FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
5/29/09

MCCARRON GRADUATE FINISHES SECOND IN CAREER DEBUT AT RIVER DOWNS

25-Year-old apprentice jockey Ben Creed just missed making his career debut a winning one at River Downs on Friday.  A recent graduate of the North American Racing Academy, headed by Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron, Creed aboard Justa Little Frisky finished a neck behind favored Windrift in the 14th and final race of the day.  His mount had to steady briefly at the quarter pole, but closed determinedly along a small opening on the rail.

Creed took a different route to the saddle than most young riders. “My family n didn’t have horses and I really didn’t have an interest in racing growing up,” said Creed who played soccer for four years on his high school team in Taylorsville, Kentucky. “I worked in factories, did some construction and finally worked for UPS at the Louisville Airport. Every job I worked at people told me ‘You should be a jockey’. I finally went on line and googled jockey and school and it pointed me to the North American Racing Academy. I spoke to Chris (McCarron, the program’s founder) and it was the perfect way into the sport. I couldn’t have had a better teacher.”
           
McCarron and over a dozen students from the program were on hand for Creed’s debut. They lined up along the rail and cheered him on in the post parade and all through the race. An obviously pleased Creed posed for a group photo with McCarron and the students after the race.  “If he had used the whip a little more I think he could have won,” said McCarron after the race. “Otto (Thorwarth, winning jockey) schooled him a little bit by keeping him down on the rail, but Ben’s a quick learner and that was a great first effort.”
           
Creed said he has some mounts lined up at Churchill in early June, but plans to return to River Downs on a regular basis if the opportunities to ride open up. “This is a great place to start out,” said Creed prior to his race, “a lot of good apprentice riders have come out of here like Steve Cauthen, John McKee and Rafael Bejarano. Maybe I can too.”