S2 E27: Jockey Ramon Moya: From Bugboy Grind to Winning Jock & Social Media Game-Changer

S2 E27: Jockey Ramon Moya: From Bugboy Grind to Winning Jock & Social Media Game-Changer (Transcript)

 [00:00:00] Hi everybody, and welcome back to OTTB on Tap. I'm Nev. And I'm Emily. Hey, nev, what's on tap today? Today we have a really exciting guest joining us. If you've ever wondered what it takes to be a professional jockey or what really happens behind the scenes at a racetrack, you're in for a treat.

That's right. We are thrilled to have a graded stakes place, jockey and content creator, Ramon Moya. He's going to take us through his journey in horse racing, share insights on training thoroughbreds, and clear up some common misconceptions about the sport. Ramon, welcome to the show. Hey guys, how you doing?

We're good. So excited you're here. So excited you're here. Let's start with your background. How did you first get into horse racing and what kind of inspired you to become a jockey? Yeah. Growing up I definitely didn't have any aspirations to become a jockey, let alone worked with race horses.

I grew up in Newark and Harrison, New Jersey, and, around that area it's city like, so [00:01:00] I think the closest horses around us, probably an hour away. So I didn't really know too much about horses. All I knew was that my dad trained horses. Okay. And I lived with my mom obviously, but I was 18 years old and I was working for the county as a boiler operator.

Kind of a steady job, benefits, pension, the whole nine yards. But my dad kept nagging me and, he really wanted me to try riding because I was. Always light, yeah. I'm a little taller for a jock. I'm five seven, but I was always like 1 18, 1 17, and I just I always thought I had a weight deficiency, I even went to the doctors and they're like, no, you're fine. Yeah. It was one of them things that, he told me to come down and, he'll hook me up with some people to start galloping and start learning how to be around horses. And I feel like I got thrown into the wolves, yeah. It was it was so scary. I remember he threw me on a horse for the first time in a [00:02:00] shed row. And and I'm like, all right. And there was a hot walker walking with me, but he's yeah, now go like up and down, like trying to post. And I'm like all over the place. They had my stair up all jacked up.

They give me two turns around the shed row and. My dad's like, all right, unclip 'em. Oh, no. And mind you, it was so bad. And mind you, this shed row was a jogging shed row. In New York and Belmont, they have these certain shed rows that you could jo in. Yeah. So the horse knew that I didn't know what I was doing.

And when I tell you the horse took off, like he was breezing down the shed row, oh my God. Yeah, full. And then it came into a split, right? Because I'm like, all right, I'm gonna hit the wall, or I don't know what this horse is gonna do, because to the right is you go into the jogging shed row and to the left is a regular shed row.

It's like that square [00:03:00] turn. So I am like, all right, I'm gonna die. I don't know what's gonna happen. And the horse just propped and thank God he propped and, I come flying off and I always tell people this even before I hit the ground, I'm like, ah, this is definitely not for me.

There's, that's so funny. No way I'm gonna be doing this. And then, like three, four months passed and I thought I'd give it another go. And he took me to a farm this time and actually learned on a retired race horse. I wish I could remember his name. Something danger. I know he was a big, beautiful horse.

He was so calm and so patient with me. And I learned to do figure eights in the arena. And, just learn how to be around horses in general. And then, after that just took off for me. Yeah, that's really getting thrown to the wolves right there.

Just putting you on something in the sheer and being like, all right, away you go. Yeah. Scare you. So for people that don't know, the ins and outs of the track, we're gonna start with some kind of [00:04:00] more simplification of your day-to-day role. But in your day, start really early. Can you just walk us through what a typical day looks like for you?

Okay, so a typical regular day would be getting up at 4:00 AM having to leave the house by at least five, just depending what track I'm working at. I live by Monmouth Park, so the days that I work at Monmouth in the morning, I don't. Have to get up that early, but for the majority of the year, I'm commuting to parks.

So it's about an hour and 10 minute drive. So if I gotta be there at six, that means I gotta be up at four. I like to take my time, have my little coffee and, drive slowly, whenever I get there. But yeah, the track opens at six. My agent will text me the night before my set list on what horses I have to get on and train and gallop or breeze.

And it could vary from one horse, two [00:05:00] horses to, there's some mornings where I get on 10. Wow. It just really all depends on what type of business I have and, what type of day it is. If it's a big breeze day Saturdays are super busy because a lot of people like to breeze horses.

And then for instance, today. I got to parks. I got on I think five horses, and then that ends around 9 30, 10 o'clock. And, in between me getting on horses, I check trainers with my agent. That's how we pick up mounts. Is, just walking around, they say outta sight, outta mind, so we have to be there.

Hustling, mounts and seeing trainers. And then when that morning ends at least for training, I head to the jocks room. Now the, depending on how many horses I ride, depending on if I have to lose weight almost every race day I have to lose weight. Like a wrestler.

I go on a sauna for whatever time, if I have to lose two to three pounds. But almost every race day I have to [00:06:00] lose a little water weight because as I said before, I'm five seven. I wouldn't say I struggle. I do struggle with the weight, not as bad. I eat very healthy, but, it's harder for me to do weight than other jockeys.

Basically I'm in a jock's room by 10 o'clock, 10 30, and depending on what races I ride, it could be a busy day. It could be I could ride three or four. Some days I ride the second, or the first and second race, and then the last race. So I'm there all day. And I don't get home till, 5 30, 6 o'clock.

And that's a regular day, but I'd say on busy days, I'd work horses at Monmouth Park, then I'd drive to Parks to ride two races, and then I'd drive to Penn National to ride. Oh wow. Maybe a couple races at night. Wow. And then get home at 12 or 1:00 AM Yeah.

So's Yeah. That's a drive. Yeah. Yeah. So if you ask any jockey ask him about their miles in the car, and it's absurd. The only good thing about that is, [00:07:00] it's tax write off. Yeah. Helps me at the end of the year, but I think I put 61,000 miles in 18 months.

Wow. Wow. So it's a lot of commuting and it's long days. Like I said, in a few interviews and podcasts. This is something that you have to love doing. It's a very rewarding job and it can be, but you really have to love doing this because it's a lifestyle and it takes the majority of your life and your time and, it's tough.

It's almost seven days a week yeah. Yeah, I was just gonna say, do you get a day off? I haven't in three weeks, but I will say winters are super slow for me. The winters, I get two days off. I'll take a Thursday and a Sunday off and, since there's only three days at parks or if I gotta ship out to a different track one day I might.

But I feel like the spring and summertime and even the fall time are the busiest for me. I feel like those are my money making seasons. Because so many racetracks are open [00:08:00] around this area. There's Delaware Park, there's Monmouth Park, there's parks Racing, Penn National, there's New York.

