I'll Have Another Belmont: Mario Gutierrez Will Etch His Place in Jockey History

Humble. Inexperienced. Calm. Fresh-faced. Cool under pressure.

These are all adjectives that fit Mario Gutierrez perfectly and figure to suit him well as he attempts to ride I'll Have Another to Triple Crown glory at the Belmont Stakes.

The 25-year-old jockey from Veracruz, Mexico has been riding since the age of 14, when he began galloping with quarter horses under the guidance of his father, Mario Sr., who was also a jockey.

According to Bill Dwyre of The Los Angeles Times, Gutierrez was plucked from his home at the age of 19 to serve as an apprentice jockey at Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver, amidst the auspices of trainer Troy Taylor and owner Glen Todd.

It wasn't until last winter that Gutierrez joined J. Paul Reddam's team and began his rise through the ranks of horse racing on the back of I'll Have Another. A chance ride at Santa Anita caught the attention of Reddam and trainer Doug O'Neill, enough to ask Gutierrez to go for a morning gallop on I'll Have Another.

And the rest, as they say, is history. As Gutierrez told the BBC:

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"I kept telling everybody, from the first time I met him, I knew he was the one. I knew he was good."

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Now, Gutierrez has a rare chance to be history if he, poise and all, is able to pull off a run for the ages at Belmont Park.

Steve Cauthen has faith in Mario's ability to close out the Triple Crown. Who's Steve Cauthen, you ask?

Why, only the last jockey to do what Gutierrez is trying to do. He was atop Affirmed as he edged out Alydar in the Belmont Stakes in 1978 to capture what still stands as the last Triple Crown triumph some 34 years later. Cauthen told David Grening of Daily Racing Form:

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“It’s a long three weeks. People are always saying, ‘are you worried about this, are you worried about that,’ putting negative thoughts in your head. But I think he’s got the right mentality. He says ‘I’m lucky to be here, I’m going to take it as it comes, I’m going to give 100 percent, I know my horse will give 100 percent. If it happens it happens.’ I think that’s a good attitude to have.

“He’s not enthralled with the limelight, he wants to ride races. I felt the same way. I want to do my job. I want to do it the best I can.”

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Of course, Cauthen has been asked his opinion on these matters many times before—11 times, to be exact. Whenever a jockey comes within sniffing distance of the Triple Crown, Cauthen becomes an expert on the subject.

Who better to consult than Cauthen, who was all of a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 18 when he was in Gutierrez's shoes?

Who better to ease Cauthen's burden of history than Gutierrez?

He is a man who's hardly shied away from the pressure thus far, but rather has embraced it in such a way that he won't be daunted by the specter of riding "beginner's luck" to horse racing glory.

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