McCarron gratified by success of jockey school grads

Retired Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron visited the Del Mar stable area

Sunday to renew old acquaintances before his presentation at the 12th annual

Track Superintendents and Arena Managers meeting.

McCarron, Del Mar's all-time leader for stakes wins with 139, retired in 2002

and, three years later, founded the North American Racing Academy, a school for

jockeys based upon similar academies in other countries. It is based in

Lexington, Kentucky.

"We've got 21 graduates who are riding races now and collectively as a group

they're closing in on 2,100 victories," McCarron said. "They hit the 2,000 mark

about a month ago and we got six more (Saturday).

"We've had the good fortune of having trainers like Todd Pletcher, Allen

Jerkens, Christophe Clement, Bill Mott, Michael Matz, Shug McGaughey and others

take on interns from our program."

The academy, which is affiliated with the Kentucky Community and Technical

College System and offers classes beyond riding and racetrack skills, begins its

seventh year of operation Wednesday.

McCarron ended his career with 7,141 wins, two each in the Kentucky Derby,

Preakness and Belmont Stakes and eight Breeders' Cup victories, five of them

coming in the Breeders' Cup Classic. His lone Pacific Classic victory came

aboard Free House in 1998.

His post-riding accomplishments with the riding school are similarly

impressive.

"It's immensely gratifying," McCarron said. "As gratifying as anything I've

done. To be able to take it from concept to putting my thoughts down on paper

and then negotiating with the college system to provide resources and make it

happen has been a tremendous source of pride."

Del Mar is hosting the Track Superintendents and Arena Managers' Field Day

Sunday through Tuesday. The event, which will be held at the Surfside Race Place

and Del Mar Arena adjacent to the racetrack, is expected to draw in the

neighborhood of 120 industry professionals for a series of discussions,

workshops and presentations.

It will kick off with a reception on Sunday evening, then go into full gear

with two days of gatherings that will include jockeys' panels, trainers' panels

and video and power point offerings on a wide range of topics.

"This is annually one of the most informative and collegial gatherings

anywhere in the horse industry," said Mike Ziegler, executive director of the

NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance. "Professionals from all over the globe will

convene to share technologies, research and best practices with the sole

objective of promoting the safest possible racing environment."

Among the speakers is Del Mar's landscape and turf superintendent, Leif

Dickinson, who'll give a presentation on the track's planned new turf course, as

well as the challenges of dealing with the weather, soil and regulatory issues

involved with the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

The event moves around North America for its annual presentation and was held

at Woodbine near Toronto, Ontario in Canada last year. Del Mar previously hosted

it in 2006.

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