Yeah, it's definitely been busy for me at least last month and a half. Busy's good though, usually, right? It's a good thing. It really is. You know what, I'll complain and I'll tell my agent dude, I need a day off. But I will say after, a day after, two days off consecutively, that's it. I don't know what to do with myself. I need to go do something. So it's it's one of them things that you think , you want some time off, but you miss it. You really do, yeah, for sure. So you talked about some of the physical problem or challenges. How about what are some of the biggest mental challenges that you deal with as a jockey, and how do you manage them? It's a lot of people see. I wanna say lavish lifestyle, but a lot of people think jockeys just come there, jump on horses, win, make money, and go home [00:09:00] and that's all there's to it.

But, there's a few guys that are probably like that and they have that type of business, but the majority, I would say 90% of jockey struggle with getting mounts, struggle with winning. I made a TikTok the other day about that. I don't think I've won a race in the last two months.

And, career wise for me, I think this is like the longest I've gone without winning a race. So it's something that's super challenging. But I've been here before, so I know how to deal with it. You just gotta know. It comes in tides, it's tough, it's, also financially too, right? Because we get, asked this question a lot. We get paid right to ride a horse. Even if the horse comes and lasts, we get that amount fee. Yeah. If you ride 10 horses a week, you know it adds up to whatever, a thousand bucks. But in reality, we have an agent to pay.

I gotta pay my agent 25%, then I have to pay my valid 5% Then. Mind you all [00:10:00] the gas and expenses. So what I'm trying to say is if you're not winning races, you're really not making ends meet. Yeah. So that's one of the struggles that we deal with. I'd say another is getting hired and fired.

You get taken off horses left and right. Even today I got taken off a horse that I did nothing wrong on. The horse was in a spot that he couldn't win. I felt like he ran a great race like maybe three, four weeks ago.

And of course they drop him in where the horse could gallop and, I get taken off. So it's one of them things where tomorrow I gotta go back there and when I see the trainer I gotta smile and congratulate him. And that's just the way it is, yeah. It's, you have to eat that just because, trainers have a lot of horses, so you can never burn bridges.

For sure. It's tough to to get taken off horses. I. EE even if you win, I've got taken all forces that I've won on. So it's, there's a lot of aspects to it. I would say the weight [00:11:00] challenges. I feel like a lot of jockeys have weight issues.

Yeah. Making weight. I don't think it's as bad as it used to be with the heaving. I don't know if you know what heaving is. I feel like I learned a little bit about this from watching that show Jockey with, I think Mike Smith and a couple of the other big jockeys were on it. Yeah. And they talked a lot about it on that show.

Yeah. It was heaving or flipping, they, that when I first started my bug, that was around a lot. And I even did that for like my first year as a bug, and then I realized that's not the way to do it and that's not the healthy way. But still, I wouldn't say some of us starve ourself, but we're depleted, most days.

And, I don't think people understand what it is to go in a sauna and lose. Three pounds, mind you, without eating anything for breakfast. Get on eight, nine horses. Yeah. You get to the jockey's room and then you lose three, four pounds of water weight. And then it's not once you weigh in, you're good.

No, you have to [00:12:00] weigh in and ride like that. Because if I have multiple races that day, I can't really rehydrate myself if I wanna make weight. That is, yeah. So it's tough going out there and performing at, at your best when you're parched. I will say that. So there's a lot of struggles mentally like I said, with the financially and just not winning or, you feel like you're not good enough or maybe you feel like you're not riding good enough and it weighs on you.

It's not something that you could just come home from and. And shake it off. I've learned how to deal with it a little better, but listen I can't speak for Alex Char and I forget the other kid's name. The one that the two kids , that, that committed suicide, but. I have to imagine that it was the struggles of this game and it is tough, yeah. So yeah, it's I think they did a survey I believe it was Jockeys Guild did a survey not too long ago, and they said 33% of the jockeys are dealing with some type of [00:13:00] mental, illness or some type of depression or anxiety, insomnia, whatever the case may be. Or stressors.

Yeah. So that's a lot. And that's only 33% of the jockeys that actually took the test. Sure. Because I think only three, 300 of us did it. So there's a lot of people that don't wanna speak on that. Sure. Yeah. It's like you're living in a world where you wanna project this idea of mental and physical toughness at all times, right?

You're just like rock solid and nothing hundred percent can shake you. And so when do you get your moment to break down and feel those feelings? You can't, because right now, if I, and. Me personally, like I, I learned to let that go. And but a lot of guys can't, they can't come out and publicly say, oh, I'm dealing with this.

Because trainers are not gonna wanna ride you. Yeah. O owners are gonna want the confident guy. Yeah. The guy that's always smiling, the guy that's always, dealing with adversity. But in reality, we're all humans, right? So I feel like it's so taboo [00:14:00] to speak on it, and it shouldn't be like that, so I feel like the Jockeys Guild and a few other, a few other people are making some changes with that. I believe there's a hotline. And there's a barcode that you could scan. They have the poster up in every jockey's room now. They have something that you could scan if you're dealing with any type of mental illness or you feel like just you need to talk to somebody or some type of therapy.

Yeah. No, it's good to hear that at least they're trying to take some steps for support, but that is a really tricky situation. Yeah. No, they I feel like it's finally getting, spoken about and people are finally hearing this. And e even with the injuries, that's another mental stressor.

Yeah. It's, most of us are banged up, and most of us don't say it, I'm sore or something's bothering me, almost always nothing serious. But, I go into Whirlpool a lot and take a lot of salt baths. I get massages, I do [00:15:00] cryotherapy. So it's tough on your body.

It's not just mentally. Yeah. It's tough on your body as well. And, yeah, that's another thing too. Getting injured, thank God I don't think I've had any serious injuries. I've been sidelined a few times, but nothing career ending. But it's always in the back of your head too, yeah. People get paralyzed from this man. So it's, yeah. Definitely a dangerous game, for sure. Absolutely. Switching gears would be a little, hopefully a little bit lighter. What role does camaraderie play among jockeys and stable workers and people on the backside? Is it competitive or do you all support each other?

What's that like? It's definitely support in there to a certain point, right? I feel like I. There's definitely camaraderie and everyone's always laughing in a jock's room or everyone, we ask about our each other's kids and, when we speaking about families and, but I feel like once we step out on that racetrack, it's every man for [00:16:00] themself unfortunately.

And, not that's the way it should be, but I get it. Not too long ago, probably a few weeks ago, I was in a really bad spot with a horse and I, I was not getting ran off with in a race, but in, just in a really bad spot. And I yelled out for somebody that I know.

