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Sport	Horse Racing
Name	Angel Cordero
Subtitle	Angel on Horseback
Number	12-05
Info	The greatest race rider in the world — when he wants to ride. But often, it seems, Angel Cordero Jr is more interested in chatting with other jockeys and officials or exchanging wisecracks with fans in the stands during the parade to the post. When his mind is on his business, though, he does things as winning the national riding championship, which he accomplished in 1968, and accumulate a record 4.7 million dollars in purse money, as he did in 1976. The 5' 3" native of Santurce, Puerto Rico, has achieved this while riding primarily at the New York tracks — Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga — where the competition among jockeys is the keenest and where horse-owners are most fickle in their choice of riders. Yet Cordero moves among both groups with a perpetual smile on his face, whether standing on the rail watching a 6 a.m. workout or receiving congratulations from a grateful owner. Angel has ridden two Kentucky Derby winners, Cannonade in 1974 and Bold Forbes in 1976, and is the only American jockey with extensive international experience, having ridden in such prestigious race as the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Angel still has a large following among the 2 dol. bettors, especially those of Latin descent, and every time he is interviewed on national television after winning a major race he never fails to say something in his native tongue for his Spanish-speaking followers. Cordero, whose father was a race rider before he turned to training thoroughbreds, takes offense when critics dismiss jockeys as non-athletes because of their size. He regards his profession as one of the most dangerous in sport. As he puts it, "There are more risks in an afternoon of horse-racing than you will find in a whole season of some other sports. Remember we are sometimes moving at about 37 miles an hour riding animals that weigh maybe 1,500 or 1,700 pounds each. The jockeys don't weigh more than 116 pounds at the very most, so there are lots of risks for the rider who wants to win".
Photo Info	ANGEL CORDERO JR. Born May 8,1942, in Santurce, PUR AWARDS AND RECORDS North American riding champion, 1968 Most money won: 4,709,500 dol., 1976 Cordero is always active on a horse's back
Copyright	© 1977, Editions Rencontre S.A., Lausanne Photo Focus on Sports Printed in Italy 03 005 12-05