Stevens Returns After Having Security Concerns

Gary Stevens took off his last mount Thursday because of post-race security concerns at Santa Anita.

Stevens, a Hall of Fame jockey who portrayed George Woolf in the Oscar-nominated “Seabiscuit,” resumed riding Friday after having been assured by track officials that security would be improved.

After races at Santa Anita, riders must take a long walk -- part of it through the crowd -- to reach the jockeys’ room.

Stevens said there were two incidents after he’d finished fourth aboard Throw Me A Curve in Thursday’s sixth race.

He said one fan, standing on the other side of the winner’s circle, cursed him as he left the track. Another, Stevens said, followed him to the jockeys’ room.

“He was a clean-cut guy, but you never know,” Stevens said. “In a split second, anything could happen. This was the same guy who came up to me the day before and asked me to take a written message to [jockey Julie Krone], which I did. After a race on Wednesday, I was surrounded by 15 to 20 people who wanted autographs. I needed the help of my agent [Craig O’Bryan] to get through. You want to cooperate with fans, but you also have to get on with the business of riding the next race.”

Stevens said that since last fall, during the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita, he had been provided with a personal security guard after races.

He added, “I think what happened this week is that there have been cutbacks at the track, and on slow days there aren’t as many security people as they usually have. There’s a similar situation at Saratoga, where you have to walk through the crowd, but back there they supply a security guard for every jockey in the race.”

Santa Anita stewards referred Stevens’ complaint to track security officials, who couldn’t be reached for comment.

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-- Bill Christine