And, they shut me off, not dangerously, but hey, yeah, he gotta ride his race the same way I gotta ride mine. Sure. There's definitely support for each other on a human level, but as a competitor and as a jockey every man for themself. I think Angel Corderos once said he wouldn't let his mom up the rail, so I believe I heard that he said he wouldn't let his mom up the rail.

I love that saying. So it's true. You gotta ride your race and you gotta perform, yeah, absolutely. We're gonna get into more of your, so social media content a little bit later in this interview, but. Can you explain, 'cause I know you get a lot of questions about this over and over again on your [00:17:00] videos, but the process of the traffic on the track as it pertains to jogging versus breezing and who has the right of way and things like that.

Just you speak of a couple of buzzwords and I think a lot of people would love to know what you mean when you talk about them. Yeah. And you're definitely right about that. I had one, one person comment and saying, Hey, you told us you're only supposed to breeze on the rail. What are you doing on the rail?

And I was on the outside rail and I was like wait. Lemme clear that up. I did say you're only supposed to breeze on the rail, but that's the inside rail going the right way. Counterclockwise I was on the outside rail going the opposite way, so I had to clear that up. So yeah, basically, every track is different as to like where you get on the track, but I feel like all the rules are the same in the states. So when you get on and you're jogging a horse, you gotta go clockwise. Okay. But [00:18:00] on the outside rail, yes. It has to be on the outside rail. Now, sometimes you could be like, I wouldn't say in the middle, but let's say you have two horses.

Jogging on the outside rail and you want to pass 'em, you could just go around them. You're supposed to say, coming by. I feel like that type of horsemanship is a lost art. A lot of people just don't say that no more. Even like getting on the track. You're supposed to say, coming off, you're supposed to scream out, coming off, coming on, coming by.

Yeah. Inside, outside. And even today I was filming and I started off my gallop, and this one kid just flies no light, like inches from me without saying a word. And I'm like, man, where's the track etiquette? Yeah. Yeah, basically if you're jogging on the outside rail, going clockwise.

Now, once you turn, once you turn, like if you wanna jog off a little bit, 'cause sometimes trainers will give you that instruction turn 'em [00:19:00] around, jog off a little bit, and then break into a gallop. Galloping, you have to be in the middle of the track. Going counter-clockwise and breezing.

You should be on the rail. Yeah. Now there's times when it gets really busy, even especially at Monmouth after the break at Monmouth, there's gotta be 60, 70 horses working. Wow. And I always make sure I have my goggles down. Not all the time when I'm breathing, I put my goggles down.

But I know on certain days after the break, I'll have my goggles down because chances are. When I turn my horse and start galloping and break off into a breeze, chances are somebody's coming behind me to breeze or somebody's already breezing in front of me. So as to who has the right of way, it's it's really up to you.

I've had times where two horses are breezing in front of me and I started like maybe a furlong behind 'em, but I know I'm gonna pass 'em. Now, [00:20:00] if they're a little wide off the rail, I might go inside of 'em, I'll let them know Hey, inside, or if, they're really on the rail and I'm gonna pass 'em, I'll just go on the outside of 'em and then eventually I'll, I wouldn't come down on them, but eventually once I'm clear, I'll come down.

So it's like an unspoken rule. Yeah. It's something that riders should know, but, yeah, Ben, that's basically the rundown. Do this is maybe like a strange question, but can exercise riders and jockeys get in trouble for breaking the rules on the track? When they're just working the horses?

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. You can get fine actually. Oh wow. Okay. Yeah. Oh yeah. So there's outriders at every racetrack. There should be two to three outriders out there. Now they police the track. So right now. I used to exercise horses in the morning with jockey boots on.

Like I used, 'cause I was so used to riding in racing boots that I used to get on horses in the morning with racing boots. Now the problem with racing boots is [00:21:00] it doesn't have that heel. That big heel like exercise exercise or training boots. Do. So what happens is you're not supposed to wear them in the morning, and if an outrider catches you, they'll be like, Hey, next set.

Make sure you change 'em to your other boots. Interesting. Because the stair ups are a lot bigger on the training saddle. So God forbid something happens, my foot could slip through. Yeah. You don't have that little heel oof with a bigger boot to stop that. Amongst other things, they police the track.

There's horses that go run off with riders all the time, and out riders are supposed to, if I'm getting ran off with on a horse and I can't stop them, I'll wave to the out rider if I can and they'll come and they'll come and grab me. Or if a rider gets dropped and there's a loose horse, the out riders are supposed to catch 'em.

Or let's say I'm supposed to be jogging 'cause I'm on the outside rail, but I'm loping and I'm really getting into a gallop, the outrider will [00:22:00] come and say, Hey, slow it up because you're supposed to be jogging. Or there's times where I get, I got ran off with. Trying to jog and my horse took off the wrong way.

That's why they have outriders there. And they won't fine you for stuff like that. 'cause stuff like that happens. Yeah. But just keeps everybody safe. And yeah, there, there's, out there to keep everybody safe. There's two sets of sirens. There's the yellow siren.

It means there's a loose horse. And then if the red siren is on. That means horse down or rider's down and, whatever you're doing, even if you're breezing, you have to stop. Okay. You have to stop and pull up. Yeah. Now, if you don't, if you don't do that and you continue, doing your breeze or Gallup, you can get fined for stuff like that.

Yeah. Gotcha. That must be tough in the middle of a breeze to Yeah. Just pull your horse up. Yeah. Or, and I tell you what, in the middle of it is not that bad because at least you got your horse going already. Yeah. And they're, and they're blowing off some steam already. Sure. I'll tell you when it's [00:23:00] tough when.

You turn 'em and you're about to break off the breeze. And then you gotta stop them. And all that momentum Yeah. Of them going into a breeze. That's tough. Yeah. That's hard. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. See that for sure. Oh man. They're just starting off and they're like, oh, I'm ready to go. And you're like wait.

We gotta pull up. Oh yeah. You definitely gotta be aware out there. I've seen a lot of bad accidents, but I feel like for the most part, the out riders do a great job. So talk to us a little bit about how you adjust your riding style for different horses with, they have different all, they all have different temperaments right.

And different abilities. So what's your process like there? Yeah. It just really depends. If I get to a trainer's barn and. For instance, I don't know the horse I'm getting on, I'll ask, Hey, is this a baby? Has this horse ran before? What are we doing?

So once I know what I'm doing, let's say it's a younger horse that's just galloping, I'll ride 'em a little longer. Meaning with my [00:24:00] irons, my stir up. Ah, yeah. I'll drop my irons a little bit. There's an old saying to say the longer you ride, the longer you ride. So if I know the horses, if I've been getting on 'em, I like to I don't jack my irons all the way up, but I like to.

Ride like the way I'm racing. May maybe not that high, but Yeah. So if I don't know the horse or if the horse is just jogging, I'll drop my irons a little bit. And yeah, just it's one of them things that once you get on the track, you feel their temperament, you feel how they're gonna be they tell you like right away how they're gonna be.

