Ramon A. Dominguez

[richard burch]

Congratulations!

Ramon A. Dominguez (born November 24, 1976 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Champion jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.

Dominguez began riding horses at age 16 in his nativeVenezuela in show jumping then turned to riding thoroughbreds in flat racing events. He emigrated to the United States where he began riding at Florida's Hialeah Park Race Track in 1996.

In 2001 he got his big break by becoming the winningest jockey in the U.S. and repeated it in 2003 and won the 2004 Isaac Murphy Award for having the highest winning percentage. In the 2006 Kentucky Derby, Dominguez rode Bluegrass Cat to a second place finish behind Barbaro.In the 2009 Breeders Cup Classic, he rode Gio Ponti to a second place finish behind Zenyatta. In March 2006 and again in January 2007, he rode five winners from eight mounts at Aqueduct Racetrack. On February 17, 2010, Ramon Dominguez won the first five races in a row at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Ramon Dominguez earned his 4,000th career win on March 19, 2010 at New York's Aqueduct Racetrack.On January 17, 2011 Ramon won the Eclipse Award for 2010 Outstanding Jockey.

[AeWingnut]

yeah

[richard burch]

for the most still and stoic jock riding today and a very deliberate long, slow whip technique.

[Princess Doreen]

Good call.

[VOL JACK]

Originally Posted by richard burch

for the most still and stoic jock riding today and a very deliberate long, slow whip technique.

Must have a great rotator cuff.

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by richard burch

for the most still and stoic jock riding today and a very deliberate long, slow whip technique.

My rear-end cringes when he winds-up that windmill whip of his. Best jock in the game.

[eajinabi]

I really thought Gomez should have gotten the award. He didnt win any NYRA jockey titles this year but he did win some big races in 2010.

[pgiaco]

Well deserved..great rider and a gentleman...a terrific ambassador for the game.

[LARHAGE]

I thin Dominguez is a good rider, but seriously he was less deserving of both Gomez and Velazquez in my opinion, his main strength was the earnings title, but he needed 300 more mounts than Velazquez to do it and 700 more mounts than Gomez, he had 5 Grade 1 wins to JV's 13 and Gomez's 10. I know JV rides Pletchers so naturally he's going to have more Grade 1 opportunities on live horses, but taking JV out of the picture than Gomez won The Dubai Sheema, The Foster, The Whitney, The United Nations and 3 Breeders Cup races including the Classic, JV won 2 and Ramon 0, riding titles are all fine and dandy, but seriously, is winning riding titles when you are riding the favorite 98% of the time really that difficult? I would wager that there is not a jockey in North America who would have rather had the year Ramon did than Gomez or Velazquez. JMO

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by LARHAGE

I thin Dominguez is a good rider, but seriously he was less deserving of both Gomez and Velazquez in my opinion, his main strength was the earnings title, but he needed 300 more mounts than Velazquez to do it and 700 more mounts than Gomez, he had 5 Grade 1 wins to JV's 13 and Gomez's 10. I know JV rides Pletchers so naturally he's going to have more Grade 1 opportunities on live horses, but taking JV out of the picture than Gomez won The Dubai Sheema, The Foster, The Whitney, The United Nations and 3 Breeders Cup races including the Classic, JV won 2 and Ramon 0, riding titles are all fine and dandy, but seriously, is winning riding titles when you are riding the favorite 98% of the time really that difficult? I would wager that there is not a jockey in North America who would have rather had the year Ramon did than Gomez or Velazquez. JMO

You know, not every meet is like the inner at the Big A. He did/does pretty well against some deep colonies at Belmont and at Saratoga. The big horses and races will eventually come for him, it's just a matter of time.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by LARHAGE

I thin Dominguez is a good rider, but seriously he was less deserving of both Gomez and Velazquez in my opinion, his main strength was the earnings title, but he needed 300 more mounts than Velazquez to do it and 700 more mounts than Gomez, he had 5 Grade 1 wins to JV's 13 and Gomez's 10. I know JV rides Pletchers so naturally he's going to have more Grade 1 opportunities on live horses, but taking JV out of the picture than Gomez won The Dubai Sheema, The Foster, The Whitney, The United Nations and 3 Breeders Cup races including the Classic, JV won 2 and Ramon 0, riding titles are all fine and dandy, but seriously, is winning riding titles when you are riding the favorite 98% of the time really that difficult? I would wager that there is not a jockey in North America who would have rather had the year Ramon did than Gomez or Velazquez. JMO

First of all, Dominguez does not ride the favorite 98% of the time, I believe you know that already though.

More importantly, Dominguez's performance at Belmont and Saratoga solidified his credentials. Between his number of winners and earnings, he had a very strong case to win the award.

