The diehard fan knows the name because it defines dependability.<\/p>\n
The casual fan might know it because it has the feel of familiarity.<\/p>\n
Either way is perfectly fine with Gallyn Mitchell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t go out to impress anyone,\u201d the veteran Emerald Downs jockey said. \u201cI give it my 110, 120 percent every time.\u201d<\/p>\n
While other riders might have emitted brighter star-power wattage through the first dozen years of horse racing at the track \u2013 Ricky Frazier and Kevin Radke come immediately to mind \u2013 no one has been as steadily successful in the irons as the 45-year-old, just-get-it-done Mitchell.<\/p>\n
Get it done?<\/p>\n
Mitchell has done it with 966 victories at the Auburn oval \u2013 well ahead No. 2 and now-retired Frank Gonsalves (561). It includes a leading 52 stakes wins, with a track-record 13 in 2000.<\/p>\n
He has done it with $9,625,875 in earnings here. Closest man to him? Frazier, whose mounts have earned $6,013,635.<\/p>\n
Magic marks in sight<\/b><\/p>\n
Between Opening Night on Friday at 6 and Closing Day on Sept. 28, Mitchell figures to hit the 1,000-victory and $10 million-in-earnings milestones.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s dependable.<\/p>\n
And what an appropriate pair of impending feats for a guy who has ridden at Emerald since Day One, way back in 1996.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s familiarity.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t think about that,\u201d Mitchell said of setting the pace. \u201cYou just want to go out there and do the job and win what races you can. I look to win and set high goals. And I hope I can set them high.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether it was his maiden victory at Santa Anita in 1981 \u2013 a day he out-rode the legendary Laffit Pincay to the wire \u2013 or his Longacres Mile triumph aboard Edneator in 2000 at Emerald Downs, Mitchell never has been one to set the bar low.<\/p>\n
Even if the odds are high \u2013 such as the 41-to-1 for Edneator in that 2000 Mile.<\/p>\n
\u201cThem horses can\u2019t read the (Racing) Form or the odds,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cI\u2019ve had (odds) a lot more than that. … Coming out of the paddock, something told me we were going to win that race.\u201d<\/p>\n
If anyone would know that feeling, it would be Mitchell, who, according to his own recollection, \u201cBefore I could walk, I was on horseback.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just appreciate that I can do something I love doing. So many people don\u2019t like their job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Right line of work<\/b><\/p>\n
Mitchell certainly likes his job. And many others at the track like the way he does it, including trainers Jim Penney and Kay Cooper, longtime users of Mitchell\u2019s highly capable riding services.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe rides our horses hard and well,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cGallyn has been there for us every spring, he has been very helpful in getting our horses fit \u2013 and he trusts us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trusts his agent, too, in an arrangement that\u2019s unique at Emerald. The agent?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Denise, his wife of 21 years.<\/p>\n
Seems that when Mitchell was riding at Yakima Meadows, he had an agent who \u201cput me on anything and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
But \u201canything and everything\u201d weren\u2019t always the best choices. At one point, Denise had seen enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018If you don\u2019t fire him, I will,\u2019 \u201d she recalled. \u201cHe said, \u2018Who\u2019s going to do it (be my agent)?\u2019 I said, \u2018I will\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
The results have spoken for themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was one of the best moves of my career,\u201d Gallyn Mitchell said \u201cShe\u2019ll come to me (when decisions need to be made) because I get on the horses, and we just try to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But most of the time, only at the track.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs competitive as he is, he doesn\u2019t bring it home,\u201d Denise said. \u201cWe try to leave work at work.\u201d<\/p>\n
No place like home<\/b><\/p>\n
With a resume\u2019 built on equal parts consistency and success, Mitchell probably could pack his tack for a higher-profile track.<\/p>\n
But Emerald Downs gradually is elevating its own profile. Every stakes race this season, for the first time, will have a purse of at least $50,000. This year\u2019s Longacres Mile winner will qualify automatically for the Breeders\u2019 Cup.<\/p>\n
And for Enumclaw resident Mitchell, this is just home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like it up in this country,\u201d he said. \u201cI like to fish, I like to hunt. You can go for an hour in any direction and do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitchell has won four of the track\u2019s biggest races: the Mile (Edneator in 2000), the Emerald Derby (Peteski\u2019s Charm in 2000), the Gottstein Futurity (Condotierri in 2002) and the Belle Roberts (Top Bracket in 2002).<\/p>\n
How much longer? Where to from here?<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least another four years,\u201d said Mitchell, whose family includes stepson Cody and daughters Samantha and Jaclyn. \u201cI don\u2019t see (retirement) in the near future. My body will tell me \u2013 and I\u2019m still going to push it. When I retire, I want to go out on my own status.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he won\u2019t go far. Renowned trainer Junior Coffey has urged Mitchell to consider that end of the business. Mitchell said he\u2019d like to put on a riding school to teach up-and-comers the right way to do things.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to give back whatever I can do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For Gallyn Mitchell, it\u2019s just another way of getting it done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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