Channing Hill at Keeneland
Oct 9, 2013 22:31:16 GMT -5
Post by Jon on Oct 9, 2013 22:31:16 GMT -5
Always liked this kid when he was in NY and felt he was underrated. This may prove to be a very good decision for him as he'll make new contacts. Wish him well in his first BC.
Hill enjoying his first full Keeneland meet
Jockey Channing Hill is riding his first full meet at Keeneland this fall, and his decision to come to Central Kentucky already has paid dividends with a victory aboard Poker Player in last Sunday's Grade 3 Bourbon.
"This was something I had always wanted to do," said Hill, a 26-year-old native of Grand Island, Nebraska. "I had shipped in a few times and one spring (2009) I rode a horse for Roger Attfield (Society's Chairman) that beat Parading in an allowance race that should have been a Grade 2."
Hill rode his first race at Columbus, Nebraska, when he was 16 and then went to Prairie Meadows in 2004.
"In January 2005 after I graduated from high school, I went to New York," Hill said of a circuit that for the most part has been his home base since. "Once you are in New York, you never really get to leave, but I went to Chicago last year and that opened up more opportunities."
Hill won 18 races last summer at Arlington Park and this year won 47 to finish sixth in the rider standings. Many of the horses he won on were trained by Wayne Catalano, who also trains Poker Player.
"Wayne asked me to go down to Kentucky Downs and he was just on fire down there," Hill said of Catalano, who followed his leading trainer title at Arlington Park with the crown at Kentucky Downs. "People told me that I sure must like riding at Kentucky Downs, and I told them that it was the horses that I liked being on. You get a lot of notice with four-win days."
After the Keeneland meet, Hill plans to return to New York for the winter but not before a quick trip to California and this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita with Poker Player.
"I never have ridden in the Breeders' Cup," Hill remarked. "I spent three months at Santa Anita early in my career and made some great contacts. I met (trainer) Patrick Biancone and a few years later when I rode at Monmouth he had some real nice horses there that I got on."
Hill has one other big event coming up thanks to another connection he made in Chicago. He is engaged to Catalano's daughter, Shelbi, with a wedding expected in June or July.
"I met Shelbi last year at Arlington Park and she really turned my life around," Hill said.
So who is most responsible for making inroads into the Catalano barn, the rider or the daughter?
"Shelbi has given me a big leg up," Hill said with a laugh. "I feel like I should give her 25 percent. She's the best agent I've ever had."
Brisnet
Hill enjoying his first full Keeneland meet
Jockey Channing Hill is riding his first full meet at Keeneland this fall, and his decision to come to Central Kentucky already has paid dividends with a victory aboard Poker Player in last Sunday's Grade 3 Bourbon.
"This was something I had always wanted to do," said Hill, a 26-year-old native of Grand Island, Nebraska. "I had shipped in a few times and one spring (2009) I rode a horse for Roger Attfield (Society's Chairman) that beat Parading in an allowance race that should have been a Grade 2."
Hill rode his first race at Columbus, Nebraska, when he was 16 and then went to Prairie Meadows in 2004.
"In January 2005 after I graduated from high school, I went to New York," Hill said of a circuit that for the most part has been his home base since. "Once you are in New York, you never really get to leave, but I went to Chicago last year and that opened up more opportunities."
Hill won 18 races last summer at Arlington Park and this year won 47 to finish sixth in the rider standings. Many of the horses he won on were trained by Wayne Catalano, who also trains Poker Player.
"Wayne asked me to go down to Kentucky Downs and he was just on fire down there," Hill said of Catalano, who followed his leading trainer title at Arlington Park with the crown at Kentucky Downs. "People told me that I sure must like riding at Kentucky Downs, and I told them that it was the horses that I liked being on. You get a lot of notice with four-win days."
After the Keeneland meet, Hill plans to return to New York for the winter but not before a quick trip to California and this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita with Poker Player.
"I never have ridden in the Breeders' Cup," Hill remarked. "I spent three months at Santa Anita early in my career and made some great contacts. I met (trainer) Patrick Biancone and a few years later when I rode at Monmouth he had some real nice horses there that I got on."
Hill has one other big event coming up thanks to another connection he made in Chicago. He is engaged to Catalano's daughter, Shelbi, with a wedding expected in June or July.
"I met Shelbi last year at Arlington Park and she really turned my life around," Hill said.
So who is most responsible for making inroads into the Catalano barn, the rider or the daughter?
"Shelbi has given me a big leg up," Hill said with a laugh. "I feel like I should give her 25 percent. She's the best agent I've ever had."
Brisnet