By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Sports
Ronald Ardoin knows a thing or two — or 5,226 — about winning horse races.
As a jockey, that’s how many times the south Louisiana native crossed the finish line first. When he reached the 5,000-win milestone, he was only the 16th jockey in America to achieve it, and he is in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (inducted in 2013, alongside Shaquille O’Neal) as a result.
During his 30 years riding, guiding, and sometimes hanging on to a 1,000-pound thoroughbred, Ardoin was Louisiana Downs’ leading rider five times and took 2,848 winners’ circle photos in Bossier City. He also won the riding title at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans a half-dozen times.
In 2003, Ardoin hopped off a mount for the final time. Ardoin had tendon damage in his left wrist, and after years of broken shoulders, collarbones, ankles, arms and fingers, enough was enough.
“I didn’t want to be operated on anymore,” Ardoin said. “The doctor said it would heal, but I wouldn’t quite have the flexibility.”
After a couple of years in retirement, Ardoin decided to put his knowledge and relationships to good use. He became a jockey agent.
“A couple of these boys I rode with kept begging me to be their agent. I said, ‘Well, I will give it a go.’ I’ve been successful. I’ve been pretty successful at it.”
So successful that Ardoin says he has represented the Downs’ leading jockey 11 of the past 12 years.
“I came to LA Downs with him (in 2018), and he made me the leading rider,” jockey Emanuel Nieves said. “My first time in my life I was ever a leading rider, it was with Ronald Ardoin at Louisiana Downs.”
As an agent, Ardoin’s job is to get his riders on the best horses. The more money the horse wins, the more money the jockey wins, and the more money the agent wins. Whatever the horse earns in a race, the jockey gets 10 percent. Of that 10 percent, Ardoin gets 30 percent.
“Most agents get 25 percent,” Ardoin said. “But I get 30 percent. I tell (trainers) I’m going to give them five percent more than those other guys are going to give you.”
Being an agent means being a salesman. Ardoin sells trainers on his jockeys’ talents — the same thing Ardoin used to do as a self-promoter.
“When I was a jockey, I sold myself. I was blessed with a little ability, and I was blessed with a golden tongue in my mouth,” Ardoin said. “In a horse race, if I saw something happen, I would get in touch with my agent and say, ‘We need to go see this guy.’ By the time we left the barn, most of the time, we had the mount secured for the next time. Some riders don’t have the gift of gab, and that’s when an agent comes in and can do the talking for him.”
Many times, Ardoin is the voice for jockeys who doesn’t speak the language. Not the racing language. The English language.
“We don’t have many American riders,” Ardoin said. “They’re all Spanish riders. Half of them speak broken English, so they need somebody to communicate for them. They have the ability to ride, but they just don’t have the ability to communicate with people.”
Speaking of communication, Ardoin isn’t shy about sharing thoughts with his jockeys.
“I watch them ride, and if I see something where I think they should have done something else, we’ll discuss it. You better give me the right answer, because I’m going to give you the right answer.”
That might sound cocky. That might sound arrogant. But Ardoin, who turns 65 next Monday, simply wants to bring out the best in his jockeys.
“My riders will tell you that I’m probably harder on them than some of the trainers,” Ardoin said. “I watch every race they ride, and I critique everything they do. I want them to be as successful as I was. I can tell you what to do to be successful, and what to do if you want to go down the wrong road.”
“Even if you win, he tells you, ‘You did this bad, you did this good,’” Nieves said. “’You win, but you looked bad.’ That’s good, because it makes you better every day. You win two, three races in one day, he says, ‘Tomorrow, we need to win four.’”
Because of Ardoin’s past performances, trainers have confidence in the Carencro native’s judgment.
“When I bring a rider over, the first thing (the trainer) asks is, ‘Do you believe in him?’ I say, ‘Absolutely. I wouldn’t be working with him if I didn’t believe in him.’ (Most) will say, ‘If he’s good enough for you, he’s good enough for me.’ Then we do business.”
And for Ardoin the agent — just like when Ardoin was the jockey — business has been very good.
Photo courtesy of Natalie Moses
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