Female jockey Sutherland gives Santa Anita a new look
HORSE RACING
The photogenic jockey has been piling up longshot winners in her first meet riding at Santa Anita, but she's planning to return to Canada
Chantal Sutherland isn't just turning heads at Santa Anita these days, she's winning races and generating talk.
And not just because the 32-year-old jockey in 2006 made People magazine's "100 Most Beautiful People" list alongside the likes of Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman. Or because before that she had a four-page spread in Vogue that included a photo of her on a horse wearing a skin-tight body suit.
Sutherland, after success in Canada, is proving she can hold her own in Southern California's tough jockey colony.
"The proof is in the pudding," Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens said. "She has become the queen of the longshots. She has won several photos against top jockeys, which shows she is a strong finisher."
Her victory aboard 8-1 shot Lightmyfirebaby in the Irish O'Brien Stakes on St. Patrick's Day gave Sutherland her 12th win of the meet and her first stakes victory.
"This is really amazing," she said after the race. "To win my first stake at Santa Anita . . . it's really cool; it's out of this world. This is the best time of my life. To be winning races like this here at Santa Anita, it's just awesome."
Barry Abrams, the trainer of Lightmyfirebaby, said: "I use Chantal on a lot of my horses. She gets along with my nervous, nutty horses. She calms them down. She does a great job."
The next day, Abrams was still beaming.
"If you have a horse that can win, she can get the job done," he said. "I'm as confident when she's on a horse as I am when it's [Eclipse Award winner] Garrett Gomez."
Her 12 wins through Monday averaged a win payoff of $22.22. A $20 wager on each of her 77 mounts would have resulted in a profit of $1,126.
She had three mounts Thursday and in the eighth race rode 23-1 shot Grizhead Red to a strong finish for third and a $10 show payoff.
Sutherland, who came from Toronto in December to ride at Santa Anita for the first time, said: "I never thought I would do this well. I came here to better myself as an athlete, but I came here with no expectations. I didn't know how I would do. It's been an amazing experience. It's been like a dream."
Her Santa Anita dream, however, probably will end soon. Although she says she's not 100% sure, she plans to return to Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack on April 8. That would mean she would miss the final two weeks of the Santa Anita meet.
