Former jockey Robbie Davis got his first win as a trainer Dec. 3 at Aqueduct as 39-1 shot Sandyinthesun, ridden by his daughter, Jackie, got up by a nose to win the seventh race (VIDEO).
“To me, it’s better than any win I ever rode,” said Robbie Davis, who co-owns the 4-year-old gelded son of Say Florida Sandy with Thomas Ponzarella. “It was an incredible race. It’s unimaginable, the feeling.”
Sandyinthesun, who is the only horse Davis has in training, returned $81.50 as he won his first race in five starts. Davis equipped the New York-bred gelding with blinkers and he responded with a solid surge between horses in the stretch to win the 1 1/16-mile turf race in a bob at the wire.
“I am so happy,” said Jackie Davis, who graduated from the North American Racing Academy. “This is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done. This is like winning my first race.”
Davis, who with his wife, Marguerite, owns an 80-acre horse farm in upstate New York near Saratoga, retired as a jockey in 2002 after winning 3,382 races and $115,732,836 in purses. A former director of the Jockey’s Guild, he served as his daughter’s agent for a time before taking out his trainer’s license.
“I’m just so thankful to get this horse to the races,” said Robbie Davis. “I’m just so glad to be able to do this with Jackie and everybody here at Aqueduct. I’d like to thank the good Lord. It’s going to be a great Christmas for everybody.”
