Three-time leading Gulfstream Park jockey Jerry Bailey took the starring role before 60 Minutes II cameras in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. I) Saturday.
A CBS/60 Minutes II film crew shot Bailey winning aboard Read the Footnotes in the Fountain of Youth and in other races throughout the afternoon.
Jerry gave a visual example of artistry in the saddle while urging Read the Footnotes to a neck victory. Read the Footnotes and Second of June were locked in a desperate nose-to-nose battle with Bailey and Cornelio Velasquez subjecting their mounts to vigorous whipping. With only yards to go, Bailey stopped whipping and used his hands to literally push Read the Footnotes to his hard-earned triumph. Only when Bailey began coaxing Read the Footnotes with his hands did he begin to inch away from his persistent rival.
Bailey also rode two other winners on the "Super Saturday" card. He guided Birdstone, one of the early favorites for the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), to a facile score in an allowance race and also won on Swingforthefences, another prominent Derby candidate, in an allowance test.
The shoot will be a profile of Bailey to be broadcast on 60 Minutes II. Bailey has won an unprecedented seven Eclipse Awards, the sport's highest accolade. In 2003 the 46-year old great rode the winners of 70 stakes, including 26 grade 1 events, and his mounts earned a record $23.35 million in purses. Bailey has won five national jockey money-winning titles. Bailey was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.
He registered a third Fountain of Youth victory. He first won the race in 1980 aboard Naked Sky, then took the 1998 edition on Lil's Lad.
Jerry Bailey's ride in Saturday's Fountain of Youth captured for 60 Minutes II.
