Julien Leparoux heading to Southern California

[Tvghrtvfan]

Zoe Cadman tweeted the story and Claire Novak retweeted the story too:

https://twitter.com/ClaireNovak

"Reports are that @JulienLeparoux is headed to CA for Breeders Cup.....and STAYING... Jose Ferrer to handle book!"

[White Hat]

Guys do dumb things for women

[Southieboy]

The only reason Leparoux is going is because he is going out with Mitchell's daughter. Expect him to do poorly.

[Tvghrtvfan]

It's an interesting move that Julien Leparoux. He tried Southern California like 5 years ago but didn't work due to several cancellations that happened at the time at Santa Anita. His new agent also represents Rafael Bejarano who's the top Southern California jokey out right now. Do you think Julien is doing it because he's going to get married to Mike Mitchell's daughter Shea? Maybe since Mike had a health scare this year and maybe Julien is willing to be close to his in-laws.

Anyway, going back on the move well I think that he should've made the decision to come here when the Del Mar meet began and right away when Joel Rosario was going to leave Southern California for New York. Julien wanted to see how he did at at Saratoga which was a moderate success and didn't get the kind of success in NY that he had hoped for like he was having in Kentucky. It's good that he's joining the Southern California riding colony since we did lose a major talent in Rosario and adding Leparoux to the colony seems to make the colony look great again.

With the jockeys here in California, I don't think guys like Bejarano and Garrett Gomez, maybe even Joe Talamo aren't going to affect their businesses. So will it affect the businesses of Edwin Maldonado or Martin Garcia??? Will he hurt the business of the return of Tyler Baze??? Maybe he'll take business away from Maldonado, Garcia and Baze but I don't think he won't hurt Bejarano, Gomez or Talamo. Leparoux will probably round out the top 5 between 4th or 5th.

The only way Julien will make it here is if the top trainers use him. If you want to be a top jockey then you need to be riding for guys like Bob Baffert, Doug O'Neill, Pete Miller, John Sadler and Mike Mitchell to be able to be relevant.

I remember when Julien was starting out winning titles left and right in Kentucky just like the way Bejarano was too. At one point, Leparoux and Bejarano were battling out titles at both Keeneland and Churchill Downs. That was fun to watch for a couple years and certainly both have gone on to have continued success. Of course Leparoux does have an Eclipse Award twice for both Outstanding Apprentice and Jockey. Sure would be nice to see an Eclipse Award winner do their campaign out in Southern California and I'd like to see Bejarano win one too since Bejarano is getting quality of mounts like a Bob Baffert.

This year it's been mixed for Julien with his success this year and maybe the Southern California may work out this time and maybe the circuit he can make outside of KY. I think Julien's talent is on turf and put him on a horse that can come from behind and win with clear sailing then he's going to win. I think Julien will do fine and it'll take time and I think he'll be winning races on turf.

[PeteMo]

The only reason Leparoux is going is because he is going out with Mitchell's daughter. Expect him to do poorly.

He is a top synthetic rider, maybe Del Mar would suit him. But seems to me he is riding with very little confidence right now, going to be tough for him out here. If he is in the top 5 I would be shocked.

[Southieboy]

He is a top synthetic rider, maybe Del Mar would suit him. But seems to me he is riding with very little confidence right now, going to be tough for him out here. If he is in the top 5 I would be shocked.

I would be shocked if he is still in CA by the SA Handicap personally. He simply is not good period. He does well at Keeneland due to poly and at Churchill as he's a big pond in small waters. He'd do well on the turf but he only will get 2-3 options per day in CA while Gulfstream has carded 5-6 grass races a day during the meet. Plus if he starts cold, I don't think many trainers will want to stick with him and we've seen when an agent carry two top riders at the same time on a circuit it rarely goes well at all.

[Kermit]

He's 6th in North America in earnings, 4th in earnings on turf.
He still is having trouble seeing that 20% win mark.
I wonder how good he is on putting green lightning-fast turf? I notice today a MSW turf race mile was run in 1:34.4. That same horse might manage a 1:36.4 at Woodbine, if he's really feeling good.

[Fredo]

From a personal view I've always did pretty good with Lep on the turf or at Keeneland.Even HOF jockeys over the years have bounced around the country and have had a hard time away from their home track. Don't be too tough on the kid,he's still young and he'll give you your moneys worth.

[Sluggo4171]

Frenchy would get stuck behind a wall of horses in a one horse race.

[Pathagan]

Only winter track he deserves to ride at is Turdway.