He arrived at Monmouth Park with a famous last name and a
legend to follow. Now Keiber Coa is marking his own trail.
The 18-year-old apprentice jockey is the son of Eibar Coa,
who was the leading rider here in 2001 and 2002 and won more than 22 riding
titles and 4,000 races, including the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, in his career.
The younger Coa has only ridden in just over 100 races, but he’s already
notched hat tricks on successive live racing days at Monmouth on June 3 and
June 8 and heads are turning.
“I like him a lot. He’s a nice kid and a very smart kid,”
said Juan Serey, one of the trainers giving Keiber Coa a leg up this meet. “He
reminds me of his father. He rides like him and he thinks like him. I won a lot
of races with his father and now he is winning with my horses.”
The Coas are native Venezuelans but the elder rider
recommended that Keiber attend the Laffit Pincay, Jr. Jockey School in Panama rather
than learn the trade at an academy in their home country because Pincay’s
school has an outstanding record of producing successful riders including Alex
Solis, Cornelio Velasquez, Jose Lezcano and Monmouth-based Elvis Trujillo and
Paco Lopez.
“When I got to the school I was told that just because I
have a big last name and a famous father, I would have to make it on my own,”
said Keiber, who graduated last December and has already won 12 races. “I had
to learn things and do things for myself and I made my own way.”
Right out of the
gate, that proved a difficult task. In only Keiber’s first week at the school
in Feb. 2011, his father was involved in a racing accident at Gulfstream that
fractured his C-4 vertebra. Eibar Coa was told that he would be paralyzed from
the neck down.
“That was a very tough time,” said Keiber. “I had a big
decision to make. I didn’t know if I still wanted to be a jockey and stick with
it. I talked to my dad in the hospital and he told me he would support whatever
I decided. I grew up my whole life watching him ride and always wanted to be
like him. He was my motivation. I didn’t quit.”
Eibar Coa has made a remarkable recovery and is now walking
and even driving again and is enjoying a second career as a jockey agent in
Florida. Keiber said that his parents plan to visit Monmouth this summer to
watch him compete.
What the father will see is what horsemen here have already
noticed about the young rider, who keeps his five-pound weight advantage until
one year after his fifth win, which was achieved on April 29, 2012.
“It’s hard to remember that he’s a bug (apprentice) because
he’s very mature and a really fast learner. He looks good on a horse. He’s got
good hands and a good seat and he gets them to run for him,” said Cory Moran,
who is Coa’s agent and represented Lopez (2008) and Shaun Bridgmohan (1998)
when they won Eclipse Awards as the top apprentice rider in North America. “At first it was tough to
break in because there are so many established and good riders here, but now
that the trainers see what he can do, business is really picking up. If there’s
a hot bug rider in the room, everyone will jump in on the action.”
Along with Serey, trainers Tim Hills and Ben Perkins, Jr.
are giving Coa the call and he has also won races for Wesley Ward and Eddie
Plesa, Jr. among others.
Every race presents a learning opportunity and even better,
Coa has a top teacher.
“I always call my dad. We talk every day and we go over
every race, the horses and the PPs (past performances),” said Keiber. “He helps
me a lot and I trust his advice.”
After riding in four races and winning none in December
2011, this year so far Coa has a dozen victories, 14 seconds and 13 thirds from
109 mounts. His double hat trick effort and early success here make one wonder
if an Eclipse Award as leading apprentice is in the cards.
“Before I even started riding, I always dreamed of that,”
said Coa. “But that’s something that takes a lot of hard work and commitment
and isn’t easy to get. I am willing to work my hardest to accomplish that. That
and being the best I can are some things that I want.”