TOP 5: Angel Cordero Jr

Cordero was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, to Angel T. Cordero and Mercedes Cordero. His family is extensively involved in horseracing: his mother is the daughter of a jockey and a trainer, and he has 20 uncles and cousins who are riders and trainers. Cordero’s first experience on a horse was at the tender age of five months, and at three years of age, he “rode” an old saddle on a fence and practiced transferring his switch from one hand to the other. 

Despite being born into a family of riders and trainers, Cordero’s mother was against him becoming a jockey and ordered his father not to let him get on horses when he was a young boy. His other relatives discouraged him from racing as well and told him he wouldn’t amount to much as a jockey. He learned to ride horses by watching his father and his friends riding and listening in on their conversations about horse racing. Cordero wouldn’t be swayed by his family’s negativity, and his ambition brought him all the way to becoming the first Puerto Rican jockey to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.  

In 1983, Angel Cordero Jr. met fellow jockey and future wife Marjorie Clayton when they were both riding in New York, and they were married the same year. The two were extremely close, and Marjorie was always proud of Angel’s accomplishments. She was a kind woman with a deep love of animals, and she would rise early every morning to care for the two miniature ponies the family kept, which were like children to her. Cordero credits his wife for opening his eyes to the idea that there’s more to life than horseracing. 

Cordero was a fearless rider at this point and wasn’t concerned about what could happen if he went down in a race. He realized how important Marjorie was to him when he was badly injured in a spill at Aqueduct early in 1992. Fearing the worst, Marjorie insisted that he retire from racing and become a trainer, and Cordero quit horseracing. At the time, he said that quitting was the second most painful moment of his life behind his father’s death, and he would never have stopped riding for anybody else. 

Personal Tragedy 

The Corderos were married for 12 years, having three children: two daughters, Julie and Canela, and one son, Angel III. Tragedy struck their family in January 2001 when the unthinkable happened: Marjorie Cordero was fatally injured in a car accident while out jogging near their Long Island home and passed away. Although the driver fled the scene, he later admitted to the crime. The incident crushed Cordero (58 years old at the time). The unexpectedness of it was devastating, and Cordero later said that you could never be prepared for something so tragic to suddenly happen like that. He took a leave of absence from horseracing and did not work full-time again until John Velazquez returned to New York in the spring of 2002. 

Obstacles to His Fame

Aside from the discouragement and negativity he received from his own family, Cordero first struggled to become a jockey because of his age. In 1960, his father changed his birthday so he could qualify for a jockey’s license in Puerto Rico. He took back his actual birthday only after 15 years. 

Another obstacle in his riding journey in New York was the prejudice he faced as a Puerto Rican. Several trainers in New York did not accept him as their jockey because he is a Puerto Rican. However, Cordero refused to let this phase him; in fact, it only emboldened him to work harder. When asked about it, he said, “Prejudice isn’t as bad as it used to be, when they were hassling the Spanish riders all the time and accusing us of things, but it’s still there. I don’t think about it much. It’s like Sinatra says in ‘New York, New York,’ the part about ‘If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.’ ” 

Adding to the difficulty of this situation was the fact that Cordero could not speak much English at the time. He failed English in high school, and there was a language barrier to convincing trainers to use him as their jockey; many trainers wouldn’t touch him when he first came to ride in New York in 1962. After a few difficult months, Cordero returned to Puerto Rico to polish both his riding skills and his English communication skills. He returned to New York two years later and started winning races. 

A decade later, Cordero would face another unexpected difficulty when he was drawn in to a scandal over race fixing in New York. On May 1, 1975, trainer John Cotter was questioned by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board at a routine hearing over one of his horse’s failure to pass a post-race drug test. Although it was a simple case of carelessness, Cotter went off the rails and started talking about fixed races, crooked jockeys, and gamblers making a fortune on rigged races. Cordero was the only jockey that was mentioned by name. 

Cotter was dismissed as a crank at the time, but it was later found that at least 13 races and as many as 50 between 1973 and 1975 were rigged in an FBI investigation. A race fixer-turned-government witness accused Cordero and seven other prominent New York jockeys of taking bribes to hold back their horses, setting up windfall payoffs for crooked gamblers betting on long shots. Former jockey Con Errico was convicted of racketeering and race fixing, and jockey licenses were revoked for Jose Amy, Jaime Arellano, Eddie Belmonte, and Benny Feliciano. Jockey Jacinto Vasquez was suspended for one year for attempted bribery, and Mike Venezia was suspended for three months for failure to report a bribe offer. At the trial, Amy testified that he had frequently discussed with Cordero (his best friend and mentor) and other jockeys that he knew they were fixing races. 

Cordero has consistently denied all the accusations, and no charges were ever filed against him. Many of his fellow jockeys came forward to say that he had never discussed race-fixing with them. But the court of public opinion was not so cut-and-dry, and doubts about Cordero lingered in the public’s mind for years even though no admissible evidence was brought against him. Out of all of the jockeys investigated, he would receive the brunt of the public’s ire for the scandal. Cordero attributed the public response to his confident attitude and cocky demeanor. 

Controversial 1980 Preakness Stakes 

Cordero was also involved in a racing controversy during the 1980 Preakness Stakes when he rode Codex. Codex was leading the race entering the far turn, followed by the heavy favorite Genuine Risk, who was steadily gaining on him. Genuine Risk moved up to challenge Codex on the turn, and Cordero allowed Codex to drift wide into the stretch, forcing Genuine Risk to lose ground and go wide with him. During this move, Codex appeared to bump into Genuine Risk, cutting her momentum just as she was about to enter her best stride. The filly faltered, and Codex drew away to win by 4 ¾ lengths.   

The jockey of Genuine Risk, Jacinto Vasquez, immediately called foul after the race. He claimed that Cordero had intentionally caused his mount to drift into his path and that he had even hit Genuine Risk with his crop while whipping Codex. Ultimately, stewards dismissed his claims, but the decision left the public in an outrage. 

After the race, both Pimlico Race Course and Cordero were harassed with angry calls and letters of protest. Fans were furious that Cordero and Codex were not disqualified, as they believed it to be a dirty win, and Cordero received angry letters and even death threats. Despite the public response, the Maryland Racing Commission voted 3-1 to let the victory stand two weeks later. Photographs taken by Baltimore Sun photographer Weyman Swagger showed there had been no contact between the two runners. 

The track steward for the race, Clinton Pitts Jr., has said that he doesn’t regret his call for the race. Pitts said that Cordero knew it was a strategic way of understanding how to defeat his enemy. “To this day, I don’t think Cordero fouled. Codex was already four (horses) wide at the head of the lane; he didn’t drift that far,” Pitts said. Although Vasquez was bitter about the loss, he also congratulated Cordero after the race and said, “He took advantage, that’s all. I’ve done the same thing many times and, sometimes, gotten away with it. I barbecued him in a race in 1979, and he got even in the Preakness.”