Dubai: Angel Cordero Jr, the man who started the "flying dismounts" now a trademark of Italian jockey Frankie Dettori said he did not mind the Italian stealing his style.
"He stole my jump, but I don't mind it since he does it better," said Cordero Jr, a retired American Racing Hall of Fame jockey who now works as an agent for top rider John Velazquez.
The Puerto Rican also paid Dettori the ultimate compliment. "I think he is probably the greatest jockey of the new generation," he said during yesterday's Breakfast with the Stars.
Cordero Jr has won over 7,200 races, apart from the 400 in his home country that are usually not counted.
"My best was the three Kentucky Derby races that I won in 1974, '76 and '85. While the first is always the best, the second one is very close to my heart," said Cordero Jr, who has worked on the two horses that will be ridden by Velazquez tomorrow. "The second win, in 1976, was with Bold Forbes which was a horse from my own country.
"My father Angel Cordero Vila, who was also a rider and trainer, had worked for the connections of Bold Forbes, dubbed the "Puerto Rican Wonder Horse", and that Kentucky Derby win was special," he told Gulf News yesterday.
Commenting on the Nad Al Sheba track, Cordero Jr said it was good as it always played even.
"If you look at the horses that have won, it has always been the good ones. Even the American horses that won here came after doing well in the US."
Commenting on the intricate role played by a jockey in a win, he said: "A horse is 90 per cent and the jockey plays the remaining 10 per cent of the role. If there's no horse, you have no jockey, no trainer."
"Being a jockey is very demanding. You should have a desire to do it. You have to put up with a lot of hardship. It can be a long time between wins."