I could figure out within the first 30 seconds if a horse is gonna be tough with me or if they're gonna be bouncing, coming off the track. You and every day's different, I've had horses that are super bouncy and super tough and one day they're just super quiet, I feel like the weather plays a big role Yeah. Into that as well. In the winter they're all tough. They're all feeling good. In the summer I [00:25:00] feel like it's so hot that they're a little more calm. Yeah. Too. Yeah. I've loved some of your winter videos were especially entertaining. Oh I'm sure it was for you guys.

No, there were definitely days where I was like, man, I feel for him out there. 'cause we had, we, this was a tough winter that we haven't had a tough winter in a long time. And I definitely felt for you in some of those PO's been years. Yeah. Since we had a winter like this and the wind and it was cold.

Oh, it was brutal, man. Every time I got off the track, my hands were just , hurting from frostbite. It was bad. It was bad. Even racing, because I feel like in the mornings, I could wear a bunch of layers. And I could wear the thicker gloves. Yeah. And a thicker ski mask and a nice winter jacket.

But for racing, you can't really wear that in your silks. Freezing silks. You probably have a thermal under and some leggings And since I'm riding and , with my stick and I'm throwing crosses you, your gloves can't be that thick. You can't [00:26:00] have these big old snow gloves, so it's a lot tougher when you're racing in the winter. For sure. You spoke a little bit there about asking the trainers about, the horse's experience level. What are some of the first lessons that you'll teach these young babies? I know it takes a while for them to get to the point where they're eligible for their gate card and things like that, but, where does it start with these young horses?

So for the main part, if I'm honest, I try to stay away from babies when they first get to the racetrack. Fair enough. And no, but it's not just me. Jockeys really aren't supposed to get on babies when that makes sense. Makes sense. When they first get to the racetrack, right? Yeah. I'm 116 hundred 17 pounds.

So these babies, they're getting to a new environment. They're a little spooky. It should be these bigger guys that are 180, 170 pounds, these big exercise riders that ride really long. So jockeys really aren't supposed to get on babies until they're already breezing, [00:27:00] they're already into maybe, 'cause when they first get there, they'll probably jog, every trainer's different.

It's up to them how they want to train their babies. But they'll probably jog and company. Then they'll gallop for a couple weeks. And then with the breezing process, it goes. I feel like most trainers do this, they'll start breezing them from the quarter pull to the wire, and then the following week they'll do from the three eight pull to the wire.

And then the following week after that, they may do the same thing from the three eight pull to the wire, but let 'em finish up a little stronger. And that's usually when trainers call jockeys like me. And when they're I wouldn't say seasoned, but they're kind, they've been at the racetrack already for a few months and they know their surroundings and they're not too spooky, but don't get me wrong there's babies that I've gotten off of people for the first time here. It's, it does happen, but for the most part I feel like exercise riders should be doing that. Yeah. Yeah. [00:28:00] How I think I. I think of the way I wanna ask this question. Since you also ride them in the morning, do you find that helps you build trust with, once you get to the races with them and does that, building that trust, does it take a while or do you click with some horses immediately?

Yeah, I think that's huge. I feel like that's a huge plus because you know how the horse runs especially if you're breezing them. I think that's why a lot of trainers like jockeys, breezing the horse is because you get a feel for them. But if you are getting on a horse every day, and there's certain horses that I do get on every day and you build that rapport with them and you know how they like to be held or if they're gonna be tough.

So I think it's a huge plus. And sometimes, it's just all depends. Sometimes you might not get along with certain horse. I feel like that rarely happens to me. I have favorites, don't get me wrong, but it is not like I ever dislike a horse for or, anything like [00:29:00] that.

Yeah. I'd rather obviously get on the easy ones, but the, the tougher ones are a little more challenge to deal with because they want to go. But yeah, I feel like getting on them in the mornings definitely helps for the races because you get to know 'em a little more.

Yeah, for sure. Do you take them all at face value or do you know, like certain lines of horses, by certain sis are tougher? Or do you just take it there? No I just no. Yeah, for me, that doesn't mean anything. Yeah I know for trainers it, it does and it and it should, but me, I take 'em, like you said, face value.

, I'll tell you how much I take that serious. I've had riders tell me, oh, be careful with that one. Or, Hey, he pulls and I don't listen to him because he might not do that with me. Yeah. Nine outta 10 times when a rider tells me something about a horse it don't happen with me.

Because that's funny. Every horse is gonna act differently with every rider. Yep. Not necessarily differently, but I might get along with a horse. That [00:30:00] another rider doesn't, or vice versa. Sure. You, another rider might get along with that horse better than I do.

So I definitely take them , as face value. Even when the trainer tells me, Hey, this one's tough, I'll take it with a grain of salt and at least I'm a little prepared. Yeah. You like the heads up, right? Yeah, of course. So he or certain trainers will be like, look, he'll put his head down, or she'll put her head down, but don't worry about her.

She's not gonna prop on you. Or, Hey, this one, lugs out a little bit. Or, this one when he turns, just be careful. So I love the heads up. I'd rather know than not know. Sure. But when I'm getting on a horse for the first time. That's when I'm like the most alert, most aware just because I just wanna see what, he or she does and how they act.

So it's definitely it's definitely an adventure. I say that. From everything that you've told us and from, I think what we can surmise, being a jockey is such a tough but extremely rewarding job. Can you speak a little bit about some of the biggest highs of your career so far? You have an [00:31:00] incredible race record, by the way.

I looked it up today and was like, I sent a screenshot to Emily and I was like, holy crap. Yeah, I've been riding for a while. Yeah. I feel like my first win after my comeback, that was just significant for me. It was almost like. Not almost, it was better than winning my first race because, at one point I didn't think I'd ever be on a horse again.

So for me to pass the finish line and win a race, it's, that was definitely a great high moment in my career. Career. Was that your win at Monmouth after your Yeah, I think actually we'll post a link to the article that Pollock did about story. Yeah. That was I think it was in the Asbury Park Press, if I'm not mistaken.

Okay. And it, it was a bor Tisza prince in 2021. I I should know the date. Almost forget the date. I think it was like June 13th or something like that. It could have been like a week after my birthday, something like that. But horses like him horses like Bell Penn, she gave me my first steaks, [00:32:00] went back.

I even older horses, I remember like big sir, he gave me my first stakes win for my father. So there's definitely a lot of highs. As tough as this business is, I wouldn't be in it if it didn't weigh out. Sure. For me, because of course I need to make a living, I wouldn't say, I do this for the money. It can be rewarding, but I do it more for the love and. Because I don't feel like I work when I ride horses. For me it doesn't feel like work. There's days where like somebody will tell me, like my mom or my friend will be like, Hey, you've been working for 13 hours right since you left at this time.

