Document text
69 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, May 24, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Biz Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 20, 2005 Back in the saddle After enduring numerous setbacks, Tad Skaggs will be ready for the start of the Grants Pass Downs season By FRANK SILOW Mail Tribune GRANTS PASS — Tad Skaggs endures the wear and tear of a long jockey career. Numerous broken bones, broken ribs and surgeries have taken a physical and mental toll on the 45-year-old rider. But a rejuvenated Skaggs will be up in the saddle again when the Grants Pass Downs 16-day horse-racing season opens Saturday at the Josephine County Fairgrounds. Racing will take place every Saturday and Sunday through July 4. There will be two Monday race dates, May 30 and July 4. Advertisement Skaggs, a former leading jockey at GP Downs, missed last year’s meet recovering from knee surgery caused by a mishap in January of 2004 at Portland Meadows. After a year’s rehabilitation, he started riding again at Portland but a broken foot sidelined him yet again. Skaggs recovered in time to ride the last 1½ months at Portland. Now he’s looking forward to an injury-free GP Downs season. "The last couple of years have been a little rough," Skaggs says in the track’s stable area. "If I make it through this meet, it will be the first meet I’ve completed in two years." Skaggs, whose parents owned and trained race horses in the Northwest, has been coming to GP Downs since childhood. He’s ridden here off and on since his career began as a 17-year- old. Skaggs enjoys the ambience of Southern Oregon. Plus he’s had a lot of success on the GP Downs ½ -mile dirt oval, including three wins out of the 13 runnings of the rich quarter horse futurity on July 4. "It’s a fun little track, it’s unique," says Skaggs. "I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years. When the track is right, it’s one of the better surfaces to ride on in the Northwest." Skaggs exhibits a weathered face and a somewhat uneasy walk of a man that has taken his share of spills. And none worse than a five-horse wreck during a 600-yard quarter horse race here in 1992. He was sidelined for six weeks with a broken back, jaw, arm, three ribs and four fingers. Skaggs got thrown from his horse when jockey Tim Neal’s horse on the inside went down and Skaggs crashed. "I went over (Neal’s) horse and there was a domino effect," explains Skaggs. "When I was on the ground rolling, three other horses rolled over me. It was like I was in a meat grinder. It chewed me up." Skaggs accepts these type of incidents as just part of racing. "I’m not going to worry about getting hurt," he says. "If you do, something will happen." But he does admit the long layoff last year gave him an opportunity to put his career in perspective. "I kinda wanted to take a break," says Skaggs. "I was tired of getting hurt. "When I went back to riding, I decided I wanted to go back full-throttle ... I was motivated again." Skaggs has been a primary jockey for legendary quarter horse trainer Baxter Andruss. "(Skaggs) had rode for me so many years and has won a lot of races," says Andruss, who at 78 has cut back his racing stable. "He’s honest and he tries. He’s still a hard guy to beat out of the gate." Trainer Leroy Twiggs of Bend has used Skaggs on his horses throughout the years. Twiggs appreciated Skaggs’ helpful nature prior to the opening of the GP Downs season. "If he hadn’t showed up I would have been hurting for a rider in the mornings," says Twiggs. "Tad is a likable person. He realizes there are horses that have to get fit for the races. Even though there’s some he won’t be riding in races, he’s still working them out." Skaggs has gained a stellar reputation as a quarter horse specialist, but Twiggs points out Skaggs is not only good in the sprints but also on longer thoroughbred races. Veteran trainer John Harris also exhibits a lot of confidence in Skaggs. "Tad is a rider I can name up and not worry what kind of ride I will get," says Harris. "His reaction time is extremely good. He can actually help a horse away from the starting gate." Skaggs’ biggest stakes victories have come in quarter horse races. He won the $100,000 Evergreen Futurity once and the Pot ‘O Gold twice. A key to quarter horse racing is the start. Besides an innate ability from years of riding, Skaggs doesn’t have a stock answer to his technique in the starting gate. "You just get them out as quick as you can and as straight as you can," he says. "You let them get their legs under them before you get after them with the stick." On Saturday’s opening day, Skaggs’ conditioning will be put to the test with nine mounts on the 10-race card. "I’ve got my legs tight again and my body doesn’t hurt," says Skaggs. "I’m going to have fun with it." Winning a load of races will certainly add to that. Track Tidbits In Saturday’s featured $3,000-added Inaugural Handicap, trainer John McDevitt will send Sizzlin Hot Summer to the gate for the first time since claiming the 5-year-old colt at the Ferndale, Calif., meet last summer. The Inaugural, which is the seventh race on the 10-race card, will have six thoroughbreds going 5½ furlongs. Wilderville resident and Hidden Valley High graduate Mark Garrison won his second consecutive GP Downs leading trainer award. Leading jockey Twyla Beckner is also back to defend her title. But jockey Joe Crispin, who led the rider standings most of the meet until Beckner won it on the final weekend, is serving a one-year suspension for violating the terms of his reinstatement from a previous suspension. Crispin was sanctioned for alcohol consumption on the grounds of the Tillamook summer fair racing meet. Grants Pass trainer Nancy Klapatch thinks she might have another Natural Wonder in her barn with Full Gallop. Natural Wonder won by 16 lengths in his first start here three years ago. Injuries have prevented the 4-year-old colt, out of Secretariat lineage, from making a start. He has shown some impressive speed in morning workouts by posting a 35.2 over three furlongs. Full Gallop will break from the five post position in Saturday’s third race. Owner and trainer Ron Raley was denied the $100,000 bonus for winning the Oregon quarter horse triple crown. Raley’s One Fast Trick won the first two legs — the Portland Meadows and the Firecracker futurities, but was beaten by a head in the final race — the Northwest Open Futurity at Portland Meadows in the fall. Raley’s filly lost to Yoncalla trainer Jim Glenn’s One Fast Okie, who ran second in the Firecracker. Fastest qualifier Two Dash To Fame, trained by Scott Raley and owned by Gary Chumbley of Battleground, Wash., won the Portland Meadows Futurity this spring. The Raley-Chumbley combination also had the third-place finisher, Easy Stretch To Fame. Both horses, sired by Dash Ta Fame, are eligible for the Firecracker Futurity at GP Downs on July 4. The $100,000 bonus for winning all three races is being offered again this year. John Harris-trained horses won both Grade 3 quarter horse stakes races at Sun Downs in Kennewick, Wash., this spring. Strawkins won the $33,400 Pot O’ Gold Futurity in a 300- yard track record time of 15.39 seconds. Then Go For Fame won the $24,000 AQHA Filly and Mare Challenge. Jockey Edgar Montehermoso, who missed last year’s GP Downs season, received the Dan Castle award at Portland Meadows. The award, named after a jockey who was killed in an incident on the track, is given for a good work ethic and character. Because Le Bois track in Boise is closed this year due to legal issues, trainer Gary Roberts returns to GP Downs for the first time in six years. Roberts, a former leading trainer here, will have a stable of 15 head. Several other trainers, who are normally at Le Bois, will run horses in this year’s meet. Last year GP Downs handled $952,524 for 181 races over 19 days. The average daily handle was $50,132 and the per-race average was $5,263. The biggest daily handle was $83,801 on July 4 and the next biggest was $62,600 on the Sunday before Memorial Day. Reach reporter Frank Silow at 776-4480, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg diamonds Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Auto Insurance Mesothelioma Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Payday Loans Advertisement s