José A. Santos

Horseracing personalities infobox
name = Jose Santos


caption =
occupation = Jockey
birthplace = Concepción, Bío-Bío Region, Chile
birth date = birth date and age|1961|4|26
death date =
career wins = 4,083 (North America)
race = Lawrence Realization Stakes (1985, 2000)
Mother Goose Stakes (1986)
Vagrancy Handicap (1986, 1992)
Vosburgh Stakes (1986)
Turf Classic Invitational Handicap (1986, 1989)
United Nations Handicap (1986, 1988, 1990, 1993)
Bertram F. Bongard Stakes (1987, 1997, 2002)
Florida Derby (1987, 1991)
Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes (1987, 2005)
Kentucky Oaks (1987)
Remsen Stakes (1987)
Wood Memorial Stakes (1987)
Brooklyn Handicap (1988)
Carter Handicap (1988, 1992, 2006)
Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (1988, 1989)
Jockey Club Gold Cup (1988, 1994, 2004)
Laurel Futurity (1988
Metropolitan Handicap (1988, 1990)
Personal Ensign Handicap (1988, 2003)
San Fernando Stakes (1988)
Arlington Million (1989, 1993)
Garden City Breeders' Cup Handicap
(1989, 1990, 1991, 2004)
Futurity Stakes (1989, 1994)
Ladies Handicap (1989, 1990)
Man O' War Stakes (1989, 1993)
Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes (1989)
Champagne Stakes (1990)
Dwyer Stakes (1990)
Frizette Stakes (1990)
Hollywood Gold Cup (1990)
Matron Stakes (1990, 1993)
Pimlico Special (1990)
Jerome Handicap (1991, 2003)
Strub Stakes (1991)
Manhattan Handicap (1993, 1998)
Coaching Club American Oaks (1994, 1995)
Saratoga Special Stakes (1994, 1995, 2000)
Withers Stakes (1994, 1995, 2002)
Maker's Mark Mile Stakes (1995)
Tropical Park Oaks (1997)
Jenny Wiley Stakes (1998)
Travers Stakes (1999)
Hopeful Stakes (2000)
Fall Highweight Handicap (2001)
Gallant Bloom Handicap (2002)
Maid of the Mist Stakes (2002)
Gazelle Handicap (2002)
Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf (2003)
Belmont Lexington Stakes (2004)
Beldame Stakes (2006)
Monmouth Breeders' Cup Oaks (2006)

American Classics / Breeders' Cup wins
Kentucky Derby (2003)
Preakness Stakes (2003)
Belmont Stakes (1999)
Breeders' Cup Turf (1986, 1997)
Breeders' Cup Juvenile (1987, 1990)
Breeders' Cup Mile (1989)
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (1990)
Breeders' Cup Classic (2002)

International race wins:
Canadian International Stakes (1986, 1997)
King Edward Stakes (1997)
awards = United States Champion Jockey by earnings
(1986, 1987, 1988, 1989)
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey (1988)
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award (1999)
ESPY for Outstanding U.S. Jockey (2003)
Red Smith "Good Guy" Award (2003)
honours = United States' Racing Hall of Fame (2007)
horses = Manila, Cryptoclearance, Chief Bearhart, Gulch
Fly So Free, Meadow Star, Success Express
Criminal Type, Colonial Affair, Steinlen
Lemon Drop Kid, Funny Cide, Fleet Indian, Volponi
updated = July 31, 2007

Jose Abon Santos (José Adeón Santos León) (born April 26, 1961 in Concepción, Chile) is a retired United States thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey.

Jose Santos first raced horses at Club Hipico de Concepcion in his native Chile, following in the footsteps of his father and three of his seven brothers, and in Colombia until moving to the United States in 1984 where he was the top money-winning jockey four years in a row from 1986 through 1989, winning the 1988 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in the United States. He is a seven-time winner of Breeders' Cup races and won the 1999 Belmont Stakes aboard Lemon Drop Kid. He won the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes with Funny Cide but missed winning the American Triple Crown after finishing third in the Belmont Stakes. In recent years, Santos would say that Funny Cide was not the greatest horse he ever rode, but he certainly was his personal favorite.

Santos was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award by his peers in 1999 and was a winner at the 2003 ESPY Awards as the outstanding jockey in the United States. Santos has long been a fan favorite and one of the most well liked and respected jockeys in the sport.