I'm like, oh, it don't feel like it. You know what I mean? For me, it's almost like a hobby and I'm getting paid for it. So , as tough as it gets, with the mental struggles and everything and not winning it's definitely it's definitely a unique job. I feel like when I tell people I'm a jockey, they look at me like I have four eyes.

So it's, yeah. Especially 'cause I'm [00:33:00] tall, they're like, oh, aren't you supposed to be four foot 10? Then I have to explain to them like as long as you can make the weight. Yeah. So it's definitely, yeah, it definitely has a perks, and I love sports to begin with.

Even growing up, I loved playing football and baseball and basketball and I, I don't know I just felt like I'd end up in sports but I just never grew. So I'm like, all right, that dream's gone. So it's funny how I ended up in horse racing yeah, for sure. On the flip side, what have been some of the biggest challenges or setbacks that you've faced in your career?

For me personally I got addicted to painkillers in 2015. I took a spill one day and, a doctor prescribed me pain medication and I was the type of person that really hated pills. I wouldn't say at that time I didn't party like I party, I drank a little bit.

Yeah. I smoked a little weed or whatnot and but I wasn't a pill person. And yeah. When I was in pain I started taking prescription painkillers. And. [00:34:00] One thing led to another and, a year of taking it, it just spiraled outta control. And then I ended up stepping away.

Not even stepping away. It took me away. Yeah. My weight shot up. My addiction became, out of control. I was spending two, $300 a day on Wow. On prescription pain meds. Yeah. So that wasn't too sustainable. And then eventually it led me to to do heroin, which is something that, if you would've asked me before all that I would've thought you're crazy.

Yeah. You know what I mean? Heroin has such a nasty ring to it, and when people think of it, they're like, oh, you are injecting. I'm like no. There's other ways to do it. I feel like that's what kind of saved me, and that's why I'm here is because I never mess with needles. Yeah.

Nonetheless, it's still , the worst thing you could ever do or take or ingest, and you had been racing for what, five or six years already at this point [00:35:00] when this kind of happened? Yeah. Yeah. I was, it was 2015. It started before that though. I started taking 'em like in 2014.

It was a good year before. And, at first it's all good because you're making money and you don't think you have a habit because you're taking one year, then you're taking one there, and then you're like, oh, I'm gonna take one to go to sleep. You know what, I'm gonna take one to go ride.

And then, little by little you're like, you don't have 'em one day and you're like, wait why do I feel so crappy? Yeah. And then even the first time I got offered heroin, I was like, whoa, dude. No. Then I was still sick and withdrawing from the pills that I was like, all right I'll try it.

And it unbelievably, it was the same thing, it's Percocets and prescription pain medication. It's just synthetic heroin. Yeah, it just it took me out, man. And it's such a insidious disease that, , it turned you to a person that you couldn't believe, , in your wildest dreams that you'd [00:36:00] become, 2015 turns into 2016. I go into my first detox and rehab and I still don't think I got a problem. I still think all right, once I go to the detox and come out, I'll be good. And then I did that. And then I didn't do the work. I didn't go to meetings. I didn't take it serious enough and say, Hey, I'm an addict.

'cause I still didn't believe in it. I was an addict. I just thought I was addicted to something. So fast forward 15, 16, rehabs and detoxes, I couldn't get it right. I was in and outta jail. Every year, I go to jail for three, four weeks. Nothing serious, thank God. Just a bunch of misdemeanors.

But things you do that, when I tell people that now, they look at me like, no way you, I'm like, yeah. Addiction doesn't discriminate. Yeah. It doesn't care if you're if you're Spanish, you're white, or you're black or you're rich or poor. If you're a doctor, if you're a jockey if you're anything, it doesn't discriminate.

I feel [00:37:00] like, especially now nowadays, everybody knows somebody that's an addict in recovery or somebody that passed. Yeah. Or a childhood friend. Or a family member. And even losing my brother, I lost my brother in 2019. Oh, wow. That still didn't get me cleaned. Wow.

People are like, wow how come you didn't get clean after he died? I'm like that made me worse. But by the grace of God, he gave me another chance, I went to my last rehab in, I. February 16th, 2020. I did my last drug and I went into rehab.

I took it seriously. And then after the rehab, I moved into a sober house and I had to find a sober house close to Monmouth because I wanted to get back into the horses. And slowly I did, just, I took it one day at a time. I started going to my meetings. I started surrounding myself with the right people.

I met my brother and basically my best friend and [00:38:00] sponsor Anthony Marta. He's about to celebrate 11 years sobriety. And we found this bond because we grew up in the same place. And then we're in the same business and we were hooked on the same drugs and we're both clean.

Yeah. I ride a lot of horses for him now, but people like him, people like my family like my mom and my brothers and my son, kept me clean to this day. It's something that at first I was scared to talk about 'cause I'd feel like I'd be judged.

Yeah. And it's one of them things that you just gotta be honest because me speaking out about it, it might help somebody. I know there's someone now that's struggling with what I was struggling in our game. Yeah. The odds, there has to be jockeys or trainers.

That and the numerous jockeys and trainers that we help get clean since I've been clean. The numbers are crazy. Yeah. I don't regret coming out and saying my story because it, if I could save one person or [00:39:00] help one person, then you know, it's worth it.

Yeah, that's the gist of it. I just celebrated five years clean, oh, congratulations. That's huge. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. It really is. It flies by and then, it's funny, I, you come outta rehab and you just think that you, your life's never gonna be the same.

You're never gonna have the things that you once had, and you're never gonna, your family's never gonna trust you again. And with working a program and just doing it one day at a time, little by little, it just, it all, it, I'm speechless. I really am. Yeah. The life that I'm living now I wouldn't trade for the world.

Yeah. I think it's interesting what you're saying about being a little bit nervous about opening up about it and things like that. I'm somebody who talks. A lot and very openly about mental health issues and things like that. And I always like to say that the more you show it to the light, the weaker it becomes.

So if you stuff it down and you hide it in the darkness, it gets stronger because, it just festers there. I, it's so true. I just always like to say, when you bring it to the light it takes away its power. So I [00:40:00] think by sharing your experiences, you're inevitably going to connect with other people at some point, and especially on a platform like this and the other platforms that you've been able to utilize, I think it's huge.

And I think, that voice is gonna have a strong echo amongst your community and beyond. So I hope so. And that's the goal, as much as I love making videos about horses and everything, even in my TikTok, I made a TikTok about my recovery as well.

So it's not something that I'm hiding. But you're right. You have to bring it to the light. And like I said, everybody knows somebody that's dealing with it. More than ever, there's a crisis right now. People are dying ev literally every day from drugs. My goodness. Em, Emily and I both lived in Philadelphia for years.

