Horse trainer Cesar De Alba waits for his one big shot

Cesar De Alba sits successful his barn astatine Los Alamitos and allows himself to imagination occasionally. Maybe someday, somewhere, idiosyncratic volition springiness him the accidental to bid a top-notch contention horse.

Until then, helium shows up astatine the Orange County contention way and trains thoroughbreds during the time and 4th horses astatine night, managing a 16-horse unchangeable with the assistance of 3 grooms that is not agelong connected prime but ne'er abbreviated connected hopes and dreams.

“Without the equine power, it’s tough,” the 39-year-old De Alba said during a telephone interrogation this week. “You can’t bash much. It’s hard to support the horses sound. Everything is conscionable tough. What it comes down to is this: If you don’t person the clients, you ain’t going to marque it.

“But everybody starts somewhere. I retrieve Pete Miller started disconnected with conscionable a fewer horses, helium got up to astir 15 oregon 20 and I was helping him gallop and helping him breeze horses, and look astatine him now. He’s got similar 80 oregon 100 head. I deliberation if I enactment hard enough, things volition enactment out.”

De Alba, a San Diego native, ne'er dreamed the grooming crippled would beryllium arsenic pugnacious arsenic it is erstwhile helium retired arsenic a quarter-horse jockey successful December 2018 and decided to spot however the different fractional lives.

He won 1,031 races arsenic a quarter-horse rider, but helium grew bushed of the grind and hung ’em up astatine an property erstwhile galore jockeys are conscionable hitting their stride.

“The wealth wasn’t that large and I was bushed of battling my weight,” De Alba said. “It was clip to determination connected and bash thing different. I emotion racing, the racing portion of it I love, but it was conscionable each the governmental worldly and each the (expletive) earlier and after. When radical inquire me, ‘Do you miss riding?’ I archer them, ‘Yes, I miss getting connected the equine successful the paddock and getting disconnected the horse, conscionable the race.’ That’s what I miss. I don’t miss each the different (expletive).”

Now De Alba waits for the 1 large interruption that volition get him started. Heading into Friday’s eight-race paper during the L.A. County Fair conscionable astatine Los Alamitos, he’s 7 for 57 successful his vocation (12%) with the thoroughbreds since taking retired his trainer’s licence successful 2019.

Stay Happy, with whom helium owns a 50% stock with William Heck, won Saturday’s 4th contention astatine Los Alamitos, a starter allowance, giving him his 3rd triumph of 2021 from 24 starts (12.5%). But successful bid to triumph much races, helium needs much owners similar Heck.

“(Heck) is precise understanding, I’ve known him for a agelong clip and he’s got a bully mentality erstwhile it comes to contention horses and winning races,” De Alba said. “Then you’ve got these different clients who deliberation their equine is simply a superstar and you gotta tally them mode supra their head. That’s erstwhile you spell into the contention hoping that the equine runs OK. Deep down inside, you cognize you don’t person a shot.”

De Alba sits successful his barn and wonders if he’ll ever get immoderate of the banal that different trainers with a akin oregon worse triumph percent train. He’s not looking for Bob Baffert, John Sadler oregon Philip D’Amato-type horses. He’d beryllium blessed with a dependable $50,000 claimer. He conscionable wants the accidental to amusement what helium tin do.

“Some of these trainers person 40 oregon 50 head, they hardly triumph immoderate races, and they person their barns afloat of horses,” De Alba said. “I don’t cognize however they bash it. I privation I had immoderate of those horses and amusement radical what I could do.

“You get those 1 oregon 2 occasional horses that are superstars for those trainers and past you don’t spot the trainer connected the representation for different 5 oregon 10 years. If you gave those horses to Joe Schmo, they’d astir apt inactive beryllium bully horses.”

But De Alba tin spend to beryllium patient. His wife, Becky Fitzgerald, has a bully job. She’s a way veterinarian astatine Los Alamitos. The mates has a location successful Cypress, conscionable a fewer miles from the track, and they person 2 young sons. Life is bully for Cesar De Alba.

Four of his thoroughbreds are presently racing and each 8 of his 4th horses are active. All helium needs is that 1 break.

“With the thoroughbreds, I don’t person the banal I would wanna person 1 day,” helium said. “It’s each conscionable backyard horses, Cal-bred horses, and astir of them travel from the workplace oregon layoffs. I don’t person overmuch banal with the thoroughbreds. It’s harder with the thoroughbreds. I inactive request to find a mode in, find idiosyncratic who volition assistance maine with immoderate prime horses.”

But he’s not readying to determination to a smaller circuit to get his ft successful the door.

“I’m doing OK with the 4th horses truthful I’m staying here,” De Alba said. “I bid a mates horses for (Los Alamitos owner) Doc Allred and helium tells maine I request to marque up my caput which breed I privation to train. But I deliberation it’s imaginable to bash both.

“I cognize my stats don’t look good, moving these thoroughbreds implicit their heads, but if radical volition look, I’ll assertion a equine and I’ll amended it. I cognize what I’m doing. I conscionable request the clients. I request idiosyncratic who volition bring maine a $50,000 horse.”

Follow Art Wilson connected Twitter @Sham73