SAN DIEGO — When Donegal Racing decided Belmont Stakes-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. would receive a rare share of Mo Donegal's future work as a stallion, the ripples reached the shores of California.
Here was a Des Moines, Iowa-based group of 54 — famed for roots with everyone from teachers to prep coaches; some shares as small as a quarter of a percent — deciding to shave off a manageable piece of the Triple Crown pie for someone risking life and limb to get there.
If those chasing a dream with meager margins can do what's right, why can't the sheiks, business magnates and celebrity clingers?
Why is Oscar Gonzales, vice chairman of the California Horse Racing Board, fighting subtle and not-so-subtle blowback for suggesting the idea acted upon by some gracious Midwesterners becomes the norm?
"Any other sport would have done this already," said Gonzales, a former UC San Diego student who used to work the backstretch barns at Del Mar. "This difference between us is how they treat their athletes. I know how hard jockeys work, putting their lives on the line. We're the only sport where ambulances chase the athletes during competition.
"The economics are just not working any longer, even for the best jockeys. Like any sports, we need to take care of our marquee athletes. We have to be creative and innovative when it comes to keeping these top-line athletes."
What Gonzales is pushing and promoting is far from some radical idea. It's simply cracking open the door so those who put a bow on big-race dreams benefit in the same way as trainers, who routinely receive far larger breeding-rights deals for winning top races.
Some will say it infringes on the property rights of owners, who invested in realizing the purse. Some argue it will only benefit elite riders who flock to the most promising horses in marquee races, as the bigger jockey colony chases table scraps.
But here's what Gonzales and Donegal Racing members are talking about: Ortiz received the right to pair Mo Donegal with a mare until realizing a viable foal, or sell that right. That's it.
Owners, meanwhile, rake in the 100-something times the stallion breeds in a season. A horse with the right lineage and resume might continue to breed at that pace for a decade, churning out untold riches.
The one-time, one-season deal is what Gonzales is promoting in California. The proposal is far from offering jockeys the key to Scrooge McDuck's vault. Yet, the feet drag.
Change comes glacially in horse racing, particularly when money is involved.
Gonzales pointed to Donegal's co-owner and managing partner Jerry Crawford as someone who may begin to reshape a small corner of the sport's financial structure.
"Jerry, with one win, with one gesture, put a spotlight on a very important issue," said Gonzales, whose uncle, "Milo" Valenzuela, rode Kentucky Derby winner Tim Tam in 1958 and DQ-advanced winner Forward Pass in 1968. "It's significant, because of the big stage. It makes a statement.
"I think he's a pioneer and a leader. I hope it catches on."
The move by Gonzales is two-fold, at its core. It would help reward jockeys financially, but also incentivize the best — like Flavien Prat and Umberto Rispoli, dominant riders who bolted from Southern California — to rethink big races like Del Mar's Pacific Classic. (Gonzalez began with the idea of rewarding all graded-stakes winners but said he would be fine if it included only Grade I races, which number about two dozen a year in the state.)
Innovation and challenging convention is not always embraced, in racing and life.
Crawford, of Donegal, said part of it boiled down to the unrelenting commitment of Ortiz. In spite of a two-hour roundtrip drive, Ortiz showed up each Saturday at trainer Todd Pletcher's Palm Beach Downs to breeze Mo Donegal.
"Irad did that all winter long," Crawford said. "I was so grateful for the loyalty he showed. It's a breeze, not a race where he's getting paid. So I thought it was the right thing to do. This is a very tough business. Jockeys put their lives on the line.
"I think it's appropriate and hope everyone does it."
Questions would arise, without a doubt, Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith said.
"To me, it's up to the individual owner," Smith said. "They pay the bills. If it's a one-time share, I would almost rather see it go to the groom. They do the work every day.
"What happens if a (jockey) is hurt, has another mount commitment, (is) hurt or suspended? Someone else comes in for one race and gets that? Then the other guy jumps back on after that and (missed out)."
There are other flies in the ointment, as with almost anything.
A breeding-share incentive is likely to steer top jockeys away from geldings and toward horses with potential earnings as stallions. How would California handle out-of-state riders. There could be legal dust-ups as the ones with the most dollars latch on to a few more.
"This is an industry that's very set in its ways," Gonzales said. "When's the last time something was done to support jockeys financially? You're talking one share for guiding a horse through the finish line safely. That's not a lot to ask."
No, it's not.
