When Southern California jockey Joe Talamo made the decision to move his tack to Arkansas in January he never could have foreseen the state of horse racing five months later. That move proved to be divine intuition as Oaklawn continues to be one of a handful of North American Thoroughbred racetracks still holding live racing.
Talamo has taken full advantage of this opportunity and worked hard throughout the meet with a leading 297 starts for trainers such as Tom Amoss and Brad Cox. This Saturday, Joe will start from post position 6 riding Shooters Shoot (Competitive Edge) in Division 1 of the Arkansas Derby for trainer Peter Eurton.
In Division 2, Talamo will be on trainer Rodolphe Brisset’s Saratogian (Empire Maker) from the 2 chute with Eurton-trained Storm the Court (Court Vision), under Flavien Prat, starting right next to him in post position 3. Ironically, Prat is also Talamo’s gate neighbor in Division 1 starting from post position 7 on Wrecking Crew (Sky Kingdom) for trainer Peter Miller. (Might be some interesting conversations!)
Talamo has made a huge splash in his first season as an Oaklawn regular. Talamo leads all jockeys in stakes victories (eight), is third in overall wins (50) and ranks second in purse earnings ($3,150,163) behind Ricardo Santana, Jr. ($3,359,900).
“I really didn’t have any kind of expectations, to be honest,” Talamo, 30, said during training in late March. “Obviously, I just wanted to come in and try to do as well as I could. More than anything, I’m just very pleased with the barns, the outfits, that have given me opportunities. Really, couldn’t be happier.”
Talamo’s eight stakes victories through Friday had come for four trainers – Tom Amoss, Brad Cox, Ron Moquett and Mac Robertson.
Talamo won the $125,000 Dixie Belle for 3-year-old fillies Feb. 15 aboard Ring Leader (Robertson), $300,000 Honeybee (G3) for 3-year-old fillies March 7 aboard Shedaresthedevil (Cox), $150,000 Hot Springs for older sprinters March 7 aboard Whitmore (Moquett), $350,000 Essex Handicap for older horses March 14 aboard Night Ops (Cox), $350,000 Azeri (G2) for older fillies and mares March 14 aboard Serengeti Empress (Amoss) and the $90,000 Gazebo for 3-year-old sprinters March 21 aboard Long Weekend (Amoss). Talamo also rode 6-year-old Whitmore to his record 3rd victory in the $350,000 Count Fleet Sprint H. (G3) on April 18 and Long Weekend to a second consecutive stakes win in the $100,000 Bachelor S. on April 25.
“Look, I’ve been supporting Joe since the meet began,” Amoss said moments after the Gazebo. “He’s the right guy for me.”
Talamo credited his agent, Jake Romans, the son of trainer Dale Romans, for putting him in a position to potentially lead all riders at the meeting in victories and purse earnings.
“It’s kind of some interesting circumstances around,” Talamo said. “It’s funny. Last year at Santa Anita when we didn’t race for a month (the track was closed following a spike in equine fatalities), I thought that’s the weirdest thing that’s ever happened. Going through this is weirder, by a landslide. Hat’s off to management. They’re doing everything they can for us to keep racing. They’re pretty relentless on us guys. We have to take temperatures twice a day. We can’t be too close to each other. We’re definitely doing our part so, hopefully, we can keep rolling.”
Talamo had more than 1,000 mounts annually in 2007-2014, including a career-high 1,472 in 2007 and 1,247 in 2013. But mirroring the shrinking horse population in Southern California, and an accompanying decline in field sizes, Talamo rode only 547 horses last year, fewest since his first year to ride professionally in 2006.
“I just turned 30, so I know I’m getting older, but I still feel like I have a lot of good years left in me,” said Talamo, who grew up in suburban New Orleans. “And again, it’s nobody’s fault, really. The horse population out there just, every year, seems to kind of dwindle down a little more and more. Like I said, I still feel like I have lot more in the tank, so I felt like making the move out here would keep the momentum going.
“The way things are out here, the purse money is incredible,” Talamo said. “The horse population is incredible. Everything seems in growth mode right now. I thought if there is a time to do it, I thought it would definitely be a good time.”
Talamo’s resume includes an Eclipse Award as the country’s top apprentice jockey in 2007, a Breeders’ Cup triumph in 2009 and 2,054 victories and more than $100 million in purse earnings in his 14,002 career starts. The bulk of his success occurred in Southern California, where Talamo rode regularly for more than a decade.
Before all of the COVID-19 closings, no winter-racing venue in the country has had higher purses than Oaklawn and purses are also skyrocketing in Kentucky, where Talamo said he plans to be based the remainder of the year when racing resumes there. Talamo said his family is also now in Hot Springs. The jockey is married to the former Elizabeth Ellis, the daughter of Southern California-based trainer Ron Ellis, and has two young children.
“It’s pretty much a 100-percent move,” Talamo said. “I kept my house in California, just to rent it out. We’re in with both feet, pretty much. I would love to buy a house in Hot Springs. When we get to Kentucky, we’ll look for a house and that’s pretty much going to be the circuit – Oaklawn and then Kentucky after that.
“I’m just excited for something new,” Talamo said. “Change can be good.”
Past The Wire Staff
Photo: Whitmore, trained by Ron Moquett, won his record 3rd Count Fleet Sprint H. (G3) at Oaklawn on April 18 under jockey Joe Talamo. Photo: Coady Photography
