Jockey Angel Cordero won 7,057 races during his Hall of Fame career. He is the undisputed “King of Saratoga” after winning the riding title at the Spa 14 times. Kentucky Derby? Preakness? Belmont? Been there, done that. He has rubbed elbows with a president, clowned around with Muhammad Ali and hung out with Bob Marley. An interesting life, for sure, Angel Cordero Jr. has lived. He shared some of it with the TDN. Here is the Saratoga Q&A.
TDN: Do you miss riding?
Angel Cordero Jr: I used to miss it a lot. A long time ago. Now, I'm 82. I don't miss it. I used to get on horses (in the mornings) for Todd (Hall of Fame trainer Pletcher) and he kept asking, 'are you going to ride a horse?'
TDN: It's out of your system now?
AC: Yes. The last horse I got on was Uncle Mo (in 2011). We went to Kentucky with him, and he scratched the morning of the Derby.
TDN: I remember covering you when you rode. You were always known as a fierce competitor. Do you agree with that?
AC: I guess. To be a good athlete, you have to be fearless. In any sport. If you don't have that on your inside, you won't be on the top. To be on the top, you have to have no fear of getting hurt or getting fired.
TDN: You had plenty of injuries over your career. How many bones did you break?
AC: I broke my ankle, both of my knees, my back … my hands are the worst. I broke my collarbone. Believe it or not, I just had a shoulder operation for my rotator cuff. The doctor told me it would take six months. I told him I didn't even do six months when I got hurt on a horse (smiles). The longest I was ever out was four months.
TDN: Every time you got hurt you could not wait to get back riding. (In 1978, he fractured his vertebra at Hollywood Park; in 1986 he lacerated his liver and fractured an arm in a spill at Aqueduct).
AC: Twice, I almost died. I was once in a coma for a week. I woke up and the doctor was next to me, and he asked how I was feeling. I said, 'I feel ok. When can I ride again?' (smiles) He said I don't even know if I am going to make it through life and I am asking that! It's like any other athlete. You don't think about the danger. I was never afraid to die. I was afraid to get paralyzed. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I am a big believer in God. Whatever He has for us, that's it.
TDN: If you saw a hole, it didn't matter how small it was, you were going for it.
AC: If I thought I could make it, yes. I never tried for a hole if I didn't think I was going to make it. Whenever I went for it, I knew I was going to make it. It's like driving a car. You know you are going to clear the car behind you in time. Riding a horse is the same.
Angel Cordero aboard Flower Alley | Sarah Andrew
TDN: You have to be brave to do it.
AC: You have to be brave to ride horses. All the jockeys have it. You have to have good judgement in where you are running into and who you are running into.
TDN: With all the horses you rode, is there one that sticks out?
AC: The best horse I ever rode was Seattle Slew. By far. The best filly I ever rode was Waya. She beat all the colts. I don't ever remember getting beat with her. She was the smartest horse I ever rode, and she taught me a lot. I learned how to ride European horse through her.
TDN: Is there a rider out there now that reminds you of you?
AC: Irad (Ortiz Jr.) a little bit. Johnny (Velazquez) a little bit. Johnny is like a son. I taught him since he was a bug boy. I am proud of him that he is still so good. Usually, in our game, the longer you ride, when you get older, your body doesn't hold. To me, Irad and Johnny and Jose (Ortiz) are outstanding. That doesn't mean the other ones aren't no good. To me, those three. Jose is more conservative. Irad is more aggressive. Johnny is very conservative, a very clean rider. I was a rough rider; I wasn't going to drop anybody, but I took my chances.
TDN: You would do anything to win.
AC: Yeah. When I got on a horse, in my mind, it was to get there first. No matter what. I remember when I was living with (soon to be wife, the late jockey Marjorie Clayton Cordero) and we were riding together, and I said I am going to give you piece of advice: don't ever run on my inside. She always would leave that little hole; we would call it the soccer hole. Someone goes down in there and when the time comes, you block it. The first time she ran in there, when I saw the shadow of the horse, I started going in and she said, 'Angel it's me.' I let her have it first right away. She was crying. And I said, 'listen, jockeys and cowboys don't cry.' I said I told you not to run on my inside. She said she was already there. I said you weren't there; you were trying to get there. Then you announced yourself. Don't announce yourself. If you are going to go for the hole, go. Don't go, 'hey, I'm here.' You don't do that.
TDN: You cut the hole off.
AC: Oh, yeah. Two or three times.
TDN: I know you love boxing. Ever meet Ali?
AC: Yes. I met him like four times. He was very kindhearted. If he liked you, he spent time talking to you. He talked to everybody but if he liked you, he would spend a little more time with you.
TDN: Did he like you?
AC: Yes. He kept asking me, 'did you ever win the Derby?' The first time I met him I said I had won it once. The second time, I had won it twice. He said, 'did you ever win the Derby?' I said, 'yeah, I already told you.' And he said, 'do I have a problem with you?' (raises fists, mimicking Ali). I said, 'no, I thought you remembered (laughs).' I really admired him. He was my idol.
TDN: You met Howard Cosell too, right?
AC: Cosell was nice to me, I don't know why, but he was. He always came to my defense. He came to my house twice. He said he never went to anyone's house for an interview, but he came to my house. Twice. He came to my defense with Codex (Cordero won the 1980 Preakness with him over the filly/Kentucky Derby winner Genuine Risk. Cordero was accused of intentionally pushing Codex wide and impeding the filly, perhaps even striking her with his whip. Claims of foul were disallowed).
TDN: You were probably getting a lot of hate mail after that one.
