Getting Back to Top Would Be a Krone-ing Achievement

OCEANPORT, N.J. — Jockey Julie Krone can identify with Hideki Irabu, the Japanese pitcher who was demoted to the minor leagues by the New York Yankees this week.

“When I saw that in the paper, I thought, ‘How apropos,’ ” Krone said. “I know how he feels. And both of us didn’t have a choice.”

Well, Monmouth Park, not far from the New Jersey shore, isn’t exactly the bushes. After all, they’re running the $1-million Haskell Handicap here Sunday, a race that probably will draw more than 30,000.

But Monmouth Park isn’t Saratoga. Or Belmont Park. Those are the New York tracks where Krone, 34, forged a reputation as a pint-sized woman who could win races against the best male jockeys.

At Monmouth, Krone has returned to her roots, in search of another pedestal. She rides Tale Of The Cat, an 8-1 shot, in the Haskell.

On the way up, Krone was the queen of New Jersey racing. At Monmouth in the late 1980s, she won 384 races in three seasons that totaled 246 racing days. One day here in 1987, she won six races, tying a record set by Hall of Famer Walter Blum in 1961.

She moved on to New York, where she just missed two riding titles at Saratoga and won a Belmont Park title in 1992. In 1992-93, she was the leading rider at Gulfstream Park in suburban Miami, where most of the top New York jockeys compete during the winter. In 1993, she won five races one day at Saratoga, something that only Hall of Famers Ron Turcotte and Angel Cordero had done before.

In 1992, Krone’s mounts earned $9.1 million, and the next year, with Colonial Affair, she won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first woman to ride a winner in a Triple Crown race. David Letterman, smitten by her credentials and Betty Boop voice, had her on his show again and again.

Sports Illustrated put her on the cover, and Krone published her autobiography.

Then came Aug. 30, 1993, closing day at Saratoga. There was a horrible spill, and Krone shattered her right ankle. Surgical reconstruction required two plates and 14 screws.

It was almost nine months before she rode again. Thirteen months after the spill, she had the plate and screws removed, and two weeks after that she fell again, at Gulfstream, injuring both hands. She was out of action for two more months, until March 1995.

When she came back, the Colonial Affair-type mounts had been taken and the few top horses that came her way fared badly. Trainers who had been some of her biggest supporters either lost confidence in her or were pressured by owners into turning to other jockeys. Bill Mott took her off Peaks And Valleys, a horse on which she had won five of seven races.

She finally went to jockey Pat Day’s agent, Doc Danner, for advice. Harshly realistic, Danner told her, “If you want a friend on the track, buy a dog.”

In 1989, Krone won 368 races, last year 141. So, she has returned to the Jersey shore to rekindle the flame.

“When doors close, the windows are still open,” she said. “This was a wonderful steppingstone for me once, and I’m hoping it will be again.”

The early notices are positive. Krone is the leading rider here, with more than 50 victories, and is winning at a 23% clip. John Forbes, who is third in the trainer standings, has won 14 races, 12 of them with Krone. They’ll try to win the richest race of both of their careers when Forbes saddles the undefeated but lightly raced Tale Of The Cat today.

“I don’t know what happened to Julie when she came back,” Forbes said. “I looked at a lot of her races very closely, and it was nothing I could put my finger on. If there was anything, maybe it was that she wasn’t quite as aggressive as she had been.”

Last Monday, with Monmouth Park dark, Krone drove to Saratoga.

“Just looking at that track reminded me that I’ve got something to prove again,” she said. “Last summer, during Saratoga, I was very depressed. But now, seeing the place gave me a new spark. It’s given me a new intensity.”

Horse Racing Notes

Touch Gold is the 8-5 favorite and Free House is 9-5 on the morning line for the 1 1/8-mile Haskell. At the post-position draw, Affirmed Success drew the inside, but he’s expected to run Sunday in the $250,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga. That would give Touch Gold the rail in the Haskell. The Haskell lineup, with jockeys, weights and odds: Affirmed Success, Jorge Chavez, 114 pounds, 10-1; Touch Gold, Chris McCarron, 125, 8-5; Free House, Kent Desormeaux, 125, 9-5; Tale Of The Cat, Julie Krone, 114, 8-1; Frisk Me Now, Eddie King, 120, 5-1, and Anet, (rider to be named), 120, 9-2.