Gomez in top form on eve of 41st birthday

Anyone who doesn't believe Garrett Gomez has been to hell and back should

read his book, "The Garrett Gomez Story: A Jockey's Journey Through Addiction &

Salvation," in which the Tucson native describes his lengthy battles with

alcohol and drug addiction, and his ultimate recovery.

Today, Gomez is at the top of his profession, a world-class jockey who

celebrates his 41st birthday on New Year's Day. He is coming off a quietly

sensational Hollywood Park meet, where he finished in a tie for fourth

with 20 victories from just 67 mounts, but sported a sparkling 30 percent

winning average.

He is riding like Eddie Delahoussaye reincarnate, since many of his victories

have come from well off the pace, a la Eddie D. in his heyday. It is not

necessarily by design.

"I just try to read my horses," Gomez said. "I try and let them be as

comfortable as they can and make them happy. I'm one of those guys who feels I

can get one to finish as fast as most of them start. As long as they're happy

and traveling well at the beginning of a race, you'll have a happy horse at the

end of a race. I'm a big believer in getting a horse to be happy. If you've got

a happy horse, it will be willing to perform for you."

Sometimes it's not as easy as all that.

"If you have a horse that wants to do a lot early, and you can't get it to

relax, more than likely it's not going to really finish all that well," Gomez

said. "But if the horse leaves there (starting gate) real quiet and relaxes and

the pace is soft enough, you can always move a horse forward throughout a race.

If the pace is slow, you can put it in a little better spot. I don't know if my

winning from behind has anything to do with the track or anything like that. I

think I've been on the right horses lately."