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Garrett Gomez Feature

By GENE WILLIAMS

His nickname is "Go-Go" and that's what he's done in Del Mar's Grade I, $1-million Pacific Classic, a race Garrett Gomez has won four times and one he says is "special" in his life.

The four victories, of course, put him far and away ahead of any other jockey donning silks for Del Mar's signature race at 1 1/4 miles on the main track this coming Sunday. Closest to him in wins are Eddie Delahoussaye and Gary Stevens, each with two.

Gomez and Delahoussaye share a special tie in the race, both having won back-to-back Classics with the same horse and both for trainer Robert Frankel and owner Juddmonte Farms. Gomez's back-to-back wins came in 2000 and 2001 with Skimming; Delahoussaye won with Tinners Way in 1994 and '95.

Gomez, a 37-year-old native of Tucson, Ariz., has won with favorites such as Skimming in 2001 and last year's Go Between, and he's won with a longshot -- 11-1 Borrego in 2005. He may be on the favorite this year, too -- Colonel John for trainer Eoin Harty.

In evaluating the races, Gomez was quick to say, "They're all tough." But he did separate the one that could be considered the easiest of his wins and the ones he sees as the hardest.

"Probably the easiest one of all was the second time Skimming won," he said. "He won pretty handily." (The official margin was five and one-half lengths, largest of the 18 runnings thus far.) The first Skimming win was altogether different. "He wasn't a true mile-and-a-quarter horse," the rider said. "He wasn't very big. Bobby told me not to take too much away from him; let him bounce out of there and try to run the other horses into the ground the first seven-eighths, and when he starts staggering they'll start staggering. That was the objective."

The second time, he said, "He came home a lot better. He was older and stronger." He noted that Skimming also won the San Diego Handicap both of those years, too, adding, "He never got beat at Del Mar."

As for his toughest win, Gomez says, "That was probably last year. I thought Go Between was going to win fairly handily, but the horse on the inside [Well Armed] fought back hard." Go Between won by a neck (the tightest margin in the series history).

He considers the Borrego victory to be another tough one. "I had to go really wide," he said, "and we got up in the last 40 yards or so." (The margin that day was a half length.)

Aside from his victories, Gomez has finished second twice -- with Momentum in 2002 for trainer Craig Dollase and Good Reward in 2006 for Claude R. "Shug" McGaughey III. His only off-the-board finish came in 2007 when Big Booster, trained by Mike Mitchell, finished fifth.

Of his runner-up finishes, Gomez says: "With Craig's horse, I probably should have won. I was in a very good spot, but I was held up behind horses and Came Home [the winner] circled the field. Just when I found a place to go, Came Home was a half-length in front of me. I‘ve always felt that if I could have got loose earlier Momentum would have been able to hit his best stride earlier and been stronger."

As for his thoughts on the race in general, Gomez said, "They're all very special. It's been very good for me. It was one of the first major races I won, and it was the first big race I won [Borrego] after I came back [from personal problems that kept him away from racing for more than a year]. It's always been a special race in my heart and I've been lucky to have the right horses at the right time. I hope I'm lucky again this year and have the right horse again."

On the emotional side of riding races, Gomez said, "I try to stay even-keeled and not show too much emotion. If you don't get too high you don't have so far to fall if something negative happens.

"I can hear the fans hollering, ‘Smile, smile,' but my thought is if I'm handling something somebody maybe paid a million dollars for I figure I should look serious, so it's obvious I know what I'm doing with that person's million dollars. When these people put me on their horses, I'm out there to take care of their horses and make sure everything goes correctly and I know what my job at hand is.