The ride man for the job

Let's update our ratings for the local jockeys after three weeks at Hollywood Park. As I explained recently, I give a rider a point for each win, award a bonus point for each long-shot win (10-1 or higher) and each photo-finish win (neck or less), and deduct a point for each loss on a post-time favorite.

Here are the leaders:

Overall: Rafael Bejarano (+15 points), Michael Baze (+11), Jose Valdivia (+8) and Pedro Arambula (+8).
Main-track sprints: M. Baze (+8), Arambula (+6), Martin Pedroza (+6).
Main-track routes: Bejarano (+6), M. Baze (+2), Arambula (+2), Garrett Gomez (+2), Tyler Baze (+2).
Turf: Bejarano (+9), Victor Espinoza (+5), Valdivia (+4).
Speed: Arambula has four wire-to-wire wins, Pedroza and T. Baze three each.
Closers: Bejarano has eight wins on horses who rallied from the back half of the field (and has no wire-to-wire wins). Gomez has eight back-of-the-pack wins (and one wire-to-wire).
Long shots: Valdivia has three wins paying 10-1 or more, M. Baze and Jon Court two each.

Good handicappers don't bet on jockeys, they bet on horses. But good handicappers do pay attention to whether a particular jockey "fits" a particular horse in a certain race. Hope these numbers help you to do that.