Laffit Pincay Jr.'s Father Dies

Yesterday evening my cell phone chirped, and the following message was delivered to me via Twitter from Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr.:

   "A sad day today. My father, esteemed jockey 
    Laffit Pincay Sr. passed away. I planned to 
    go to Venezuela this month when they honored him."

That's the thing about Twitter -- you can get the latest news bits, or just keep up with your friends... but sometimes the news is sad.

Pincay's father, Laffit Pincay, Sr., died August 11 in Venezuela. The elder Pincay was a famous jockey in Panama who moved to Venezuela to ride after divorcing Laffit's mother. In 1964, he came to the U.S. to ride the Argentine-bred Primordial II to a victory in the 1964 Display Handicap at Aqueduct, and a 6th place finish in the Washington D.C. International at Laurel. He retired as a jockey in 1970.

My condolences go out to Laffit on the loss of his father, and also to HRTV host Laffit Pincay III on the loss of his grandfather.

Hollywood Park the Final Resting Place for Three Great Racehorses

In its 70-year history, Hollywood Park has seen many of horseracing's greats come and go. Three of them remained to call Hollywood Park their final resting place: Native Diver, Landaluce, and Great Communicator. Native Diver is buried beneath a monument in his honor in the saddling paddock. Landaluce and Great Communicator are buried in the Infield.

Landaluce's grave marker in the Infield at Hollywood Park.

Landaluce, a 1982 filly by Seattle Slew, raced only at two, and was unbeaten in 5 starts. She was trained by D. Wayne Lukas and ridden by Laffit Pincay, Jr. Landaluce won the Grade 2 Hollywood Lassie Stakes by an incredible 21 lengths, in a final time of 1:08 for the 6 furlongs. It was the greatest margin of victory ever by a two-year-old at Hollywood Park. Her other victories included the Del Mar Debutante Stakes, the Grade 2 Anoakia Stakes at Santa Anita, and the Grade 1 Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita.

Sadly, she became ill with Colitis X and died December 11, 1982. Landaluce was named Champion Two-Year-Old Filly for 1982, the award given posthumously. The Hollywood Lassie Stakes was renamed the Landaluce Stakes in her honor.

Great Communicator's grave marker lies only a few feet from that of Landaluce.

Great Communicator, a 1983 bay gelding by Key to the Kingdom, was the winner of the 1988 Breeders Cup Turf - and the first gelding to score in any Breeders Cup race. Trained by Thad Ackel, Great Communicator had consecutive 1988 and 1989 victories in the Hollywood Turf Cup, the San Juan Capistrano, and the San Luis Obispo Handicap. His other victories included the Golden Gate Handicap, the San Marcos, and the Henry P. Russell Handicap. Great Communicator suffered a breakdown in the 1990 Carleton F. Burke Handicap at Santa Anita and had to be euthanized.

The Quiet Man: Trainer Jack Van Berg

To me, Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg has always seemed like something of a cross between John Wayne and Will Rogers... tough, quietly intelligent, with a twinkle in his eye! So when I saw him sitting on his pony outside his barn at Hollywood Park last week I just had to snap a photo.

Born June 7, 1936 in Columbus, Nebraska, he is perhaps best known for his great success with 1988 Horse of the Year Alysheba. Van Berg joined horse racing's Hall of Fame in 1985, following in the footsteps of his late father, Marion, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a trainer in 1970.

Van Berg began working with horses at the age of 13, and he saddled his first winner at 16. In 1976, he became the first trainer in Thoroughbred history to lead the nation both in races won and money won, with 496 victories. He would, of course, go on to garner well over 6,000 wins, as well as an Eclipse Award as trainer in 1984.

On another historical note, Van Berg saddled I Be Casual on Dec. 9, 1999 at Hollywood Park, as jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. tied Bill Shoemaker's record for career riding victories, at 8,833!

Wednesday at Hollywood Park, Van Berg runs Cold Prince in the 3rd race, a $12,500 claimer for 3-year-olds and up, and Nu Power Two in the 8th, a maiden claimer for 3-year-olds and up.

Jockey Legends on Tour at Santa Anita

Clockers Corner was abuzz this morning, with the appearance of several legendary jockeys -- Hall of Famers scheduled to ride in tomorrow's Living Legends race. I caught a nice photo (above) of Jacinto Vasquez (right) and Angel Cordero (left) having a cup of coffee before the press conference that included Sandy Hawley, Pat Day, Chris McCarron, Julie Krone, and Gary Stevens, in addition to Vasquez and Cordero.

All of these legendary jockeys are retired and in the Hall of Fame. Collectively, they are responsible for nearly 50,000 victories and $1.5 billion in purses! Tomorrow's Living Legends race is the 4th at Oak Tree/Santa Anita. It will be a unique opportunity for the public to, once again, wager on their favorite jockeys of all time. And once more, a victory will be added to one of the jockeys' record books!

Also on hand for today's press conference were Laffit Pincay Jr., Eddie Delahoussaye, and Jorge Velasquez.