When Ramón Dominguez approached the starting gate for the seventh race at Aqueduct on Jan. 18, 2013, he was already off to what most consider a great day of racing. For a three-time Eclipse Champion, it was just another day on the job. He had run in the money in three of his four starts already that day, and had blown the field away by over five lengths in the second race.
The weather was clear and the track was fast. But the picture-perfect day turned quickly when Dominguez was tossed from his mount as the horse clipped heels and stumbled while waiting for an opening.
Five months later, Dominguez announced his retirement as a jockey due to traumatic brain injury at the age of 36.
It has been seven years since Dominguez's name was listed in a racing program, but his influence today is still impacting the racing community. “After my injury, the chapter about my life as a jockey closed,” Dominguez said. “But since then another chapter has opened, and I'm still involved in racing and happy to be a part of this big family in many different ways.”
A native of Venezuela, Dominguez fell in love with the sport at the age of 13. “When I was 15, I tried show jumping, and then shortly after that I started getting on racehorses,” Dominguez recalled. “I rode in Venezuela for a year and a half before coming to the United States in 1996.”
It didn't take long for the young jockey to find success. In 2001, and then again in 2003, he was the winningest jockey in the United States. In 2004, he got his first Breeders' Cup win aboard Better Talk Now (Talkin Man) in the GI Turf. He went on to capture two more Breeders' Cup victories with Hansen (Tapit) in the 2011 GI Juvenile and Little Mike (Spanish Steps) in the 2012 Turf. He was also the regular rider for three-time Eclipse Champion Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat). Together, the duo brought in six Grade I victories.
Dominguez topped the earnings list for jockeys three consecutive years from 2010 through 2012, gaining Eclipse Awards each year concurrently. On his home circuit in New York, he was the leading rider for four straight years from 2009 to 2012, and in 2012, he became the second rider alongside Hall of Famer John Velazquez to win six races on a single card at Saratoga.
Dominguez had reached the height of his career when it all came to a sudden end, so it would have been understandable to have been upset about losing the accolades or the missed opportunity for more Eclipse Awards and new records. But Dominguez was more devastated about missing the routine of the job he loved, the everyday moments that made up his day as a jockey.
“Initially, I wanted to stay away from the track, because it was too painful with the memories of riding and the people I had grown close with,” Dominguez said. “My wife was the one who pushed me. She said, 'You need to go to a track,' and I really had no say. So I went to the track and had a good day.”
One visit led to another, and eventually it was something Dominguez looked forward to doing. “Of course now I love coming to the track,” Dominguez said. “Not only to watch the races, but also to see and visit the people that have become like family.”
Today, as a National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame inductee, Dominguez is not only a fan of racing, but also an advocate for the sport with a passion for improving the industry.
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