Gotta be bad. Philadelphia's rough man. It's just yeah. But yeah, it's it's gotta be bad. It's, it is all, especially over there. I see videos in Kensington. It, it looks bad, man. It's unreal. We're, so grateful for you [00:41:00] for sharing your story and we really hope it does touch some other people.

This is probably the most serious. Episode we've done so far, but we were really, I love it. We were really excited to share your story, your journey and and we're not afraid of talking about, things that might impact others like this as well. But we're gonna switch gears a little bit and we're gonna talk about, of course, some of some more stuff about the horses at the track.

Cool. Every horse is different, right? We've been talking about that. And can you talk about. Some of the toughest horses that you've worked with and what's made them challenging. I'm looking at you, oh, she's such a handful.

Lemme tell you now I recognize her tack. And so every time I see your video, I'm like, oh my God, there she is. She's so naughty. She's a little feisty. I say she, she's tough and I think she had at one point. The trainer was like, oh, that she had a couple days off and they were like, we can't even walk her around you. You can't, and you can't jog her like it's impo, like there's only one rider that can and he still has a hand.

She is na when she wants to be [00:42:00] nasty, she is na like she wants to get you off her. I like, let me, and she almost got me too. So Yeah. There, there's always horses like that., For some reason when that happens to me, I tend to laugh. Yeah. Until I hit the ground because I've been dropped plenty of times, but it, I don't know why I love when horses buck and it's something in me. I like the adrenaline, but yeah, you must. Yeah. No, I've dealt with a handful of horses that that have been tough. That been, , I used to breeze this one, Philly, beautiful gray Philly. She, and she won some nice races in Jersey too.

But when you would breeze her, she would stop and prop and wheel . During the breeze, she knew exactly what she was doing. So when we would breeze her, somebody would have to be outside of me. And stay with me. But she was such a nice horse that she was hard to hold Yeah.

While I try to wait for the other horse to keep up and [00:43:00] even pulling. Yeah. I'm like, come on get up there. While I'm holding her and even pulling up, I'd have the other rider like, all right, I'm gonna push you out. Because once she stops, she's gonna prop and wheel, but yeah, I've had plenty of horses like that, or even out the gate, horses that, when they come out the gate and wanna make a left, it's those horses, it's tough, but I feel like that's what makes you a good rider too. Yeah. Those experiences because if you just go out there and you get on the nicest horses and they behave themselves all the time, I feel like you're never gonna learn anything, sure. Yeah. Yeah. I love your videos where you're breaking from the gate. It just, that must be an incredible feeling. Yeah. Yeah. I just breeze one today from the gate and she just popped out of there, man, so fast. I feel like that's my favorite part of the job. Obviously winning races is super rewarding and there's no feeling like it, but it's another thing to [00:44:00] see the progress of a horse, especially younger horses.

And then you ride them in a race and. They run well or they win and you're like, wow, I remember when this horse first got here and was learning. Yeah. So it's definitely rewarding. I feel like those are one of the pluses of, you asked me that question earlier of getting on horses every day and getting to know them.

And I feel like that's the biggest plus that you get to see their progress. And how much, they've learned and how well they're doing. So that's really cool. Do you have a favorite horse that you've ridden? Can you pick one or, I can't pick one. We're gonna get you in trouble.

Yeah. You're gonna get me in trouble, but no. It is tough because I have two and they're both my top earners. But and I love them for completely different reasons because Bell Rio, I don't really get on her in the mornings. I'll breeze her once in a blue like Marta will have me come breeze her, [00:45:00] but like when she runs, man, she gives me everything she has, man.

She is all hard. And even the announcers like, she got her ears pinned back and she, she hates losing man. And I just love that attitude about her and obviously. There's a special connection there too. 'cause she gave me my first stakes win back. She's my highest earner. It's with my buddy Anthony Marta.

He trains her. So it's a million reasons why I love her. But classic union. Unfortunately I don't get on him anymore 'cause they claimed him and I was heartbroken. Oh, that's gonna be so rough for you guys. Oh man. He was so cool to get on, so easy to get on. He was in a few of my early videos and he was just all business on the track.

And actually he's the last horse I got ran off with. I haven't been ran off with in probably five years ever since I came back, I don't think I've [00:46:00] ever been ran off with. And he ran off with me the wrong way. Oh my God, my goodness. Jogging and he comes, flying off the track full speed.

And I can't stop him because I was riding him too long and I'm fighting him. So he had, he gets tough, but. I was getting on him a lot. And then, obviously I won seven races on him too. He's another a hard knocking horse too, but, it was one of those bonds that I just, I love the way he went in the morning.

He was all business man. That's the definition of a resource for real. So I definitely have a couple favorites. Yeah, for sure. You share a ton of behind the scenes content about racing and the horses that you work with on social media. What inspired you to start sharing that journey? And I know you had to ask for special permission to be able to get that footage as well.

Yeah, I have somebody at Parks that has to Okay. My videos just for insurance purposes and I totally understand it. But, it's [00:47:00] funny 'cause I almost didn't start doing it. I bought the camera. And then I'm like, ah, you know what? It's, it looks like a lot of work. I'm just gonna return it.

And I didn't, and I'm glad I didn't. But I just wanted to show people like what it is to be on a race horse. Even like back in 2013, I used to play with GoPros. I have this old YouTube video that my brother did, like this little short film that, that we did. And he threw a GoPro on my helmet.

So I always wanted that. I always wanted to do that again to show people what it is to be on a race horse. And I definitely didn't have any plans of content creating. It was just more of just like putting up videos and then. Putting music that I like with it and like cool scenes like that's all it was.

And then, one video one day, I'm like, all right, lemme just try it without the music. And, people like the noise of horses running on a slop. 'cause I do, I love that sound. It's the best sound in the world [00:48:00] of horses, like running over a sloppy track or a seal track. Yep. And one of the videos just took off.

So I'm like, all right, maybe I'll just, do no music. And then I don't know, little by little I just started talking and people started asking tons of question, and then that's how I kind of base my next video on. Like if someone's asking what's breezing mean? 'Cause sometimes I'll use terms that like, only us horse people know.

Or at least us thoroughbred or racetrack people know. Yeah. It's good though, I try to answer almost every question, or at least like to comment, but I try to engage with yeah, you're really good at that it seems yeah. Yeah. And that's, like I said, that's how I base my next video on, so for a while I was saying, oh, this horse is tough, this horse is tough.

And they're like, oh, what do you mean by tough? And then sure enough, I made a video explaining when a horse is tough, they're strong, they're pulling, they're on a bit. I feel that, I have to engage and I have to see what people wanna see or what they want to know about.

