Smith wins Bill Shoemaker Award
Powered by victories on Royal Delta in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic and Mizdirection
in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith has won the Bill
Shoemaker Award as the most outstanding jockey of the 29th Breeders' Cup World
Championships, held this past Friday and Saturday at Santa Anita
Park.
This is the first Shoemaker Award for Smith, who became the all-time winner
in Breeders' Cup victories by a jockey on Friday, when he notched his 16th win,
breaking the tie for most victories he held with the retired Hall of Fame jockey
Jerry Bailey. Smith increased his win total to 17 all time when he guided home
7-1 Mizdirection on Saturday.
The 47-year-old Smith from Roswell, New Mexico, also picked up a second-place
finish on Mucho Macho Man in the Breeders' Cup Classic and a third-place finish
on Atigun in Friday's Marathon. Smith's 28 total points bested Garrett Gomez, a
four-time Shoemaker Award winner, by two points in a 10-5-3-1 scoring system
based on first through fourth-place finishes.
"I've been trying to win this award since it was first started," Smith said
of the trophy started in 2003 and named in honor of the late Hall of Fame
jockey. "I thought I had a shot at it last year when I won on Drosselmeyer in
the Classic but Johnny (Velazquez) just beat me out. I know it's an award that
Garrett, Johnny and a lot of us really want to win.
"Bill Shoemaker was to our sport what Babe Ruth was to baseball."
Gomez made the competition extremely close with his win on Beholder in the Juvenile Fillies, two second-place finishes (Grassy -- Marathon;
Marketing Mix -- Filly & Mare Turf) and two third-place finishes (Switch --
Filly and Mare Sprint; Reneesgotzip -- Turf Sprint).
Previous Bill Shoemaker Award winners:
| 2003 | Alex Solis | |
| 2004 | John Velazquez | |
| 2005 | Garrett Gomez | |
| 2006 | Frankie Dettori | |
| 2007 | Garrett Gomez | |
| 2008 | Garrett Gomez | |
| 2009 | Julien Leparoux | |
| 2010 | Garrett Gomez | |
| 2011 | John Velazquez |
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
Authors
Categories
FEATURED PRODUCTS
Daily Selections
Full racecard analysis/expert picks for major tracks from America's top handicappers.
Buy Nowe-ponies Picks
E-Ponies computer-based figures have been around since 1997. Using an algorithm written by the business owner and handicapper, Liam Durbin, and powered by BRIS data files, E-Ponies offers a unique, fact-based, dispassionate analysis of every horse in every race, assigning scores for speed, class, form, connections, and more. Forget which jockey owes you money! What does the data say!
Buy NowBruno With the Works
Bruno De Julio & team bring 30+ yrs experience observing racehorses to Brisnet with valuable insight into their morning routines & chances for success in the afternoons.
Buy NowValue Plays AI by Predicteform
Full race card program with easy-to-use win chances and contender classifications for every runner plus analysis of the Best Bet, Live Longshot, and Wagering Suggestions for every race.
Buy NowADVERTISEMENT



