Taking a Gamble

A jockey takes a gamble every time he gets up on a Thoroughbred. He acknowledges the inherent danger, realizing he may be killed or paralyzed, and he stores that information far back in his mind so he can do his job. This is the art of living dangerously, one Richard “The Mig” Migliore has mastered. The veteran jockey survived one of the most gruesome accidents in New York racing history, when he was thrown from his horse, Madam Alydar, in the first race at Belmont Park, May 30th, 1988. The Mig suffered a near-fatal neck injury. “The doctor told me I’d never walk again,” Migliore said. He was back riding that Thanksgiving. Two subsequent injuries couldn’t have had worse timing. Two days before the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Lone Star Park, Migliore suffered a wrist injury at Belmont Park. He rode Artie Schiller, the favorite in the Mile, anyway, only to have trouble finding racing room the entire way and finishing 12th in the field of 14. The next day, Migliore discovered he had ridden with a broken wrist.

The following year, again ready to ride Artie Schiller in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Belmont Park, Migliore suffered a broken leg and an injured Achilles tendon nine days before the race. Garrett Gomez replaced Migliore and won the Mile, leaving Migliore still searching for his first Breeders’ Cup victory. Rehabilitating himself again to get back to riding after the 2005 injury was a forgone conclusion in Migliore’s mind. He just never expected to suffer the consequences beyond his control. Some trainers in New York - where he has ridden for nearly a quarter of a century, earned the 1981 Eclipse Award for apprentice jockey, and won more than 4,000 races - stopped using him after the 2005 accident. This despite the fact that he is the 16th all-time leading rider in earnings and 33rd all-time in victories.

So, after conferring with his family, he rolled the dice. He moved to California. “I felt in my heart that my desire was still there,” he said. “I still had the same enthusiasm. I was having a hard time getting people to see me that way. I was getting discouraged.” His wife, Carmela, confessed to ambivalent feelings: “I felt heartbroken. And I would be lying now if I didn’t say people had turned their backs on him. I fully believed Richie had a lot of riding in him. It was emotional. Who knew if he would take off in California?”

Leaving Carmela and their four children, Joseph, Philip, Luciano and Gabrielle, was an extremely difficult decision for Migliore, a devout family man, so devout that he routinely flies back to New York from California after his final mount on Sunday afternoon. He returns to California to ride when the new week of racing begins on Wednesdays. It’s a heavy price, but it’s been more than worth it. Despite never having ridden on a regular basis in California, he was accepted by trainers almost from his first day there in November, 2006. Migliore had a phenomenal first year in California, finishing fourth in the Santa Anita 2006-2007 winter meet jockey standings and winning Grade 1 stakes with Kip Deville, Dixie Chatter and Student Council, who captured both the 2007 $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar and the $500,000 Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup.

The Pacific Classic was especially sweet to Migliore because he had his entire family with him that day. Sent off at 22-1, Student Council swept to the lead on the far turn and kept the others at bay to win by half a length. Spotting his family in the stands, Migliore gestured to them, tracing an outline of his heart and pointing to them. “It was a tremendous thrill,” Migliore said. “It was one of those rare days where everything went perfect. We had rented a house in San Diego for the summer. Carmela and the kids were there. She got a great box seat right in front of the finish line. I win the big race. Then to have Carmela and all the kids with me in the winner’s circle ... life doesn’t get better than this.”

Fast forward to last Sunday, March 2nd, 12 days before his 45th birthday. Migliore had mounts in two Grade 1 stakes at Santa Anita, longshot Mr. Napper Tandy in the Kilroe and Student Council in the Big Cap, the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap. Neither horse hit the board, though Student Council was second in mid-stretch before tiring late. That would have been a nice addition to resume. Regardless, he is still riding successfully at the highest level of racing. He knew he still could. He just had to take a gamble to prove it to everyone else. In early March, Migliore was named the winner of the prestigious 2008 Santa Anita George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. Originiated in 1950, it is named for the great rider George "The Iceman" Woolf and voted on by jockeys around the country. Migliore's successful move across country may have clinched it.