Ramon Dominguez

By Jack Rightmyer

AGE: 46
FAMILY: Wife, Sharon, and sons, Alex and Matthew
RESIDENCE: Saratoga Springs, originally from Caracas, Venezuela
PROFESSION: Retired thoroughbred horse racing jockey; still involved in racing
PRIMARY SPORT: Running

Ramon Dominguez’s life changed on January 18, 2013, at the Aqueduct Racetrack. At the time he was one of the best thoroughbred jockeys in the world. He rode his first North American professional mount in 1996 and had raced on all the big tracks from the Kentucky Derby to Saratoga. He had 4,985 wins during his career and had won three consecutive Eclipse Awards (2010, 2011, 2012) that are presented to the outstanding jockey of that year. On that January day it all came to an end.

He was approaching the top stretch aboard a horse named Convocation, and he was looking for an opening to get the horse through the crowded field. Convocation became tangled with another horse and Ramon, along with the horse, was thrown violently to the ground. 

“That spill happened so fast I had no time to even think about what was happening,” Ramon said. “It all felt like slow motion.”

He suffered multiple skull fractures and a traumatic brain injury. He had hopes of returning to the sport that had given him so much, but five months after the injury doctors advised him that he couldn’t sustain another hit to the head and therefore did not clear him to go back to riding. 

“I was forced to retire when I was still in my prime. It was difficult at first, but you learn to turn the page and enjoy life in a different way. Being a jockey had been a big part of my life, but now I was entering a new stage, and that is my love for distance running which has replaced the adrenaline rush of riding horses.”

Ramon grew up in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. As a 16-year-old, he saw his first horse race and was immediately captivated, then knew being a jockey was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He began in show jumping then turned to riding thoroughbreds.

“Not long after I retired, I began to run the same distance I had run as a jockey,” Ramon said. As a jockey, to maintain his weight, he would often run one and occasionally two miles. His first running race after his retirement as a jockey was a 5K put on by the Long Island Road Runners Club and he placed first with a time of 19:15. 

“That 5K got me hooked. Shortly after that, I moved with my family to Saratoga Springs and now I’m working with an excellent coach, Bob Lane. It’s been an amazing journey, and I’m learning so much about how to train and how to race.”

Today, he is training about 45 miles a week, which includes two speed workouts on the track. In just a few years his 5K times have improved to under 17 minutes, which is exceptional for a 46-year-old novice runner. Ramon won the Good Karma 5K in Clifton Park last month, and his current PR is 16:16 at the Fit for Duty 5K in Greenwich, last October.

“I see a lot of similarities and strategy in being a jockey and in being a distance runner. The most important thing I learned as a jockey was to listen to the horse. Many times, the trainer had a plan, but what looks good on paper might not work on the track. When those gates opened the horse might go out very fast, quicker than you wanted, or the horse might start slow. The ultimate goal was always to finish strong.”

As a distance runner he has also on occasion gone out too fast. “Sometimes you get caught up in the beginning with a fast group of runners and you start faster that you wanted. I try to listen to my body and how I’m feeling, which helps me decide if I want to stay with them or let them go.”

At his age, he knows his best years as a racer are behind him, and yet he’s running faster today than he ever has. “It’s important to put the time into running to do it right. It’s about being consistent. I’m much faster than I was three years ago and even my workouts are faster. It’s liberating to know that I’m going this fast and enjoying my accomplishments. I’m content running the 5K distance, but maybe in the future I’ll run some 10ks and maybe even a half marathon.”

Ironically back in 1996, when he first came to this country as a jockey at Hialeah Park in Florida, he roomed at the home of the track’s groom, Ronnie Holassie, and his wife. Ronnie would often go on long runs before and after his shift at the track, and Ramon eventually learned that he was a marathon runner who competed for Trinidad and Tobago at the Olympics in 1996 and 2000.

“I had no desire to run at that time. I was completely focused on racing horses, and it’s impossible to do both. I did go on a training run with Ronnie one time. While living with him in Florida I did an 8K race called the Festival of the Lights. I’m still Facebook friends with him and his wife. We’ve exchanged some texts about running.”

In 2016 Ramon was elected to the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame, located in Saratoga Springs. “I thought I would be a long shot to be elected. I was sobbing and overcome with so much emotion when I received that call. It was an incredible moment in my life. It’s hard to describe the feeling of being on top of a horse and threading your way through small openings. It was great to do that for so long and to do it well.”

For most of us, leaving a career you love in your prime would be an insurmountable hurdle to overcome, but Ramon Dominguez continues to find excitement every day. “My life continues to bring me such joy. I feel so fortunate to live in Saratoga with my wife Sharon and my two sons, Alex and Matthew. It’s such a beautiful city, and I’m still connected to horse racing.” 

Ramon and Sharon will experience a new phase of parenthood this fall. His older son, Alex, is going to college in a couple of months, and Matthew will start his senior year of high school. As a family, they enjoy playing pickleball but the rest of the family is not involved with riding. 

After his retirement, Ramon’s mind turned to ways in which he might help racing evolve and improve, eventually bringing him back to his riding crop prototypes that he started developing 10 years ago. With a partner, they created a new gentler touch horse riding whip, which is now in full production. In addition to the whip, he’s also working on the development of other equestrian equipment. 

“Today I also have running which is an extremely important and gratifying part of my life. It’s my form of meditation. It keeps me sane. Running is one of the highlights of my day.”

Jack Rightmyer (jackxc@nycap.rr.com) of Burnt Hills was a longtime cross-country coach at Bethlehem High School and today is an adjunct English professor at Siena College. He has written two books “A Funny Thing About Teaching” and “It’s Not About Winning.”