the Palos Verdes Handicap at Santa Anita on Jan. 28. . . . With no one picking all six winners Sunday, Wednesday’s Pick Six will have a carryover of $494,491.