This Summer, the Jocks Are the Talk of Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The jocks’ room here is cramped, often sounds like the translators’ room in the United Nations and is home to one of the most decorated groups of riders horse racing has ever seen.

John Velazquez, of Puerto Rico, and Javier Castellano, a Venezuelan, are Hall of Famers. The Ortiz brothers, Irad Jr. and José, have received the Eclipse Award for best jockey four times between them. (Irad leads 3-1.)

Joel Rosario, a Dominican, was last year’s winner.

Tyler Gaffalione, a Floridian by way of Kentucky, and Flavien Prat, a Frenchman who recently arrived from California, round out a room that hosts 15 of the nation’s top 20 jockeys by victories.

With 17 minutes to post, a bell echoes from the winner’s circle, a nod to when public address systems did not exist, prompting horseplayers to crowd the pathway from the jockeys’ room to the paddock.

The riders come out in pairs in Day-Glo silks, goggles dangling from their necks, crops tucked beneath their arms, then fan out to the various numbered trees to meet their horses’ owners. Smiles are exchanged and brief instructions given.