Horse Racing: The Psychiatrist

Other jockeys call Steve Brooks, 41, “the psychiatrist,” and swear that he talks to his horses. If he does—and Brooks does not deny it—he speaks the right language. Last week, at Florida’s Gulfstream Park, he rode Johnsal, a three-year-old colt, to victory in a $3,000, six-furlong sprint. For Johnsal, it was win No. 1 in a year of trying. For Brooks, it was win No. 4,000, in 25 years of succeeding. Only Johnny Longden, Eddie Arcaro, Willie Shoemaker and Britain’s Sir Gordon Richards have won more races.

Brooks won the 1949 Kentucky Derby on Ponder, was aboard Citation when the long-tailed Triple Crown champion won the 1951 Hollywood Gold Cup to become racing’s first millionaire horse. But Brooks is best known for his knack with “problem horses” that other jockeys have written off. Shrewd, observant and enormously strong (his biceps are almost as big around as his thighs), he is an expert with the whip, once whaled a horse 50 times to win a race that lasted just 1 min. 8 3/5 sec. Another time, at his wife’s suggestion, he climbed aboard a doleful 50-1 shot, finished second, forcing everyone to ask “How come?” Said he: “I just noticed when he was warming up that he ran with his head down. He couldn’t see where he was going, so all I did was lift his head up. I should have won.” Total purses won by Brooks’ horses: about $16 million.