Jockey switch pays dividends for WinStar farm
Photo credit: Getty Images | Jockey Mike Smith (left) removes his helmet and looks to the sky after riding Drosselmeyer to win the running of the 142nd Belmont Stakes. (June 5, 2010)
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2010 Belmont Stakes
Another round of musical jockeys worked out for WinStar farm and its second winner of three Triple Crown races this spring, Drosselmeyer.
After five straight races under Kent Desormeaux, two victories followed by a fourth, third and second, WinStar's leadership opted to replace the jock who won last year's Belmont on Summer Bird with veteran Mike Smith, who had piloted the 1993 Preakness champ and 2005 Derby winner but never had won the Belmont.
"We just felt this horse needed a little change in his routine," said WinStar racing director Elliott Walden, who said that Desormeaux assured him of a Belmont victory "with or without me."
The feeling was that Drosselmeyer needed a rider who could settle him into a rhythm, and trainer Bill Mott said, "Mike's been riding well; he's a rider on a roll, he has that rhythm. And we're run a lot of races together. It's nice to kind of join up with an old friend. We're had a lot of success; we both came to New York about the same time and kind of cut our teeth here."
As for Smith, "as soon as I got the phone call , the first thing I thought was, 'I'm going to win the Belmont."
Named after a character in the Nutcracker ballet who brought dolls to the party - Drosselmeyer's mother was Golden Ballet and his grandfather Moscow Ballet - the colt was like a gift to Smith. He was so confident in the race, he said, that "I was jumping up and down this morning like I'd already won the race."
He had familiarized himself with Drosselmeyer by studying video on the computer.
"I'm really not good with computers," he said. "I got a kid at Hollywood Park and said, 'How do you run this thing?' I watched all his races and the thing that stuck in my mind was the race at Churchill" - a six-length victory in his November maiden race.
To Smith, "it all came together. Belmont, I love this track; I rode my first race here. And he drew Post 7, I love that number."
Why? "That's the Lord's number," he said. In the Bible, seven stands for completeness. Certainly, yesterday brought a Triple Crown completion for Smith.
