heart for the racetrack and people. I’ve always seen him as square and accommodating.” Trainer John Sadler called Puhich a “die-hard racetracker and loyal friend” but loved to tease the Methuselah of Mount-finding about his longevity. “Know who Ivan’s first rider was?” he asked. “Paul Revere with the bug.” Inimitable Ivan is the subject and teller of stories galore on the backside but none may be better than the most recent: uniting with jockey Mario Gutierrez at the beginning of the year and winning his first Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) with I’ll Have Another. Irascible Ivan and Mellow Mario formed the oddest couple since Oscar and Felix: Mario the bright-eyed, humble young rider and Ivan the scowling old agent. www.oaktreeracing.com
Ivan was born before Seabiscuit and Mario had only in recent years heard of the Kentucky Derby, but together the pair took the racing world by storm with victories in this year’s Santa Anita Derby (G1), Kentucky Derby and Preakness. But the story runs deeper than veteran agent and unheralded jockey team win the Derby. Fate brought the pair together during opening week of the Santa Anita Park meet last December, when both were invited to a birthday party for Ivan’s nephew, Mike, in the Monrovia garage of a neighbor of Ivan. Both were in need of each other. Ivan had been out of work for 18 months and battled depression after undergoing colon cancer surgery and losing a grown son to a heart attack the previous summer. Mexicanborn Mario, 25, had shone at Vancouver’s Hastings Park in British Columbia, Canada, the previous six years, but needed an experienced agent to make connections after three months of relative anonymity on the new circuit. “I was getting antsy and thought I’d better get back to work,” said Puhich from the backside trainers’ lounge at Hollywood Park. “I told Mario that I would watch him ride for a few days, and if I liked what I saw, I would go to work for him.” Ivan liked what he saw, watching Mario boot home a couple of longshots with limited opportunities, and the rest is history. Owner Paul Reddam also noticed the jockey’s skills and suggested that trainer Doug O’Neill give him a chance to work one of his horses. The horse was I’ll Have Another. O’Neill did not know Mario, but he knew Ivan. Ivan stayed home for both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, content to watch the race on tele-
The leading rider at Hastings Racecourse in Canada during 2007 and 2008, 25-year-old Mario Gutierrez is now a recognized name in the United States since hiring 85-year-old Ivan Puhich as his jockey agent.
“I told Mario that I would watch him ride for a few days, and if I liked what I saw, I would go to work for him.” –Ivan Puhich
PADDOCK 2012
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