And or [00:49:00] sometimes I'm just laying in bed and I'll be like, you know what? This is a good idea. And then I'll write it down and then the next day or that week, I'll do a video and then I'll talk about it. So That's cool. How do you think social media has impacted the way fans, or maybe people that don't know that much about horse racing how do you think it's impacted them and do you think it's created more interest in the sport because of the content that you've been creating?

Yeah. Oh, a thousand percent. And I feel like it's more positive than negative. I feel like it's shedding light on, , it's almost like I had interviewed the other day and I was telling them like, there's so much. Because I'm a big sports guy. There's so much football content, NFL content, there's so much basketball or baseball.

I like hearing people micd up in the games. I love hearing that, but there's none of that for horse racing. They have jockey cam, but there's only like the big races, right? Yeah. [00:50:00] So people don't really get to see the post parade or people don't get to see the barn area or breezing horses.

So I feel like that sparked a new interest. And I will say I think this weekend at Monmouth alone I met and seen. I think I wanna say five or six different people from my TikTok. Oh, that's so fun. I swear. And even at parks there's this couple that's starting to come out and I see them a lot there.

So it's definitely, and even in comments, I have so many common saved saying, wow, I don't like horse racing, but I could see how much love and care goes into the horse, or that's huge. I could see that the horse wants to run. Because I feel like that's such a big misconception that we force this horse to run or, we use the stick to get 'em to run.

Yeah. And. Once in a while you'll still have that comment like, oh, this is abuse. I'm like this is go into my catalog and see the video and you tell me if it's [00:51:00] abuse. Yeah. They're abusing me, trust me. If they didn't wanna run, they wouldn't run my 118 pounds is not gonna make a 1200 pound animal run.

No I'm usually the one trying to stop them from running faster. I think social media is definitely a platform that we need more than ever. I feel like our sport is in dire need of new interests of new blood, of a new generation. It's a dying sport, unfortunately, every couple months you'll see a racetrack that's closing. Even the last year or two, there's four or five racetracks that just closed. So it's something positive. I feel hopefully we could change the tide with social media, not just me, there's a few other content creators that, are starting to get a little traction and shedding light on that.

So I think it's all positive for us. Yeah. Yeah. And we talked about this a little bit with Danielle Montgomery it's all optics, right? The negative story's always gonna get the most attention. And of course, you have to figure out a way to saturate [00:52:00] your news sources and your social media sources with good stories, that are happening all the time and nobody really cares about, 'cause people just reading about.

These sort of gossipy, controversial stories. Yeah. That's true. People like reading about breakdowns or stuff. Nonsense like that. Yeah. But even that content creator Griffin, he is doing such a great thing for the sport and you could tell he loves it too. I think he has a piece of that horse Sandman.

Okay. So I think, yeah, I think what they're doing is great. I believe is it America's best racing? They have a little program for content creators to get in, get them into horse ownership. Yeah, something like that. That, it's good for the sport and there's so much good in our sport, I feel and like you said, I feel like the negative articles and the negative light, negative stories shed a bad light on our sport.

But, there's so much positive, these horses love running. They do, and there's so much people behind the scenes that make it, there's so much people behind the scenes that get a [00:53:00] horse to a horse race. Also, and I feel like that's not that's not spoken enough.

And like I still have more ideas of getting into that, with grooms and hot walkers. That'd be really cool. Yeah. Exercise riders, assistant trainers, foreman, blacksmiths, vets. There's so many people behind it, yeah. We, primarily talk about off the track thoroughbreds on our podcast, but we use a big umbrella for anything really thoroughbred related.

If you were to give some advice to somebody who was getting a horse off of the track, what would that advice sound like? I get that question a lot, man. And I really don't know how to answer it. Because that's not like your world. But, 'cause I, all right, I'm gonna put it to you like this, because I've never been on a horse outside a racetrack.

That's fair. I've never ridden a pony. I've technically the only pony, it w he was retired is the one I I learned on for a month, but after that I was at the racetrack. So it's [00:54:00] hard, like it was a month and then you went straight to the track. Yeah. Yeah.

And yeah, again, I got thrown to the wolves. My dad threw me on this 10-year-old called calm, cool, and Collective. He goes, oh, this horse. He said he knows, he's easy to jog. I'm like, all right, perfect. My first time on the racetrack at Monmouth Park, he runs off of me, I swear. So I'm like he's so calm, cool.

And collect. Listen the horse I got bucked off of when I was a teenager that was an off the track Thoroughbred, his jock club name was Mr. Wonderful. Oh, I love it. I feel like you should just stay away from horses that have names that are a little bit suspicious. Yeah. That's so true. Yeah. But

it's hard for them, for me to give them, one piece of advice. But I do love it. I do love when I hear stories of retired race horses going onto their second careers. Yeah. I and I tell my family this all the time I'm gonna have a nice little house one day with a big old [00:55:00] backyard and I'm gonna have a lot of horses back there.

And there's certain horses that I've ridden that I hear that go to the cheaper tracks and I'm like, shit man, I wish I could just buy 'em and just like retire. So I think it's great, with the people that get retired resources and the OTTB, so Yeah.

You better be a really big backyard. It sounds like you've already got spots. I know. I got reserved for a few. I've been checking Zillow a lot. I got me too. I gotta hit the lottery listen, it is not gonna come from me. Riding racists. It might come from content creators.

There you go. We do say that the O TBS are like potato chips. You can't just have one. So be careful. I love it. It they stack up really quick. They do. I love it. I love it. I love it. Before we wrap up, we have a few listener submitted questions for you. Oh, cool. I like that. Okay, so this one is from Lynn Bowers, penny Packer. She's a longtime listener. How do you know the difference between getting run off with and [00:56:00] galloping at speed in control?

That's a good question. Okay, so how do I know the difference or how does, how do, like a spectator know, knows a difference? I guess both, but I would say maybe from your first person perspective would be interesting. Okay. So for me, if, once I know I'm getting run off with is when you're trying to stop them.

And even for them too. For her too. So what you're gonna look for is. If I'm like, got my hands raised and you see me kinda seesawing them trying to stop or saying hold or I got my feet in the dashboard. That's how you, that's how you know I'm getting right off with it.

You using all your body strengths to try to you'll see me standing up, you'll see me like with my hands grabbing another hold. I wouldn't get into a panic, but you'll see me with all my might trying to [00:57:00] stop the horse from running off. Yeah. And honestly somebody asked me that oh, if you can't run off it, could you please post a video?

I was like, listen, when it happens, you're not video knock on wood. It was not gonna happen. I've been doing this for so long that I feel like sometimes. Especially since I'm a chalkey we just like, all right you like certain horses, like, all right, you wanna keep going?

