Sidelined Journeyman Rider Hamilton to Have Back Surgery Sept. 17
Sidelined Journeyman Rider Hamilton to Have Back Surgery Sept. 17
Two-Time Maryland Meet Champion Out of Action Since June 10
Keefe Pointing to Sept. 22 Stakes for G2 Winner Still Having Fun
Live Racing Returns Friday, Sept. 14 with 10-Race Program
LAUREL, MD – Journeyman Steve ‘Cowboy’ Hamilton, a multiple meet champion in Maryland and winner of more than 1,374 career races, is scheduled to have back surgery Sept. 17 in an attempt to continue his riding career.
Hamilton, who turns 45 Oct. 11, has not ridden since finishing second and third in a pair of allowance races June 10 at Laurel Park. His procedure will be performed at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore.
“I’m doing OK. My spirits are up and I’m trying to stay positive,” Hamilton said. “We’ll just have to see how we come out of [the surgery] before I can say anything else. We’re just trying to address it and meet it head on and go from there. I’m very thankful for all the support everyone has shown me.”
Earlier this summer, doctors found three small tumors at the bottom of Hamilton’s spine that was causing persistent back pain, said agent Ben Feliciano Sr. Initially, Hamilton was receiving injections in the area in an effort to dissolve the tumors.
“The shots they were giving him didn’t work the way they thought they would, so they decided to go ahead and operate on him,” Feliciano said. “He’s going to be out a while, even after the operation. Once he heals up, he’s going to have a big decision to make whether he’s going to feel good enough to come back. We’ve talked about that. It’s a matter of how everything goes.”
Hamilton returned Sept. 8 from a trip to his native Oklahoma to visit family. He is in the third phase of his riding career, which began in 1990. He retired in 2000 to help raise his two young boys, returning in 2004. He stepped aside again in 2006 following a serious automobile accident, embarking on his latest comeback in August 2016.
Last year, Hamilton ranked fourth overall in Maryland with 94 wins to go along with nearly $2.9 million in purse earnings, topping $1 million at each of Laurel’s meets to open and close the calendar year. He ranked third in purses ($1.03 million) and tied for sixth in wins (25) at the winter-spring meet to open 2018, and won the Weber City Miss Stakes in April aboard Goodonehoney.
Hamilton’s youngest son, 19-year-old apprentice Weston Hamilton, finished second at Laurel’s winter-spring meet with 46 wins and $1.18 million in purse earnings and tied for second during the summer stand with 25 wins to go along with an $844,013 bankroll. Wes Hamilton has won 91 races since making his debut last December.
“He’s got a few options. He’s a smart guy. Wes is doing good and he can take Wes’ book or decide to do something if he doesn’t think he can ride anymore. We’ll cross all that when we come to it. Really right now everything’s up in the air with him,” Feliciano said. “Hopefully everybody that’s rooting for him are keeping their fingers crossed. He’s got a lot of friends. Everybody likes Stevie.”
Hamilton earned his nickname on the Oklahoma bull-riding circuit as a youngster, and returned there to work on its oil fields during his first retirement. Upon his return, he was the leading rider at legendary Pimlico Race Course’s spring meets in 2004 and 2005.
Wes Hamilton won Sunday’s seventh race, an off-the-turf one-mile waiver maiden claiming event, aboard I’ve Gotta Plan ($4.80) for trainer and co-owner Donna Lockard.
“He’s doing good,” Wes Hamilton said of his dad. “He’s tough. He’ll be back. I’m sure he’ll be back.”
Keefe Pointing to Sept. 22 Stakes for G2 Winner Still Having Fun
Laurel-based trainer Tim Keefe is looking at stakes races in New York and Pennsylvania as possible next starts for Woody Stephens (G2) winner Still Having Fun.
Keefe has nominated Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Terp Racing’s Still Having Fun to the one-mile Kelso Handicap (G2) for 3-year-olds and up at Belmont Park and the six-furlong Gallant Bob (G3) for 3-year-olds at Parx Racing, both Sept. 22.
Still Having Fun was fifth in his most recent effort, the seven-furlong H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) Aug. 25 at Saratoga. The 3-year-old Maryland-bred son of Old Fashioned who brought $12,000 as an October 2016 yearling began 2018 with wins in the Frank Whiteley Jr. and Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel.
In eight career starts Still Having Fun has four wins and two seconds with $431,703 in purse earnings. He has yet to face older horses but owns wins at both distances. The Miracle Wood is his only previous try at a mile, breaking his maiden last November and running second in the Chick Lang Stakes May 19 at three-quarters.
“[The owners] and I will get together and decide if we’re thinking a mile or shortening him up to six furlongs,” Keefe said. “There’s pros and cons with both races, but he’s doing great. He came out of his race at Saratoga awesome and we’re just trying to pick out the next race.”
Keefe won Laurel’s fourth race Sunday, a $40,000 maiden special weight for 3-year-olds and up, with Wachtel Stable and Peter Deutsch’s Top Me Off ($20.20). The gelded 3-year-old son of Hall of Famer Curlin, ridden by Forest Boyce, was making his first start for Keefe.
“He’s a little quirky so, to be honest, we weren’t really sure what to expect from him today. He works solid in the morning, when he wants to work. He’s kind of got a mind of his own and we’re just trying to figure him out,” Keefe said. “He’s a horse that you really can’t get after too much because he’ll start to resent it. She did a great job, got to the lead and just kept on going.”
Live Racing Returns Friday, Sept. 14 with 10-Race Program
Live racing returns to Laurel Park with 10 races, four scheduled over Laurel’s world-class turf course, Friday, Sept. 14. First race post time is 1:10 p.m.
Highlighting the card are $40,000 maiden special weights going 5 ½ furlongs for 2-year-olds in Race 2 and six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up in Race 4; $42,000 entry-level allowance races for 3-year-olds and up in Races 7 and 9; and a $42,000 optional claiming allowance for 2-year-old fillies in Race 8. All three races will be contested at six furlongs.
