Politics Takes a Holiday Thanks to All-Star Jockeys

In case anyone hasn't noticed, jockeys are tough nuts to crack. They take their lives in their hands every time they throw a leg over a Thoroughbred. They ride with less protection than a mail carrier. Little wonder, then, that a group of jockeys based in Florida and California would respectfully choose to disregard the following alert from the United States Department of State warning Americans to steer clear of the sovereign nation of Venezuela: "Do not travel to or remain in Venezuela due to the high risk of wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest, and poor health infrastructure." Sounds like a Netflix series pitch. Then again, if you are traveling to Venezuela with Javier Castellano, arbitrary enforcement of local laws is not a problem, and prepare to be treated like royalty. Last Sunday, Dec. 13, Castellano led a delegation of half a dozen stateside riders to Caracas, where Hipodromo La Rinconada Hippodrome sits nestled against the lush green hillsides in the southern part of the Venezuelan capital. The occasion was an all-star event, brought to life by track operator Antonio Alvarez, Venezuela's former Minister of Sports who for the last seven years has been tasked with a revitalization of the Thoroughbred racing industry. In his youth, Alvarez was a baseball star who was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He earned the nickname "El Potro"—"the young horse"—for his exciting playing style in the outfield and on the basepaths. Besides Castellano, the participating U.S. riders corralled by Alvarez included Joel Rosario, John Velazquez, Katie Davis, Mike Smith, and Ricardo Santana Jr. Three local riders completed the fields in six events over La Rinconada's dirt track. Because of the increasing U.S. military presence in the Caribbean Sea directed at vessels sailing from Venezuela, both private and commercial travel from regional airports to Caracas has become inconsistent, and perhaps even downright dangerous. On Dec. 12, a JetBlue Airways flight leaving the island of Curacao to the north of Venezuela, bound for New York's JFK International Airport, halted its ascent to avoid hitting a U.S. Air Force tanker. On Dec. 13, the day before the all-star event, the pilots of a private business jet flying from Aruba to Miami narrowly avoided a collision, also with an Air Force refueling tanker. "Because we couldn't fly straight in to Caracas from Miami, we had to fly first to Columbia and stayed the night there," Mike Smith said. "Then the next morning, Sunday, we had an early flight on a private plane to Venezuela, which was about an hour and 40 minutes. We landed, they dropped us off at the hotel, then we headed right to the track." La Rinconada Hippodrome made its debut in 1959, designed by the American architect Arthur Froehlich. The Froehlich firm also designed Hollywood Park, Keeneland, and the 1960s renovation of Belmont Park, now giving way to another modern version. According to reports, the three grandstand sections at La Rinconada were packed for the Sunday program, drawing some 25,000 of the Venezuelan faithful. "I couldn't take two steps without somebody wanting to take a picture," Smith said. "You'd have thought I was LeBron James. People shouting out 'Zenyatta! Justify!' And the jocks there—I had to take 10 pictures with every one of them. "Javier is the man down there," Smith went on. "They've got a statue of him at the track, just like Laffit Pincay in Panama. For our event, there was big picture of his face inside a giant horseshoe right at the wire. I didn't win a race, but I did finish a good second. I told Javier I would have won if my horse hadn't propped when he saw that face." Of course, the endorsement of a paid celebrity should always be taken with a grain of salt. But Smith is the kind of guy who, if displeased, usually will simply decline to comment. And if Antonio Alvarez is to be taken for his word in public pronouncements, he seems dedicated to restore Venezuelan racing to the storied days that nurtured Canonero II, winner of the 1971 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, and the mare Trinycarol, who amassed the equivalent of $2.6 million during the booming 1980s, as well as fostered the early careers of Junior Alvarado, Ramon Dominguez, Eibar Coa, Sonny Leon, and Emisael Jaramillo. By winning two of the six all-star races, Katie Davis put a welcomed cherry on an otherwise tumultuous 2025 for the riding Davis clan. On June 1 at Finger Lakes in upstate new York, Katie's older sister, Jacky, was well on her way to 1,000 career winners when she suffered two fractured ribs, three additional displaced rib fractures, multiple abrasions, a liver laceration, and an air pocket near her lung. She has yet to return to competition. On Nov. 14 at Aqueduct Racetrack, Dylan Davis, the youngest of Robbie and Marguerite Davis' six children, sustained a collection of injuries that included a fractured right clavicle, fractured right humerus, fractures of five ribs on his left side and four on his right, a collapsed left lung, a pulmonary contusion, and a grade 5 laceration of the left kidney. With $13 million in earnings by his mounts this year, Davis was among the leading riders in North America when he went down. He still ranks No. 15. Davis was also among those invited to participate, along with his sister, in the Caracas all-star event. "This is how nice that man Antonio Alvarez is," Smith said. "When Dylan got hurt, Alvarez still insisted he was paid his full appearance fee. And if Dylan felt up to it, he was invited to come as an honorary guest. Dylan was still hurting some and a ways from his return, but he felt obligated to show up. So there he was to watch Katie win two races and finish second in the competition to Ricardo Santana." As for Katie Davis, she is on her way to her best season in terms of mount earnings, with just shy of $3 million going into the final days of the year. Her double at La Rinconada does not count in the Equibase stats, but her presence in the U.S. contingent represented an invaluable boost to the image of the North American sport, which used to be blessed with any number of female jockey stars. Davis is the top earner among women in 2025, ranking 97th on the list. "You should have heard the crowd after she won her second race," Castellano said. "They were yelling 'Katie! Katie! Katie!' The kids were mobbing her for pictures." Even Mike Smith, who after nearly 44 years at the job has seen it all and then some, was a little dazzled by the reception. "I've been blessed to have gone to a lot of these type of things, and they're all great," Smith said. "But this was something special. It was crazy good. And I wouldn't hesitate to ride any of my horses right back." During the reigns of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and his controversial successor, Nicolas Maduro, the people of Venezuela have been subjected to all manner of internal strife and international pressure, including severe economic sanctions imposed during both the first and second U.S. presidential administrations of Donald Trump. "Everyone there knows what's going on," Smith said. "But coming from America, we were made to feel very welcome." Besides the airborne attacks by U.S. forces on small vessels alleged to be part of state-sponsored drug trafficking, Venezuelan oil tankers are now subject to blockades by the powerful American fleet, and members of Maduro's family and inner circle have been targeted by the U.S. Department of Treasury. "Politics is very hard to deal with everywhere, and it's no different in Venezuela," said Castellano, a winner of four Eclipse Awards. "I love America. I became a citizen about 14 years ago. But it is always good to go back there, because it is a beautiful country. And people are very passionate about racing." Once again, Thoroughbred racing provided an oasis in the midst of strife. It was left to Katie Davis to provide the last and best sentiment: "At the end of the day, it's your life on the line, just like horse racing, when our lives are on the line," she said. "And I come in peace."