Santos was divorced from his first wife, Maria, of Roslyn Heights, in 1994. They had two children. Daughter Sophia Santos graduated in 2005 from Roslyn High School. She briefly attended Fashion Institute of Technology. Son Jose Ricardo Santos is a 2007 Roslyn High School graduate. He is currently serving as a U.S. Marine.

Libel Lawsuit

In 2004, Santos and Sackatoga Stable, owners of thoroughbred Funny Cide, filed a $48 million libel suit against The Miami-Herald over an article by freelance writer Frank Carlson and photo that appeared in its May 10, 2003, issue, seven days after Santos won the Kentucky Derby.

The related photo was posted with language highlighting a metallic object in Santos's right hand as he and Funny Cide crossed the finish line, raising suspicion that Santos had cheated to win the world famous race. Santos was quoted as identifying the object as a "cue ring", triggering an investigation.

The Chilean-born jockey, who speaks with a thick accident, later explained he had called the object a "Q ray," a magnetic bracelet worn by athletes to ease joint pain.

Santos hired attorney David Travis to defend him before the Kentucky Racing Commission and was cleared by racing officials. The $48 million libel suit was settled in 2008. Santos's Palm Beach attorney, litigator Bruce S. Rogow, told reporters his client was "pleased" with the confidential terms.

Advertising controversy

Jose Santos was also one of the first of five top jockeys to wear advertising patches in the Kentucky Derby, starting in 2004. They sued on First Amendment grounds, to be allowed to wear ad patches during the race. The ruling was issued on April 21, 2004, by U.S. District Judge John Heyburn in Louisville.

The jockeys in question had been offered substantial endorsement contracts to wear the ad patches, with payments, in some cases, of $30,000 apiece. Wearing the ad patches were legal in other Triple Crown states of New York and Maryland, but were argued by The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority that they might lead to corruption and violated racing tradition.

The other jockeys included Jerry Bailey, John Velazquez, Gary Stevens, and Shane Sellers.

ophia Santos

In November 2007, Sophia Santos, daughter of Jose Santos, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated following and driving without a license in a collision in which one Long Island woman died and two others were critically injured.

The other driver at the scene told police that Santos was speeding when she drove through a red light around 2:30 a.m. and crashed into their Chevrolet, killing one passenger, Virginia Casazza-Urgo. Urgo was heading home from her 62nd birthday party at a local restaurant. Other injured passengers included John Urgo, 53, and her sister, Linda Chapman, 53. John Urgo was hospitalized with a broken back and jaw. Chapman was treated for a crushed pelvis and collapsed lung. Sophia Santos was treated for minor injuries and released to policy custody.

Sophia Santos was held on a $1 million bond or $500,000 cash bail. As the daughter of a famous jockey, no one expected Sophia Santos to spend more than a few hours in prison. Newspapers pointed to the luxury car that was totalled in the accident, her Albertson address and her father's multimillions as proof she was wealthy. Many of her harshest critics left comments on her MySpace page and typed angry messages to her under the Newsday internet article. Public sentiment believed she was not only guilty, but also spoiled and rich; many people assumed she was in the United States illegally and used her as an example of problems caused by illegal aliens.

But the Mercedes-Benz that the Roslyn High School graduate was driving was registered to her stepmother, Rita Santos, a Florida resident. After graduating from high school, she had held a series of low-wage jobs as a cashier at Whole Foods, a barista at Starbucks and a sales clerk at a local store. The modest Albertson Cape Cod was rented for the racing season by her father while he raced locally.

Most telling of all, however, was her failure to post bail. The timid 20-year-old remained locked up at Nassau County Correctional Facility for 10 months while her case was pending. Her stepmother, part of the much-photographed entourage of relatives who, with stepdaughter Sophia, joined jockey Santos in his appearance at Saratoga to enter the Jockey Hall of Fame, denied having met her, or consenting to her use of the Mercedes.

In coming weeks, seeking to distance himself from his daughter's legal problems and bad publicity, jockey Santos was represented by two lawyers who told the Mineola court he could not post bail for his daughter. They also denied she was living at his Albertson house, although neighbors remembered seeing Sophia take out garbage cans on pickup mornings and wait outside the house for visiting friends. Rita Santos continued to deny knowing Sophia.

