Mark Guidry tried to get the racetrack out of his system. There were dalliances with golf and fishing and other activities, but nothing filled the void created when he retired from riding in 2007 after 33 years in the saddle.
“I'm an old racetracker and I'm going to die an old racetracker because there ain't nothing like it,” Guidry said recently while at Keeneland.
After a turn as a trainer and then a brief return to riding, Guidry retired for good in 2014 and began searching for a way to stay involved in racing. At the encouragement of friends, he decided to become a jockey agent and picked up James Graham as a client when the rider moved his tack from Santa Anita to Fair Grounds at the outset of 2016.
It was the opportunity Guidry had been seeking.
“I knew I had to do something,” Guidry said. “When I had the opportunity to be an agent it was a good thing and I thought I would like it a whole lot and I really, really do. James [Graham] gave me an opportunity.
“I love doing it. You get to work with your rider on a regular basis and see your people. That's what I missed most about the game, [talking] every morning with everybody. It works good. It's a good job.”
Guidry won 5,222 races and rode the earners of more than $106.3 million during his career, winning the GI Kentucky Oaks in 2006 aboard Lemons Forever. –Courtesy Keeneland Barn Notes
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