Best trainer you rode for?
That's a tough one. I have to give you a list
because it would be very unfair to pick one
out of all of them. Angel Penna. He was the
leading trainer in Spain, Argentina, Venezuela,
England, France and New York. To me, that's a
very, very big accomplishment. Laz Barrera. He
won two Derbies, including the Triple Crown.
Frank Martin. He was the leading trainer here
for 10 years in a row. Bobby Frankel, Charlie
Whittingham. Wayne Lukas, Shug McGaughey.
Woody Stephens. Richard Dutrow Sr., Allen
Jerkens.
Most embarrassing moment in your life?
When I won the Preakness on Codex in 1980,
I started getting a lot of hate mail. (Cordero
and Codex carried Derby winner Genuine Risk
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stopped reading my mail and still don't read it.
People who want to talk to me have to either
text me or talk to me in person. Everything I
read was terrible. Everybody was against me
and sending me letters that they were going to
kill me. People were booing me and making a
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trainer because he didn't want his owner
to get booed. You name the curse
word and they called me it. When I
left the jockeys' room to go to the
paddock, they were screaming
and shaking the fence.
One day I was riding and the
stewards called me and told
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