We just put our hands down and just let 'em go a little longer. Yeah. It's a little different for us, yeah. But it ha I tell you what, the one video that really got me to blow up on social media was that gray Philly that was lugging out and I was getting ran off with, her.

And she was lugging out. And then I stopped her before the wire, and that video was the first video that got 1.5 million views and a hundred and 30 something thousand likes. Wow. . She put my left arm to sleep and I'm like standing on her with all my might.

And so that's what it looks like to get run off with. [00:58:00] So what I feel like the content of you getting run off with, apparently you should let it happen more. I might have to. I'm. You know what's funny? I was telling, I was joking with a jockey. I'm like, you know what? Soon I'm just gonna retire from racing and I'm just gonna walk around and still act like I'm a jockey and ask trainers if they need help just so I could get content.

There you go. Yeah. Why not? All right, another question from Kristen Skewers. Do you as a jockey or exercise rider have any input into the day-to-day training, or are you told what the horse needs for the day? And additionally, are you responsible for installing any particular cues for the horse's earlier in their track careers?

Not necessarily. And no for the first question, no. So I'm basically. Just the pilot. I don't get told what to do. I basically get told what to do, right?

So once I get to the barn, , and I get a leg up on the horse, the [00:59:00] trainer will tell me, and I think I made a video about this the other day. The trainer would tell me, all right, get on a track, jog 'em back to the wire, turn 'em around, gallop, breeze them from the half mile pole. I let 'em gallop out to the three eight pole, or, jog once and then gallop once, but go slow or breeze in 49 seconds.

Something like that. So I get all my instructions from them. I don't really get a say in that. I can't even suggest that because in reality, it's the trainer that has the horses, and the horses are in care of the trainer. So whatever they tell me to do. I basically do.

That makes sense. Makes sense. So I had a question, which is, what do you think thoroughbreds have taught you about yourself? Oof patience.

A lot of patience. It makes you humble too. 'cause you have this big [01:00:00] 1200 pound animal that could really do what they want to do. So for you to, I wouldn't say outsmart them, but for you to control them. And go at your pace. It's such an art, but it's so humbling as well.

And also, like I said, patience. You have to have a lot of patience with horses. I see riders who get mad at their horse, how are you gonna get mad at your horse at the horses when we train them to run, fast? Or I see riders get mad when the horse is too tough. Dude, this is what they're bred to do is run, or you can't get mad at them for wanting to run.

You know what I mean? Definitely a lot of patience. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Ramon, this has been an incredible conversation. You're so interesting to interview. You've got a thank you, wonderful voice in the world of horses and we're, we feel really honored to have you come on and give us a little glimpse into the life of a jockey and sharing your expertise of [01:01:00] thoroughbred training and racing.

Can you tell us where people can find you on social media? On TikTok and Instagram, they could find me at Moya rides races. That's one word. And also I just have that account. There's no, 'cause apparently there's some fake accounts going around. Oh, geez. Oh, wow. Yeah. The people made two fake accounts on TikTok like private Moya or another one, but it's Moya Rides races.

And that's on TikTok and Instagram. And on Facebook, it's my name, it's Ramon Moya, Ramon f Moya. How many followers do you have? So curious. I'll tell you right on TikTok, I have a 86,000. Wow. And Facebook, I have 33,000 and Instagram I have close to 20. Wow. I believe. That's awesome. Cool. And to think about all the, all of the [01:02:00] different countries and that you're Oh, so many different countries, so cool, right?

I think people listen to our podcast in I don't know, 36 countries or something. That's, and it's just wild to us. That's amazing to think about's, so That's so cool. Yeah. I had to do a video in kilometers for the people that, okay. They were like, what's how fast were they going in kilometers?

I'm like, I don't wanna be rude, but go Google. Google is great. Come on guys. So i's funny. What? I'll do a video in kilometers for you. And it did well, I think I got 25,000 likes. But it was just so funny. But yeah. Yeah. And then I get a lot of questions in different languages.

I'm sure that I wish TikTok would translate. Oh, it doesn't do that. That's wild. Wild. It doesn't do that. That's my like, face, Facebook and Instagram. You could translate it. Yeah. You could just. Click that button. But TikTok doesn't do that. I don't know why. So it's I think and it shows me my demographic and, all these different countries Switzerland, Austria, Australia.

That's so cool. Israel there's so many [01:03:00] countries like it's amazing how far it got out. So yeah, I'm definitely appreciative from all the good feedback I've been getting. And like I said, I think it's something positive and thank you guys for having me on also.

Yeah, absolutely. One last question before we wrap up. What advice would you give to people wanting to ride at the track or aspiring jockeys out there? I love that question. So you're not gonna get it overnight and you're gonna have a lot of bad days, but. You're gonna have a lot of good ones too, so just be patient.

Be confident. I get that question a lot about getting spooked or being nervous. Just have confidence. Just know that the worst that could happen is that you fall off and, you could get back up, but yeah, just take it one day at a time. We never stop learning.

And I made a video about this a couple days ago, how much I've learned throughout this whole content creating process, because it's one thing, [01:04:00] knowing something, but when you speak it aloud or when you answer someone's questions, it makes you think about it more. And I'm like, oh, wait I knew that, but now that I'm explaining it, makes me, learn it in a new way and you never stop learning.

Yeah, just just have patience with horses, be confident on them and yeah, like I said, you'll never stop learning. Just keep going forward. Okay. We okay. I know we said that was the last question, but we have one. I know. I'm sorry. I lied. You're all good. We have one last question.

We ask every guest this, which is, what's one word you would use to describe a thoroughbred? Man, that's a great question. I don't want to be a generic, hold on. Let me think about this one. Take your time. It's a big question. Yeah.

Majestic, and I'm looking for a better word than that, but I can't. I [01:05:00] don't know if anyone said that actually yet. No, ma I think that's a great word. Yeah. Yeah. No, but I feel like I, listen I'm big on words and my vocabulary and I'm trying to get deeper and I feel like there's a better word for it, but for now I'll stick with that.

Okay. Fair enough. Best of luck with your upcoming races. Thank you guys so much for having me. And yeah, listen, I'm always here if you ev if you guys ever want have me on again. And awesome. I think we're gonna get a lot of additional questions we did ask for some questions, but I knew we had so many to ask you, so I was like, all right, let's pump the brakes.

And then, but yeah, I think we're gonna get a lot of follow up question from this episode. Awesome. So awesome. Yeah. And I appreciate , you guys, what you're doing and also, and in the podcast it's, it's super great, so I appreciate it. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Alright, if you like what you heard today, please leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts.

You can follow o ttb on tap, on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. And contact us with interview candidates and topic [01:06:00] suggestions@ttbontap.com. We love hearing from you. Until next time. Cheers. Cheers.