AC: A lot of it. They were going to kill me. They were going to blow up my house, my car. It was a very unfair situation. Every time they showed the film from the outside and the angles were different. I told the press you have to watch the real race on film. The film that counted was the one that was on the outside. We went to court twice. They made it like I was hitting in the race like twice. Every time I would tell my lawyer, don't let them show you the film that someone else took. Tell them you want to see the film that the stewards made the decision from. That film was clear. There was always daylight between me (and Genuine Risk). The reason they didn't take me down was because when I passed two horses, I stayed where I was. That was my choice. And he (jockey Jacinto Vasquez on Genuine Risk) came around me and when we both made the turn outside, but I never touched him. (Vasquez) said I hit the filly with the whip, and I bumped her. It was a long inquiry. They could not see what he said. I caught a lot of heat. I caught a lot of heat everywhere.
TDN: Was it because you were Angel Cordero Jr.?
AC: Probably. When someone does it now, it's race riding.
TDN: If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be?
AC: Muhammad Ali has to be one of them. I never met him, but I am a big fan of Michael Jordan. He is a special guy. The other one? How about Jennifer Lopez? (laughs).
TDN: If there is a movie made about your life and you can pick the actor to play you, who are you going with?
AC: Years ago, I used to like Denzel Washington. I like Robert DeNiro. I liked Jack Nicholson. But those two can't play me because they are big and they're white! To have a story about me riding, they would have to use old races. There might be someone that is my size. They have a lot of talented young guys who are small.
TDN: During your heyday, when you were on top, you must have met a lot of famous people.
AC: I did
TDN: Who were some of them, besides Ali?
AC: I went to the White House and met Ronald Reagan. I was surprised. I used to kid around all the time saying I wanted to go to the White House. People would say, 'oh yeah, sure, you are going to go to the White House!' I finally got invited. The first time I got invited, the morning of the event, the plane got cancelled. I missed going and I was so upset. Two weeks later, they were honoring somebody who was president of a country who was named Cordero (Leon Febres Cordero of Ecuador). They were having a dinner for him and I got invited. That time, I went the night before. I got to meet a President.
TDN: How did that go?
AC: It was like nine of us. They said we were going to go in alphabetical order and you go shake the President's hand and walk out. I brought some flowers – three dozen roses for his wife (Nancy). When I was in the line, she came and thanked me for the beautiful flowers. I was shocked! When I got to him, I said, 'nice to meet you Mr. President' and I walked away. But he held my hand, and he said, 'let me ask you something.' He said he had taken lessons for two years to ride a horse to make movies. And he asked me if horses had tonsils! There were 100,000 thousand questions that he could have asked me, and he asked me a question that I had no answer. He talked to me for quite a while.
Angel Cordero aboard Seattle Slew | Horsephotos
TDN: (Trainer) Dale Romans said you met Bob Marley. What was he like?
AC: He was nice.
TDN: Did he sing?
AC: No, no no. I was riding in Hialeah and I had this friend who was a friend of his and he worked for Bob Marley. After the races, I used to take a taxi to the airport and catch a 5:30 (p.m.) flight. He was waiting for me outside and asked where I was going, and I said I was going home. I told him I was going to take a taxi but he said said, 'no, I will take you.” He had a white Rolls Royce and he let me drive it. I was so scared. My plane was delayed and he said he would take me for something to eat. Well, I wasn't hungry because I just finished riding. I said, 'I know you don't smoke, but do you think you could get me a joint?' If I could smoke a little, maybe I would get hungry, you know?
TDN: I think I know where this is going.
AC: He said he would take me somewhere and we drove for 15 minutes, and he came to a house. Guy came out with flip flops and dreadlocks and t-shirts. I didn't know him We went into the house, and he made one for me and one for him. He said, 'how was your day?' I said 'my day was good, how was yours?' He said he was just chilling. He asked where I lived, and I said Long Island. He said he had a house in California, Jamaica and Florida. He asked me how my business was going, and I said, 'good.' He said his business was good, too. My friend started laughing and I asked him why. He said because he doesn't know who you are and you don't know who he is. He said, 'this is Angel Cordero, the jockey and this is Bob Marley. He said, 'man, I follow your horses, I bet on you all the time!' And, he said, 'let's do another one (joint)! We talked for about 15 minutes. It was cool. I never thought I was being taken to Bob Marley's house!
TDN: You've had a wonderful life.
AC: I can't complain. I've got hurt a lot, but I've had a beautiful life.
TDN: Do you like being a jockey agent (he represents Jose Gomez)?
AC: No. It's one thing that I never thought I would be. I have groomed, I have cleaned stalls, pony horses, gallop horses, ride horses, train horse, own horses, breed horses. Never, never, never did I think I would be an agent. You go begging for people to ride you. You can have a good rider, but if he doesn't have a name and you don't have a stable to back you up, it's hard.
TDN: In football, they say Tom Brady is the GOAT. In basketball, it's Michael Jordan. Is Angel Cordero the GOAT of jockeys?
AC: I don't know. You always think you are the best at what you do. If I ask you who is the best in your profession, who are you going to say?
TDN: I am going to say me!
AC: Of course you are. You are going to laugh at this. Last year, I was talking to (trainer), Tom Morley and he said, 'the GOAT!” And I thought he was making fun of me. I said, 'come on Tom, I like you, why are you being like that to me?' He said he wasn't being mean; said I was the GOAT of the sport. I thought he was calling me a goat, like the animal. I didn't know what it meant in sports.
TDN: Now you do. So, are you? Are you the GOAT of horse racing?
AC: I don't know. Could be. But I'm not the only one. There are a lot of GOATS.
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