Four decades and still in the irons
Roy Brooks, 67, the oldest jockey still competing in North American horse racing, won five races Sunday, March 15 at Remington Park, tying his personal best at the Oklahoma City track, where he had twice before won five races on the same card.
“I still have the same desire to win,” Brooks told the Oklahoman. “I’m always looking forward to the first part of the season. It’s another beginning.”
Brooks currently ranks third behind G.R. Carter, Quarter racing’s all-time leading rider, and Hall of Fame jockey Larry Payne, with $243,520 earned in 11 wins, 6 second-place, and 2 third-place finishes at Remington’s 2009 spring meeting.
Racing is a family tradition for Brooks, whose son Jimmy is also a jockey, and whose cousin is AQHA Hall of Fame race trainer Jack Brooks.
Gelding looks for win no. 19 at 16
Silent Cash Dasher, a16-year-old Quarter Horse, will make his first start of the season on Sunday, March 29 at Remington Park. The gelded son of Dash Easy has raced every year since 1997.
Last year, at Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw, OK, Silent Cash Dasher became the oldest horse to ever win an AQHA race. It was his third win from seven starts in 2008, the same year that he placed (third) for the first time in a graded stakes – the 350-yard Rocky Heinzig Memorial Stakes G3 at Fair Meadows in Tulsa, OK.
Owned and trained by Gary Earp, 65, Jay, OK, Silent Cash Dasher has a 12-year career record of 18-10-11 from 81 starts with earnings of $155,133.
Earp attributes the longevity of Silent Cash Dasher’s career to the fact that he was not started as a youngster. “He is a big horse and I believe waiting to run him until the summer of his four-year-old year let his bones develop correctly.”
13-year-old record broken
One of the oldest standing records for Quarter Horses at Remington Park was broken on Friday, March 27, when Okey Dokey Irish, under jockey Helen King, covered 330 yards in :16.571. The previous record of :16.65 was set by Blues Dash in 1997.
The win was the seventh from 14 career starts for 4-year-old son of Okey Dokey Dale, who was claimed for a price of $25,000 by Hector Fraire, El Reno, OK, during the race.