Equine VIP met Gary Stevens at the famous Santa Anita Racetrack – a second home for the famed Thoroughbred horse racing jockey, actor, television personality and sports anchor. Mr. Stevens works for both HRTV and NBC Sports as a horse racing analyst. Steven’s knows firsthand about racing having been in the winner’s circle at the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes many times. He wrote a book about his life called “The Perfect Ride” and played jockey George Woolf in the film Seabiscuit. Most recently he was a cast member on the HBO television series Luck.
YOUR FATHER WAS A HORSE TRAINER, YOUR MOTHER WAS A RODEO QUEEN, YOUR BROTHER WAS A JOCKEY – SO I GUESS YOU WEREN’T GOING TO WORK AS AN ACCOUNTANT?
(Stevens laughs) No I was not! I’m frequently asked “Where did it come from”? My Dad was involved with horses early in his life and is a great horseman, but I really have to credit my Mother. He learned his horsemanship from her. She was a big influence on our family.
YOU TORE UP THE TRACK IN IDAHO (WHERE YOU GREW UP) RIDING QUARTER HORSES. WHAT WAS IT LIKE CHANGING OVER TO RIDING THOROUGHBRED HORSES?
It was the easiest transition I ever made. Smartest too! I didn’t even know what the Kentucky Derby was! When I rode my first Thoroughbred, I came back in the jockey’s room and told my big brother “Man this is easy money!” These horses aren’t crazy and I have a lot more time to make decisions – rather than going 350 yards, I’ve got a 1 mile 16th to decide what I’m going to do!
YOU WERE WELL KNOWN AS A WEST COAST JOCKEY, YET SOME OF YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS WERE ON THE EAST COAST ( KENTUCKY DERBY, PREAKNESS, BELMONT) AFTER THOSE ACHIEVEMENTS – WHAT GOALS DID YOU SET FOR YOURSELF?
I was always searching for the next win. It wasn’t only about the Triple Crown competition, but also the Breeders Cup competition. The beginning of the year and the Fall of the year you start looking for horses for the Breeders Cup, then in Spring you start looking for your Triple Crown horses. In my 20 year career of riding race horses, it was always about searching for the next horse and focusing on the competition.
I GUESS YOU HAVE A GOOD EYE!
I had great agents and good support from my family.
DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL MEMORIES OF THOSE YEARS AS A FAMOUS JOCKEY?
The first time I walked in the jockey’s room at Santa Anita – there was Bill Shoemaker, Laffit Pincay, Eddie Delahoussaye. They were all Hall of Famers and I was just 17 years old. I just wanted to be like them and compete in classic races. I was lucky and very fortunate that I had a great career. I was able to compete in multiple classic races. When you win one, the hunger for the next one becomes even greater.
YOU ARE KNOWN FOR HAVING “THE ZONE” – OR A COMPETITIVE EDGE. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
For me it is about preparation and knowing my competition. It was a gamesmanship against my competitors – not equine – but the other jockeys and riders. I would stare down my competitors to let them know I was taking no prisoners!
LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR ACTING CAREER. YOU PORTRAYED GEORGE WOOLF IN SEABISCUIT AND SOME CRITICS SAID YOU STOLE EVERY SCENE YOU WERE IN.
I had 2 acting sessions from the great acting coach, Larry Moss. The Director of Seabiscuit, Gary Ross, requested I visit Larry and after a couple of good days working together, I had a lot of confidence. Larry worked with Tobey Maguire and me quite a bit when we had a lot of dialogue. I was so fortunate to work with many talented people in the movie and crew. Just like my riding – when I was riding I didn’t want to let my connections down. I did my homework and I felt like I came prepared.
YOU WERE RECENTLY INVOLVED IN HBO’S TELEVISION SHOW LUCK. THE SHOW WAS ABOUT RACING AND STARRED DUSTIN HOFFMAN. WAS DUSTIN INTERESTED IN RACING?
Dustin’s Grandfather used to bring him to Santa Anita Race track when he was a little boy. Dustin’s wife was also brought to Santa Anita. He’s a great family man and human being and once we started filming he really became quite passionate about the sport. Meeting him was a great experience for me. The show had an unbelievable cast. Unfortunately it was too shortly lived.
YOU’VE DONE SOME RACE HORSE TRAINING, BUT I UNDERSTAND YOU ARE TAKING A BREAK?
Yes. Being the son of a horse trainer and having trained for 1 ½ years, I miss training, but I had to narrow some things down. There’s only so much time to be as good as you can be. My passion right now is being a color commentator for NBC and HRTV. It’s really fun and keeps me involved at the highest level of the sport and biggest events.
I have to say though, there is nothing like being in the heat of battle! There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about big race days and competing.
