Columnist Ralph Siraco: Stevens drops bombshell on opening day at S.A.

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Dec. 27, 1999 | 10:37 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run on the Scoreboard page Tuesday through Friday. Reach him c/o Las Vegas Sun, 800 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89107.

There was much anticipation for Sunday's opening of the Santa Anita winter/spring race meet. The curtain-raiser for the 63rd season of racing set at the foot of the majestic San Gabriel mountain range featured Breeders' Cup Classic winner Cat Thief in the day's centerpiece event -- the Malibu Stakes.

Stewardship of the historic Southern California racing emporium had been handed off to the new owners -- Magna Entertainment -- boasting $20 million in renovations and expansions that included the state-of-the-art "Frontrunners" restaurant.

Laffit Pincay, Jr. returned to the Arcadia track as the world's winningest jockey and fresh from capturing the Hollywood Park fall meet riding title -- giving him a rejuvenated spirit.

But it was returning counterpart Gary Stevens who made the headlines for this opening day. He, too, was searching for a new begining and rejuvenation. But by the end of the day, Stevens' riding career would come to an abrupt halt and with it an illustrious but short riding career.

Stevens had returned to the saddle on Sunday following yet another maintenance operation on his right knee, but immediately declared his retirement from racing just after dismounting Desert Hero after a fifth-place finish in the featured sixth race on the card.

The Caldwell, Idaho, native had undergone his fourth surgery to the knee in early December in hopes of easing the pain from degenerative arthritis that has plagued his 36-year-old body for several years.

Stevens knew Sunday was his make-or-break return and admitted he was looking for a "Christmas miracle" when he came to the track, but said, "I didn't plan on this being the final day (of his riding career) when it started."

Stevens indicated he felt there was a "good possibility" of the inevitable based on the way he felt working horses during the morning workouts in the days leading up to Sunday's return.

Stevens was named on six mounts on the opening-day program but took off his remaining two engagements after the Malibu Stakes ride.

He knew much earlier, however, that it would be his final day in the irons.

"One hundred yards into the second race, I knew it would be my last day of riding," he said. "After my first two rides, it was like I hadn't had surgery. Unfortunately because of my knees it's time to call it quits.

"There's irreparable damage to the right knee, and it became a question of how much pain I could stand to ride with. I made an attempt to come back and I was hurting too much."

With no cartilage left in the knee, Stevens described the degree of his degenerative arthritis: "It's bone-to-bone contact outside the joint, and it's just chipping away."

Stevens was told by Dr. James Tibone that in order to ride he would have to stay on anti-inflammatory medication to avoid the pain and that there could be side effects. Stevens said, "I don't want to damage my liver or kidney" as a result.

Stevens reflected on his eroding abilities due to his condition: "I'm not the rider I was five years ago."

He also divulged that he had felt that way for quite a while.

"The last year and a half I've relied more on my mental than physical savvy. I've gotten the job done because of the horses I've ridden and the experience I've had," he said.

"When I'm thinking more about the pain than the horse under me, it's not fair to the trainers, owners or other riders."

Stevens has had a full riding career in his 21 years in the saddle.

He rode his first thoroughbred on a recognized track at Les Bois Park in his home state of Idaho at age 16 and promptly won with that first ride aboard a horse named Little Star April, who happend to be trained by his father. After trying Southern California as an apprentice in 1980 -- going 4-for-90 -- Stevens landed at Longacres race course in Washington state where he promptly set numerous riding records. He returned to Southern California in 1984 and has been a fixture on that circuit since. He served brief -- and successful -- stints in Hong Kong and England, but always returned to his Southern California base.

Inducted into racing's Hall of Fame in 1997, he counts his most memorable ride as the 1988 Kentucky Derby victory with Winning Colors and his favorite horse as 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm, with whom he also won that year's Preakness Stakes and the following year's Dubai World Cup on the way to the 1998 Eclipse Award.

He also won the 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes with Thunder Gulch and has won seven Breeders' Cup races.

Stevens retires with career earnings of $187,031,468 and 4,512 victories from 25,442 mounts. He rode his last winner at Hollywood Park aboard the Bob Baffert-trained King's Honor on Nov. 21.

It is ironic that Stevens' last major stakes win would come in this year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile on a horse appropriately named Anees. That runner is also owned by Ahmed Salman's Thoroughbred Corporation with whom Stevens signed an exclusive five-year riding contract in August. That status is now in question and it remains to be seen if Stevens will accept another role in the Thoro-Corp empire.

That challenge may be fun and certainly should be an easier decision than the one he made on Sunday at Santa Anita.

"It's (the retirement) the most difficult decision I've made in my life," Stevens said. "(Riding) is not fun anymore, it hasn't been fun for the last six months.

"I want to be able to walk in my later years. I don't want to be in pain all my life. It's time."