Teen jockey hits California gold

"I'm leading the life of a 30-year-old -- I'm always working," Talamo said on the phone from the Del Mar racetrack Monday before going out to ride in all of the day's eight races. By the end of the day, he had two more winners, giving him seven for the first five days of the 43-day meet.

Despite his age, Talamo may be the hottest jockey on the Southern California circuit. He lost his apprentice "bug" Saturday, meaning he no longer gets a five-pound advantage.

He is now a journeyman because Saturday was the one-year anniversary of his fifth win. Usually, when an apprentice loses his bug, his business drops. Owners and trainers shy away because there no longer is a weight advantage.

But nothing seems to have changed for Talamo (the name rhymes with Alamo). On Sunday, his first day as a journeyman with no weight advantage, he won three races, including a $100,000 stakes aboard longshot Spenditallbaby.

The big race of the day was the Grade I $400,000 Eddie Read Handicap, won by heavily favored After Market, with Alex Solis the jockey.

But Talamo's three wins showed he can compete with the big boys, despite still being nearly a year away from graduating from high school.

He dropped out of high school in New Orleans, but takes classes on the Internet.

"I'm on the computer any chance I get," he said. "I'm going to graduate from high school. After that, we'll see."

Talamo says he can't quite believe what has happened to him since coming to Southern California toward the end of the Santa Anita meet.

"Every morning, I pinch myself," he said. "I've been blessed and fortunate."

Eddie Delahoussaye, another Louisiana jockey who had a great career after coming to Southern California, said he believes Talamo is on his way to being a superstar.

"For a 17-year-old, he has a lot of talent," Delahoussaye said. "He's very patient, and the more he rides, the better he is going to become."

Talamo is the son of an assistant trainer, also Joe -- "I'm actually Joe III," says the 5-foot-1, 109-pound Talamo. He started riding thoroughbreds at age 8. He began riding professionally as an apprentice at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans in June 2006. He won his first race July 9 and his fifth July 21 and ended up winning the jockey title with 119 victories, 25 more than the runner-up.