One of the retired jockey's attorneys, James Drucker, claimed that Santos's sole source of income is his disability checks. No one mentioned the status of an out-of-court settlement reached in the Kentucky Derby Winner's $48 million libel suit against the Miami-Herald newspaper. With Judge Dana Jaffe presiding, Sophia Santos's mother and stepfather, jockey Jose Bermudez, produced a receipt documenting their payment of a $6,000 invoice issued by uber-lawyer Felice Muraca who was hired -- and never paid -- by Jose Santos in the days following his daughter's arrest. Muraca quit when it became clear that Jose Santos would not be responsible for his fee, reportedly between $100K and $200K. The court eventually appointed a Legal Aid lawyer, Michael F. Berger, to handle Sophia's case.

Thanks to a strict new state law enacted 10 days before the accident took place, the eldest child of the Chilean famous jockey faced charges of aggravated vehicular homicide. In previous cases, drivers convicted of DWI and involved in fatal collisions were eligible to receive a sentence of probation. The new law put a mandatory jail term on the books, upgrading the crime to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide -- a Class B felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

In court, prosecutors claimed Santos had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit when she hit the Chevrolet at the intersection of Wantagh Ave and Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown, Long Island. Sophia Santos held a valid New York State Learner's Permit but was not licensed to drive.

But Michael F. Berger, Santos's Legal Aid Attorney, produced several police tests that showed his client was not legally drunk at the time of the accident. And although the driver of the 2005 Chevrolet told police the traffic light was green for her, police could not find a credible witness to confirm her claim. Berger pointed out there was no way to prove which driver had the right of way when the cars collided in the early morning hours of Nov. 11, 2007.

Perhaps worst of all, police failed to test the other driver, Elmont resident Nancy Tumminello, for her alcohol blood level. Investigators had documented that alcohol was served during the birthday celebration that Tumminello had attended.

Also raising questions about Sophia Santos's guilt: Lab tests conducted for the District Attorney indicated that Sophia Santos was not speeding down Hempstead Turnpike when the crash occurred. Instead, they learned, evidence collected at the scene and tests on both cars showed Santos was driving 35 miles per hour. The speed limit for that strip of Hempstead Turnpike: 55 mph. Police also noted Santos was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

To be found guilty of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, prosecutors would have had to prove Sophia Santos was driving recklessly. By contrast, all evidence pointed to a careful driver who may very well have breezed slowly through a green light when the crash occurred.

Nevertheless, on the advice of her attorney, on September 9, 2008, Sophia Santos pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide, drunk driving and other charges in the 14-count indictment in Long Island's Nassau County Court. The occupants of the other car, including one who arrived in court in a wheelchair, and their friends and family packed the courtroom to watch and objected as Judge William Donino read his decision to accept Sophia Santos's plea bargain in the late night car crash. Sophia Santos faces 3 1/2 to nine years in prison when sentenced Oct. 8.

The famous jockey visited his daughter periodically in jail, but did not attend court proceedings.

Retirement

On February 1, 2007, Santos, then 45 years old, was involved in a 3-horse racing accident at Aqueduct Racetrack in NY. He suffered five broken vertabrae, a broken sternum, and several broken ribs. Santos had initially planned to return to riding by late 2007. However, he did not fully recover from his spinal injuries. Advised by his doctors that he had an 80% chance of winding up in a wheelchair if he raced again, one week before his induction into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, at Saratoga Race Course, Jose Santos announced his retirement:

One week later, when Santos was formally inducted to the Hall of Fame, he received an unprecedented three standing ovations from the crowd. It was one of the largest attended Hall of Fame ceremonies in years. Family and friends accompanied Santos to induction ceremonies at Saratoga, including his second wife, Rita, from whom he is currently separated, and his two eldest children, Jose Ricardo and Sophia, from his first marriage to Maria.

Lifetime stats: 25,928 mounts, 4,083 wins and earnings of $188,561,787, ranking him 11th on the all-time jockey rankings.

External links

* [http://www.ntra.com/stats_bios.aspx?id=1792 Jose Santos at the NTRA]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/money/2004-04-29-derby_x.htm USA Today Derby Jockeys Can Wear Ads]
* [http://sports.si.cnn.com/default.asp?c=cnnsi&page=horse/news/BJN4094188.htm SI Jose Santos Retires From Racing]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/news/story?id=2954589&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines ESPN Funny Cide Jockey Jose Santos Retires From Racing]