BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Barbadian riding ace Patrick Husbands is taking aim at his fourth Woodbine championship title and is confident he can surpass leading rider Emma-Jayne Wilson before the season at Canada's premier horse racing facility ends early December.
With 95 wins so far this season, Husbands is lying second in the jockeys' title-race, 12 behind reigning champion Wilson (107). The two are poised to have a tremendous showdown for the remaining two months in the season and Husbands believes he is within striking distance of the phenomenal Wilson.
“I just have to keep her in range and I have her in range (right now),” Husbands told CMC Sport in a telephone interview from his home in Brampton, Ontario.
Wilson, 25, became the first woman in the 50-year history of Woodbine horse racing to win the jockeys' title when she rode 175 winners last year. She also collected the prestigious Eclipse Award as the most outstanding apprentice rider in all of North American -- Canada and USA -- horse racing for 2005.
Husbands says she is the best female rider he has ever seen. Wilson's prolific form and huge successes last year were partially facilitated by a claiming allowance -- commonly referred to as a "bug" -- that apprentice riders enjoy in horse racing, which permits their mounts to carry an allotted reduction in weight, increasing the horse's winning chances.
Good claiming apprentices are attractive to owners and trainers as they seek to capitalize on any advantage their entries can secure, and Wilson's skill and aggression, bolstered by her “bug” entitlement made her unbeatable in 2005.
She was unchallenged for the Woodbine title last year and rode a whopping 39 winners more than second-placed Corey Fraser (136), with Husbands (118) a distant third, and her mounts earnings stood at CAN$7.49 million.
Now a fully fledged jockey, Wilson lost her allowance last month and Husbands is taking aim at her. “Right now, she lost her bug about three and a half weeks ago and we will see what happens between now and year-end,” Husbands said.
The 33-year-old Barbadian has had a solid season so far that includes a debut appearance in the US$2.2 million Kentucky Derby in which he placed 10th.
He has also had a plethora of stakes wins in 2006 and regardless of the outcome of the Woodbine riders' championship this year, he appears to be in pole position for the Sovereign Award as most outstanding jockey, the annual honour for Canada's top jockey.
After a trip home in March to land the Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup, Husbands won a series of stakes races in Canada, including the CAN$500, 000 Woodbine Oaks, the CAN$250,000 Bison Stakes, and the CAN$500,000 Breeders' Stakes.
Add to those, the Eclipse Stakes, Whimsical Stakes, the Simcoe Stakes and Monday's Grey Breeders' Cup to the super jockey's log of big wins so far this season, but he will not be totally satisfied unless he lands the Woodbine jockeys' title.
“That's the situation here every year in Canada, I've always been fighting for championships,” Husbands declared. He was Woodbine champion three times before, but has not won since 2002 and is anxious in wear the champion jockey label again.
The season ends on December 10 and he believes he has enough time to collar Wilson. “I have some good rides left to the end (of the year), so I figure that I have her right where I want her,” he said.
Husbands, who won Woodbine titles in 1999, 2000, and 2002, acknowledges that the advantage is with Wilson, but he remains confident he can wipe off the deficit in the nine weeks remaining.
“I've got 12 (deficit) to hit off, and once she wins one a day it will be pretty tough, but I am just keeping my fingers crossed and I feel I have her beaten,” Husbands said.
Boosted by his win in Monday's CAN$226,100 Grey Breeders' Cup aboard Skip Code, Husbands is a clear leader in moneys earned by mounts at CAN$5.50 million. Wilson is closest with mounts' earnings of CAN$4.99 million.
In 1990, at age 16, Husbands became the youngest rider ever to win the Barbados Gold Cup with Vardar. He was champion jockey of Barbados in 1993 as a 20-year-old, and since his first trip for race-riding in Canada 12 years ago, his achievements have been so vast that his country has bestowed major honours on him twice.
He was the Barbados Sports Personality of the Year in 1999 and collected the Barbados Service Star (BSS) in 2003, the year he won Canada's Triple Crown with Wando.
Current top Woodbine Jockeys
1 Emma-Jayne Wilson 107 wins
2 Patrick Husbands 95
3 Justin Stein 88
4 James McAleney 87
5 Todd Kabel 73
6 Corey Fraser 56
7 Emile Ramsammy 55
8 David Clark 53
9 Jono Jones 44
9 Eurico Rosa Da Silva 44
Today's Date is: Sun, 18 May 2008 06:23:31
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