Posted on 4/25/2008 6:59:07 PM

Online Horse Racing Wagering – Inside an Agents Head

By Brian Mulligan

Casual horse bettors know about workouts, track records, past performances and hot trainers, but what most don’t really know is who stirs the drink as far as which horses a rider will ride.

Enter the jockey agent. He’s part baby sitter, part shrink, part teacher, part politician and all dedicated to getting his rider the best mounts.

Because he’s unlike his counterparts in baseball or football, he doesn’t get paid by having his client sign a big contract, he gets paid by putting his rider on winning horses.

Arguably the best in the business is Ron Anderson, who has handled Hall of Famers Jerry Bailey and Gary Stevens and now works for Garrett Gomez and Johnny Velazquez.

Like E F Hutton, when Anderson speaks, people and horse bettors should listen and they should really listen to the reasons he has Gomez sticking with Bill Mott’s trainee Court Vision for the Kentucky Derby.

Vision has never been worse than third, he tries every time, has a decent turn of late foot and he’s picked up ground in the lane in every single race, a trait that not many horses can’t duplicate.

Horses, good and bad, tell the trainer when they are feeling good by how they act and Court Vision has been speaking loud and clear of late.

He had always been a slow worker but Mott recently put blinkers on him for a recent work, and voila.

Court Vision went a half in :46 1/5 breezing, galloping out five-eighths in about 1:00 3/5 under exercise rider Neil Poznanski. The work was the fastest of 25 at the distance and a full second faster than the second fastest work.

When a horse with a tad of talent shows an affinity for a certain surface, especially at Churchill Downs, where he has already won a Grade II stakes, it’s enough to peak interest.

The way he accomplished the work, by blowing away another worker when asked, was visually impressive and one of the reason’s Anderson is tied to the horse as is his rider even though he has options including to stick with Santa Anita Derby winner Colonel John.

Anderson in a recent trade publication on why he’s sticking with Court Vision, Anderson: “With Colonel John, you’re dealing with a horse coming off synthetic surfaces and who had won the Sham Stakes by a half-length. With Court Vision, you’re dealing with Billy Mott and going to Aqueduct where he had already won a stakes, and then going to Churchill Downs where he had already won a stakes. How could I take off him? And when you’re going a mile and a quarter for the first time, you can’t count speed figures.”

What he means is as the distances increase, figures can become muddled.

Anderson: “I didn’t see the fast work, but the clockers said they were really impressed with him. It’s pretty exciting, because Billy normally never works horses that fast, and nobody that works for him works that fast. My whole mindset was that he would handle Churchill Downs and he obviously does that, so I’ve been pretty pumped since I heard about it.”

The Triple Crown picture is always tough to see, but this year with the impact of the synthetic, even more so.

That is why astute horse bettors have to pay attention to guys at the top of their field like Anderson, and give runners like Court Vision, who have shown a home court edge for Churchill, an extra look at post time.

Keep checking the Locker Room all through the Triple Crown season, as we will cover the trainers, horses and jockeys in each race. You can get your early Kentucky Derby Odds at Churchill Downs bets in now in the BetUS sportsbook in the Future / props section, under Horse Futures: 2008 Kentucky Derby Betting.