Road to Kentucky Derby: There's ‘no blueprint’ to becoming and succeeding as jockey agent
Ron Anderson enters his fifth decade representing jockeys and he still can’t provide a clear roadmap for becoming an agent.
He didn’t go to school and come out with a business or law degree as a prerequisite for getting in the business. He didn’t get a summer internship to learn the trade. Yet he'll be at the 149th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs with two jockeys mounted on horses.
John Velazquez on Reincarnate and Joel Rosario on Disarm give Anderson two more chances to be the agent who put the jockey on the Kentucky Derby winner. He did so back in 1995 when Gary Stevens rode Thunder Gulch and in 1999 with Chris Antley on Charismatic.
“There's no blueprint to what any of us do there, I can't say, ‘Hey, if you read this book, and you do that, and I coach you for a while, you'll be a good agent.’ It kind of doesn't work like that,” Anderson said. “It's trial and error. It's knowing the people, it’s knowing the horses, it's knowing the rhythm of the business. And you just kind of have to jump in the water and see if they can swim.”
Agents represent jockeys and try to book them on the best horses possible. They spend their time working early mornings, hanging out at the track and around the stables usually clutching condition books. That’s their tool for seeing the schedule of upcoming races and who might be in need of a jockey.
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Relationships define most agents in both networking with trainers who need mounts and jockeys who might find themselves in need of representation.
Jockeys make 10% of the purse in major races and agents can get up to 25% of that.
Anderson grew up going to race tracks but had no real ties to the industry except for two friends — Craig O'Bryan and Scotty McClellan — who happened to be jockey agents as a matter of family business.
Anderson had just graduated from high school and was enrolled in college, but preferred spending time on the backside of tracks to sitting in classrooms all day. Seeing O’Bryan and McClellan work sparked his interest. But his opportunity to start his career came by chance.
“I took somebody that kind of couldn’t find an agent, nobody really wanted to work for him,” Anderson said. “I thought I needed a break from school, and I found myself at the track more often than not.”
He’s still at it 50 years later.
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'Better to be lucky than good'
Both of his jockeys are riding longshots, but Anderson has been in this situation before. Thunder Gulch had 24-1 odds when Stevens guided him to victory. The odds were greater for 31-1 Charismatic, and Antley would go on to win the 1999 Preakness Stakes too.
“The bottom line at the end of the day, for jockeys, it's all about the horses and for agents it’s all about the jock,” Anderson said. “If you have somebody that's talented, you find your way. Like I tell people for years, it's way better when you're having your door knocked on rather than you having to knock on somebody's door.”
For many, the first thought of a sports agent still conjures images from the movie Jerry McGuire. A person operating two cell phones, wearing designer suits and shouting ‘show me the money.’
The reality for a jockey agent is much more mundane.
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A handshake agreement can still be as good as a signed contract for some in this business. It tends to not be as cutthroat as agents getting clients in other sports because they are limited to representing two jockeys in the same jurisdiction.
Agent Kiaran McLaughlin only has one client in jockey Luis Saez and he’s not looking to expand. Saez has kept him plenty busy and back in February it looked like he’d have to make a choice of Kentucky Derby mounts.
Instant Coffee was positioned well but ultimately didn’t come up with the points to qualify. So Saez and McLaughlin didn’t have to make that decision and will be aboard Tapit Trice.
They weren’t so fortunate for the Kentucky Oaks.
Saez rode both Julia Shining for trainer Todd Pletcher and Affirmative Lady for trainer H. Grant Motion. Both fillies were aiming for the Kentucky Oaks, but Julia Shining ended up among those waiting for scratches to get into the field.
“Grant Motion asked us and we were back and forth,” McLaughlin said. “I talked to Luis and we ride a lot for Todd, but we like Julia Shining and ended up giving Julia Shining the call. And we might not get to ride the race because of it.”
That’s why Micheal Sellito, a former New York police officer turned jockey agent, said even after making all the contacts and keeping all communication lines open, “it’s better to be lucky than good.”
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @CLBrownHoops.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Road to Kentucky Derby 2023: How to become a successful jockey agent
