Every jockey worth their white pants goes on a great roll from time to time. Call it "in the zone" or "Big Mo" or "riding the wave"—no matter which cliché applies, it's a pleasure to behold.
Emma-Jayne Wilson is in the midst of one of those sweet rolls right now at Woodbine, where she sits securely in third place in the standings with 70 wins behind Justin Stein and Rafael Manuel Hernandez. This is a tribute to the fact that Wilson, 38, is experiencing her first injury-free season since 2017 after losing three months in 2018 with a broken arm and two months in 2019 with a fractured clavicle and broken hand. Ouch.
But that was then. Right now, Wilson has taken this month of October by the throat with 13 wins through the first 13 racing days at Woodbine, including a triple Oct. 18 that featured a rousing last-to-first victory in the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes Presented by Pattison (G1T) aboard Say the Word for Sam-Son Farm. On Saturday, Wilson will try to upset the Canadian Triple Crown party planned for Mighty Heart when she rides English Conqueror for JWS Farms and trainer Darwin Banach.
"I was really impressed when I rode him last time, although it was on the inner turf course," Wilson said, referring to English Conqueror's maiden win at Woodbine Sept. 19. "He was tenacious and really fought it out."
This is true. English Conqueror's sire, English Channel, was Eclipse Award male turf champion of 2007, and his dam, Regal Conqueror, is by 2006 Sovereign Award male turf champion Sky Conqueror.
"And I rode Sky Conqueror when he broke his maiden," Wilson said. "So English Conqueror comes by the mile and a half very honestly. He'll have to show a bit more than he did in his maiden win, but if he's a true stayer, he'll have some punch late. It's not that I want to take away the Canadian Triple Crown from Mighty Heart. But I am a competitor, and that's my job."
The mile and one-half race around Woodbine's 12-furlong main turf course is one of the most attractive races on the continent. The field for the Breeders' Stakes will break in front of the grandstand, ease around a turn and down a short straight, then make a hairpin left to the long backstretch. After a generous final turn, the home straight is 1,440 feet, which can take some getting used to.
"Not for the jockeys as much as for some horses running here for the first time," Wilson said. "U.S-based horses are used to poles in roughly the same place all the time where they learn to make their move on the turn. I've been on horses who ship up here, and they'll start to pick it up on the turn. You have to go, 'No, easy does it. There's a lot more race to come.'"
Win or lose the Breeders' Stakes, Wilson's place in Canadian racing history is secure. She was a two-time winner of the Sovereign Award during her apprenticeship, which overlapped the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Those trophies fit nicely with her 2005 Eclipse Award as North America's outstanding apprentice. She is the only woman to have ridden the winner of Canada's premier event, the Queen's Plate, which she did in 2007 aboard Mike Fox, and in 2018 Wilson was honored with the Avelino Gomez Award for lifetime achievement. She also has found time to raise twin girls Grace and Avery, now 3 1/2, with her wife, Laura Trotter.
Wilson and her Canadian colleagues have been subjected to the same kind of pandemic protocols that U.S. racetracks have imposed on domestic jockey colonies. It should be noted that the border remains closed, so there have been no riders from the States invading Woodbine for stakes mounts in the big days. With an uptick in positive COVID-19 cases in the surrounding communities, fans have been banned from Woodbine since Oct. 9.
"Masks are required everywhere on the grounds, and we can pull them down only once we're in the gates," Wilson said. "They are very strict with the valets and the gate crews as to always having masks, wearing gloves, and limiting interactions. But wearing gloves and a mask is really nothing compared to the sacrifices some people have had to make."
Pandemic protocols aside, Canadian jockeys are nearing the end of their first full season of a whip rule that not only restricts the number of strikes, but also limits them to using the whip with an underhand grip, although they are permitted to turn the stick to the forehand to flag a mount by the head and eye.
"There was a period of adjustment, and some riders have struggled with the change more than others," Wilson said. "One thing I did was change all my whips. I found I was much more efficient in moving a shorter stick back and forth between hands. So I've ordered a dozen whips from Australia that are perfect. Just like a hockey player, you've got to get comfortable with your equipment."
Although Woodbine runs until mid-December, Wilson wouldn't mind if October never ends.
"I've usually done quite well later in the year," she said. "And lately, someone pointed out on social media that I've been winning the last race of the day quite often. I guess that makes sense—I've always been a closer."
