Retired jockey and current jockey
agent Jorge Velasquez, who finished his career in 1997 with nearly 6,800 winners
and was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1990, will participate in a
live web chat Friday, March 19 at 8:00 p.m. EST on nyra.com.
Velasquez, a native of Panama who came to the United States to ride in 1965, was dominant on
the New York
circuit through the 1970s, winning five NYRA titles in 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976
and 1978. Among his top mounts were
1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Pleasant Colony and champion fillies
Chris Evert and Davona Dale.
Velasquez may be best known as the regular rider of
Alydar, whose famous rivalry with Affirmed captivated the nation in 1978. Alydar ran second to Affirmed in all
three Triple Crown races that year, and
the pair’s dramatic stretch battle in the Belmont Stakes remains one of
the sport’s most enduring images.
When Affirmed crossed the wire a head in front he became racing’s
11th – and last to date – Triple Crown winner. Alydar and Velasquez would go on to win
the Whitney and the Travers later that summer.
Fans who wish to participate in the live dialogue with
Velasquez may log on to http://www.nyra.com/livechat beginning
this Friday at 8 p.m. No pre-registration is necessary and users may simply type
questions and comments in the chat field at the bottom of the page for Velasquez
to address. At the conclusion of the chat, an “instant replay” is created for
future reference.
NYRA has conducted live chats on Friday evenings since
October 23. Velasquez will be the
fourth guest host in the chat series, following NYRA Chief Operating Officer Hal
Handel, leading trainer Gary Contessa, and veteran New York jockey Richard
Migliore. NYRA TV Analyst Andy
Serling regularly hosts the chats.
Fans who wish to view transcriptions of previous chats
may do so at http://www.nyra.com/livechat.