DEL MAR (KGTV) — Del Mar's summer meet marks the start of the 2-year-old racing season, giving fans an early look at many of the sport's most promising colts and fillies—and potential future stars.
Opening day at Del Mar will be about more than watching colts and fillies race. Behind the scenes, two heavy hitters, based in California, are working to keep Del Mar at the top of the racing world.
One of them is racehorse trainer Aggie Ordonez.
"I think being a woman is an advantage in the sport," Ordonez said.
Ordonez has been training thoroughbreds for more than 20 years. She grew up in the industry, following in her father's footsteps.
"I do my own thing. I follow my heart," Ordonez said. "Women bring so much to this game and their compassion and their empathy and their kindness and gentle hearts and strong spirits, and we're very competitive as well."
Her star filly will be racing at Del Mar on opening day, Om N Joy.
"Om N Joy is certainly the highlight of my career, and she gave me my first stakes win, and she gave me my first graded stakes win and my second graded stakes win," Ordonez said. "I'm so thrilled to bring Om N Joy to Del Mar this year. She loves this racing surface. She loves this track, the weather, everybody loves Del Mar."
Ordonez and Om N Joy are in a special spotlight right now, as female horse trainers are taking the lead following one female horse trainer, Cherie DeVaux, making history as the first female horse trainer to win this year's Kentucky Derby.
"I'm so proud of women in this sport, how far we've come and all that we've accomplished, and we bring so much to the game," Ordonez said. "We bring so much to the game."
Also sharing the spotlight at Del Mar's opening day is Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith.
"Being a jockey just kind of came natural to me," Smith said.
Smith's success is unrivaled. Throughout his career, Smith has won the Triple Crown in 2018, two of the 28 Kentucky Derbies he has raced in, two Preaknesses, three Belmonts, and still holds the all-time leading record for winning 28 Breeders' Cup races.
"So I'm hoping to add to it again for the next couple of years and see if I can hold on to it till I retire," Smith said.
Smith is turning 60 next month and continues to compete against and beat jockeys in their 20s.
"They're extremely talented. But you know that it just pushes me a little more too. It just makes me really work, work out a little harder," Smith said. "Being able to mentor some of them and help out is almost as good as feeling like winning sometimes."
Smith is known for his finesse and ability to connect with a horse that keeps him formidable on the track.
"It's you adapting to them, more than you trying to get them to adapt to you," Smith said. "Getting a horse to relax really well, getting a horse to get into a rhythm really early, getting a horse breathing right, I'm kind of known for a little bit of that, but I'd like to say I'm very well-rounded."
Smith will be racing two colts on opening day: Free Solo and One More Freud. There's a chance he may also race First Peace
"Right now I'm just excited about opening day at Del Mar, so we'll see where this, where this takes us," Smith said.