Gomez is a great rider but he did nothing special at Monmouth and was an also-ran at Saratoga. Velazquez's success goes as Pletcher's does. No one gets legged up on more live horses than John Velazquez and aside from a four week stretch at Saratoga, it was a typical year for him.

Dominguez deserved the award and simply saying that he shouldn't win because he didn't ride a BC winner is short-sighted. If Dominguez is ever able to develop a relationship with a trainer like JV has with Pletcher (a relationship JV had when Dominguez was still in Maryland) then you can bet his success will be tremendous.

[LARHAGE]

I am not disparaging Ramon, but how can you say he is not on the favorite the VAST majority of the time? It has to be more than 90% of the time, especially at this time of year, and how can you possibly say Gomez was an also ran at Saratoga, as if he had remotely comparable mounts, please, whatever, Dominguez has his strengths and Gomez has his, primarily winning the big races.

[richard burch]

ramon deserves it because one time i saw him ride a full day of grade 1's at the santa anita breeders cup in california and then made it back for a claiming race at aqueduct the next day at 12:30 pm EST.

...or something like , ride horses- cab to LAX, - plane flight to JFK,
-sleep, -eat and get to the track in the AM while losing 3 hours of time travel.

thats commitment.

[eajinabi]

Why doesnt Ramon step out of NYRA sometimes and ride regularly at Gulfstream, Keeneland, Churchill like Johnny V, Castellano, Gogo, Leparaoux, Desormaeux. He is beating up on jocks like David Cohen, Eddie Castro, and Channing Hill at Aqu right now.

[pgiaco]

Originally Posted by eajinabi

Why doesnt Ramon step out of NYRA sometimes and ride regularly at Gulfstream, Keeneland, Churchill like Johnny V, Castellano, Gogo, Leparaoux, Desormaeux. He is beating up on jocks like David Cohen, Eddie Castro, and Channing Hill at Aqu right now.

He rides against those guys all year but for the winter. Ramon stayed in the Mid-Atlantic for a long time so he didn't have to move his family. I would guess that's why he's not too anxious to move South for the Winter.

[stonegossard]

Originally Posted by LARHAGE

I am not disparaging Ramon, but how can you say he is not on the favorite the VAST majority of the time? It has to be more than 90% of the time, especially at this time of year, and how can you possibly say Gomez was an also ran at Saratoga, as if he had remotely comparable mounts, please, whatever, Dominguez has his strengths and Gomez has his, primarily winning the big races.

Gomez wasn't an also ran at Saratoga.











He was an also ran at Monmouth. On pure ability you can't even compare the two. Dominguez is far better than Gomez. Both guys get the best mounts, the diffference is Ramon wins on them....Gomez....not so much.

[CSC]

Originally Posted by stonegossard

Gomez wasn't an also ran at Saratoga.











He was an also ran at Monmouth. On pure ability you can't even compare the two. Dominguez is far better than Gomez. Both guys get the best mounts, the diffference is Ramon wins on them....Gomez....not so much.

Agreed, both guys are great riders, watching them both ride for any extended time, it is easy to conclude Ramon is and has been the better rider for the last few years. He is one of only a handful of riders that can make a difference in a race and the fact he is named on a horse, his reputation alone makes him underlaid and often the favorite by default.

[gaut10]

Originally Posted by stonegossard

Gomez wasn't an also ran at Saratoga.



He was an also ran at Monmouth. On pure ability you can't even compare the two. Dominguez is far better than Gomez. Both guys get the best mounts, the diffference is Ramon wins on them....Gomez....not so much.

also ran is a bit of a stretch. not saying one guy is better than the other but...

18% winners at monmouth, nearly 50% in the money. it took the next closest guy with comparable starts 200 more mounts to beat his earnings.

http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbT...&CY=USA&STAT=J

[LARHAGE]

Originally Posted by stonegossard

Gomez wasn't an also ran at Saratoga.











He was an also ran at Monmouth. On pure ability you can't even compare the two. Dominguez is far better than Gomez. Both guys get the best mounts, the diffference is Ramon wins on them....Gomez....not so much.

Lets not even compare each riders big wins last year, don't embarass yourself. I'll give you Ramon rides many more winners, but also many more horses, like 700 a year more, yet barely beats him in earnings, you know why? One wins the big races, one not so much.

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by LARHAGE

Lets not even compare each riders big wins last year, don't embarass yourself. I'll give you Ramon rides many more winners, but also many more horses, like 700 a year more, yet barely beats him in earnings, you know why? One wins the big races, one not so much.

It's also because they are at different points in their career. Gomez is at the point where he can choose not to ride certain races. Dominguez isn't there yet, but he's pretty close.

I think Gomez is a very good rider and his performance during Breeders Cup weekend was great, since he was riding with basically one arm. But Dominguez had a better year.