By Katie Petrunyak
They say that once horse racing gets in your blood, it never leaves. Lee Vickers has no doubts about that. For him, a passion for the sport was practically embedded into his genetic code. Both his father and his grandfather were jockeys in his native England and Vickers was riding racehorses himself by age 12.
Over the past three decades since, Vickers has ridden dozens of top-level horses on both sides of the Atlantic. This year, the assistant trainer and exercise rider for Christophe Clement is enjoying the ride with GI Breeders' Cup Turf hopeful Far Bridge (English Channel).
Growing up in Yorkshire, Vickers dreamed of becoming a third-generation jockey. After graduating from the British Racing School in Newmarket, he got his start as an apprentice.
Even as he was starting his career, Vickers couldn't help thinking about how hard his father and grandfather had worked and yet they never made it to the top of the jockey ranks. As a backup plan, the young horseman spoke with a bloodstock agency about what he would need to do to become an agent. They told him to get experience, so he worked with yearlings on a stud farm and then moved on to a racing yard. Returning to the racing world brought back the allure of becoming a jockey and he soon began riding again. He found success first as a jump jockey and later transitioned to the flat.
“I rode in the Cheltenham Festival in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, which is like the fastest two-mile race over obstacles,” Vickers recalled. “I didn't win, but my horse ran well and I had a great experience in that race. Obviously that's the pinnacle of jumping in England. Then I was lucky enough to ride on the flat as well. I rode at Ascot and I rode a couple of winners at Epsom. I had a lot of good experiences as a jockey and a lot of thrills.”
In 2010, Vickers spoke with a friend about an opportunity to improve his skills by coming to ride in America. Vickers was told that riders in the U.S. developed a more polished style of riding than the jump jockeys in England and were trained to maintain an internal clock as they were riding.
That winter, Vickers went to work for Christophe Clement in Florida. He soon learned that riding in America required a sharp skill set.
“Here, to ride the horse around the track you need to make a connection with the horse and get a rapport with them because there's a lot going on,” he explained. “They are a little bit tougher to ride here than they are in England because you're on a flat track and there's plenty of company galloping around. You need to get a relationship with the horse and figure them out. I think you've got to be more on top of things.”
After a brief stint with Clement, Vickers returned to England to try his hand one last time as a jockey, but he couldn't get his mind off of the racing industry in America.
“I spoke with Christophe and we sorted out the paperwork,” said Vickers. “He got me straight back over and the rest is history. I fell in love with the sport in America. I loved the way they trained horses and obviously the weather was a bit nicer being in Florida for the winter. I started as a breeze rider and exercise rider for Mr. Clement and it evolved from there.”
For the past 10 years Vickers has served as an assistant trainer for Clement, spending the majority of his time in Florida and New York but also traveling with the stable's trainees to various meets throughout the country like the recently concluded Kentucky Downs meet.
Vickers and Far Bridge | Horsephotos
Some of Vickers's most memorable mounts over the years have been Za Approval (Ghostzapper), who finished second to Hall of Famer Wise Dan in the 2013 GI Breeders' Cup Mile, and four-time graded stakes winner Summer Front (War Front), but his all-time favorite is Tonalist (Tapit). The blaze-faced bay gave the Clement stable its first Classic victory in the 2014 Belmont Stakes and he went on to claim three more Grade I scores.
“I rode him every day and he took me to some really top heights,” Vickers recalled. “A fantastic horse to be around. Huge, but a gentle giant.”
When Far Bridge arrived at the Clement base in Florida as a 2-year-old, Clement and the rest of the team were high on the son of English Channel from the start. The colt broke his maiden on debut as a 3-year-old at Gulfstream last January, besting future Grade I winner Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) by a head, and earned 'TDN Rising Stars' honors in his next start. Clement was eyeing the GI Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes for the promising colt, but then Far Bridge was sold privately to LSU Stables and moved to Todd Pletcher.
Vickers and the rest of the Clement team watched from afar as Far Bridge claimed last year's Belmont Derby just as they had hoped and placed in four other graded stakes. At the end of the year, Vickers was pleased to learn that Far Bridge would be returning to the Clement barn.
Vickers has been the turf specialist's regular rider since his homecoming.
“We are privileged to have him in the barn again,” he said. “He's all hearts and he's got a serious engine. I know the owner adores him and is really behind him, and we love him too.”
Far Bridge bested allowance company in his 4-year-old debut this year but was winless in his next three graded starts, racing in mid-pack and never finishing better than third.
Vickers and Far Bridge in the paddock ahead of the Sword Dancer | Tod Marks
For the GI Sword Dancer Stakes on Aug. 24 at Saratoga, the Far Bridge team tried a different tactic. Jockey Joel Rosario sent the colt straight to the lead and took control of the pace along the inside. When the Charlie Appleby-trained duo of Measured Time (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Silver Knott (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) came breathing down his neck coming down the lane, Far Bridge dug in and fought to get the win at odds of 8-1.
Vickers said that he had been feeling confident ahead of each of Far Bridge's starts this year and knew the colt was more than due for that Sword Dancer score.
“I promise you, his last couple of races I had been really bullish and happy with him,” he admitted. “He's been unlucky with his trips, but we've always loved him and he has always been great. We had made a couple of little tweaks and a couple of changes with him going into this last race and it all fell right.”
With his win in the Sword Dancer, Far Bridge earned an automatic entry in the Breeders' Cup Turf on Nov. 2 at Del Mar. Before that, he will face a possible rematch with Silver Knott and Measured Time in the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on Sept. 28.
“The horse is doing well,” Vickers reported. “He's a happy horse, content. He's a little bit quirky to deal with, nothing bad he just likes to wander around a bit, but he is an incredible horse and we adore him. When things come together, he's a tough cookie.”
For Vickers, even though his responsibilities as an assistant trainer require plenty of time and energy, he still can't get over the thrill he experiences every day in his other role as an exercise rider.
“I love breezing the horses,” he said. “It wakes you up in the morning and it's fun. Seeing the results and seeing your work come to fruition, I think that's what's really rewarding.”
From a young boy with a dream of riding big races on through today, as he rides one of the top contenders in the turf division in the U.S., Vickers's passion for the horse remains steadfast.
“I'm incredibly lucky to be involved in the industry,” he continued. “It's a labor of love, but it has taken me all around the world and introduced me to some lovely people, great teams and great horses. I think that's what it's all about. It's being involved with these horses and seeing them progress. It's really rewarding when things go to plan.”
https://www.breederscup.com/
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