4B the university daily kansan
tuesday,may 11,2004
LAWRENCE
AUTOMOTIVE
DIAGNOSTICS
INC.
842-8665
2888 Four Wheel Dr.
www.lawrenceautodiag.com
SUNFLOWER
OUTDOOR &
BIKE
Trekfest!
It's our once a year sale on great Trek bikes and gear!
May 14-23,
2004
804 Massachusetts St.
Downtown Lawrence
(785) 843-5000
www.sunfloweroutdoorandbike.com
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Faith comes
---
from hearing the message.
and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Romans 10:17 NIV
Have you checked out the Word for yourself..?
Drop by for a free modern language New Testament.
It's a good read.
www.MyFreeBible.org
Be Prepared m August,
Hyperlearning MCAT starts Soon!
43 class sessions
Up to 5 specialty instructors
Over 4,000 pages of materials
5 full-length proctored exams
10 point average score improvement
Satisfaction guaranteed
sports
Seats fill quickly. Register today!
www.Princonetview.com | 100-29review
Courtesy of KRT Campus
Take a Tour. Get FREE Stuff!
843-6446
www.southpointeks.com
Derby win or not, he's still just Stew
BENSALEM, Pa. — In the heady aftermath of the Kentucky Derby, hours after guiding Smarty Jones to the winner's circle, Stewart Elliott spotted an acquaintance at a party.
The Associated Press
Jockey Stewart Elliott rides Smarty Jones as they approach the finish line to win the 103th Running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1 in Louisville, Ky.
Weaving his way through well-
wishers, Elliott grasped Ralph
Riviezzo's hand and shook it. The
trainer began congratulating him
on a brilliant ride, but Elliott
changed the subject:
"I just wanted to thank you," the 39-year-old jockey told the longtime Philadelphia Park trainer.
Nearly 20 years ago, Riviezzo slipped Elliott a $100 tip after the rider brought home one of his horses. Elliott never forgot.
For what? Riviezzo asked.
"I couldn't believe it," Riviezzo recalled last week at Philly Park. "He's just won the Kentucky Derby, and he says to me: 'I was going through a little bit of a bad time, things were going slow, and I won a race for you. You handed me a hundred and told me to take out my girlfriend. That was real nice of you.'"
"This is what I do, I ride horses," Elliott said last week at a favorite restaurant near his home in Washington Crossing. Pa. "I work hard at it. It's all I know. I gave up my education for this. I've been through a lot, but I've been very fortunate."
Ask people about Elliott, and the same words keep coming up repeatedly: dedicated, loyal, modest, reserved. And, of course, talented.
That, says Riviezzo, is all you need to know about Elliott: "A class act all the way. What a mindset."
Elliott has won more than 3,200 races since dropping out of school after eighth grade to pursue a riding career. He started riding three years later at 16 and has climbed aboard thoroughbreds at nearly 30 racetracks in the Northeast — from Canada to New England, from New Jersey to Florida.
He's broken collar bones and
legs and punctured a lung. After a horse flipped at the start of a race at Calder in the 1980s, Elliott landed back-first on the rail. His weight ballooned during his recovery, and he quit riding. He exercised horses in several states for two years before making it back.
Elliott was born into a racing family. His father, Dennis, was a jockey for 23 years and now has a farm in Ocala, Fla. His mother, Myhill, is an assistant trainer at Woodbine in his native Toronto.
"You could see he had some talent even back then," Servis said. "We seemed to hit it off and remained friends even when he left for Boston and Florida and wherever."
After bouncing around several tracks with moderate success, Elliott returned to Philly Park about 10 years ago. He became
By 1981, Elliott was riding at Philly Park and in New Jersey. In fact, he was the leading rider at Atlantic City, beating out another apprentice, Shannon Sullivan, whose agent just happened to be trainer John Servis.
Servis' regular rider. He bought a house. He met Vannozzo about four years ago, and an August wedding is in the works.
He's been Philly Park's leading rider three times, and is well on his way to a fourth title.
Servis loves the way Elliot rides. He's poised, patient and powerful, especially when it's time to make a move in the stretch.
Trainer John Servis stuck by Elliott all the way through the Derby preps. Small-time riders, after all, are nearly always replaced by stars when the stakes are raised, especially when it involves America's greatest race. But Servis told Elliott all he needed to do was convince Smarty Jones' owners.
"Absolutely, there's no doubt in my mind," the trainer replied.
"It's the biggest race in our lives. There's going to be 20 horses, there's going to be a zillion people there. Can you tell me you're confident with Stew going into the race?" owner Roy Chapman asked Servis a few weeks before the Derby.
Elliott was grateful.
"I couldn't think of any reason that would have let me stay on the horse, other than John," Elliott said. "Trainers have owners to deal with and they don't want to go to the Derby with some jockey from Philly Park. But they took John's word. And that was very big of them."
While trying to enjoy his newfound fame, Elliott found out everything isn't a blanket of roses.
"I've been riding mostly at cheap tracks and on mostly cheaper horses," he said. "This will give me an opportunity to make some money for retirement."
He's moving this month to Monmouth Park, the track where his fiancee began work a few days ago as an exercise rider for Servis' brother.
Elliott, it seems, is not about to wander too far from his friends.
"We started off here in Philly, went to Arkansas and made it all the way to the Derby. This is not about business, and being a client. We're pals, and we did it together."
23rd & Alabama LairdNoller 843-3500 www.lairdnoller.com 1-800-281-1105
See Laird Notler Mazea for a test drive today
1