Posted on Thu, Jul. 09, 2009  Comments   (0)

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Promising young jockey Chris Landeros flourishing at Lone Star Park

GRAND PRAIRIE — Ever since the track’s first season, when Cowboy Dan won two local races on his way to Chicago to win the rich Arlington-Washington Futurity, Lone Star Park has been a proving ground. Answer Lively raced here and went on to become 1998’s juvenile champion. Arrested Dreams, Heritage of Gold, Great Hunter — as youngsters they all raced in Grand Prairie before moving on, like many others, to major accomplishments.

The emerging star has become such a Lone Star regular, the anticipation of his arrival such a constant, that every maiden race, indeed every race for 2-year-olds, has become a racetrack version of the old television show Star Search. But the most promising youngster to emerge from this Lone Star season won’t be a 2-year-old. He won’t even be a racehorse.

From here, jockey Chris Landeros appears to be the most promising youngster at Lone Star, and he’ll celebrate his 21st birthday Sunday. Landeros entered the week with 71 victories on the season, good for second in the standings, only four wins behind Lone Star’s all-time leading rider, Cliff Berry.

Landeros has won with 21 percent of his mounts. And, remarkably enough, his winners have averaged a payoff of $10.40, meaning a $2 win bet on all his mounts would have yielded a profit of $72.40.

"It’s not a fluke that he’s having a good season," said trainer Danny Pish about Landeros. "He’s not just a flash in the pan; he’ll be winning races for a long time. He has athleticism and horsemanship, and he has the vision to see what’s happening in a race."

Leading trainer Steve Asmussen described Landeros as being "mature beyond his years" and capable of seeing a race like a veteran. And although this is his first season at Lone Star, Landeros already has earned the respect of Berry, who’s going for his fifth consecutive riding title.

"He’s a very good rider," Berry said about Landeros. "He smart, and he’s strong and he’s classy."

Born in San Mateo, Calif., Landeros grew up around horses. After high school, at age 17, he took out his jockey’s license. He rode with considerable success at Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields.

But with the horse population declining, the opportunities in Northern California were limited, he said. And so when Scott Hare, a successful agent in this region, telephoned to propose a move to Texas, Landeros was receptive to the idea.

"I didn’t have any expectations," Landeros said about the move. "I was just going to go with the flow, but I got off to a good start, and things started to happen. I’ve been very lucky."

Well, maybe luck had something to do with it. Mostly, though, it has been talent. Landeros has a bucket full of the stuff, but he also has something equally rare: an awareness that talent alone won’t suffice to get him where he wants to go. And he wants to go to the top, right up there with jockeys such as Garrett Gomez, jockeys who regularly ride major stakes from one end of the country to the other.

"I have plenty to learn," Landeros said, explaining that he watches replays of races religiously, over and over, and that with each replay comes a lesson, a revelation.

"There’s always something I can learn, something I didn’t see at first," he said.

He already has learned what might be the most important of lessons: Horses win races, not jockeys.

"Horses tell me in the first 3/16 mile what they’re feeling," he said. "And I have to find a way to let them do their job."

After Lone Star, Landeros intends to go to Remington Park in Oklahoma City. And eventually, long after his 21st birthday and perhaps after a riding title or two, here or elsewhere, he’ll be the jockey whose talents emerged back there during that otherwise forgettable 2009 Lone Star season.

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