Each month we’ll take a trip to the backstretch and visit with a different jockey or trainer. For this issue, the focus is on Richard Migliore, one of the most respected jockeys in the history of the sport. The 44-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., native has won more than 4,300 races during his career, spanning nearly 30 years. Migliore experienced the moment of a lifetime this year when he won his first Breeders’ Cup race on Desert Code in the Turf Sprint. He led all jockeys in wins during the 2005 Aqueduct Winter meet, and this year he won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in a nationwide vote of his peers.

Migliore lives in Garden City, N.Y., with his wife Carmela, their sons Joseph, 17, Philip Salvatore, 14, and Luciano, 11, and their daughter, Gabrielle Rose, 7.

Q: How did you first get involved with horses?

I loved animals from the start, and worked with ponies when I was young. After my family moved to Long Island I started helping out on a horse farm. Eventually I began working at Lakeview Farms for a thoroughbred owner named Bill George who had a lot of horses. Then at the age of 14 I started to work for Stephen DiMauro, a trainer at Belmont Park, who really got me my start. But basically, from the age of 11 I knew that I wanted to be a jockey.

Q: Do you remember your first win?

My first win came October 24, 1980, at the Meadowlands on a horse named Good Grip, who I was riding for Stephen DiMauro. The horse in front of me actually had the race won, but the jockey misjudged the finish line and Good Grip got up for a narrow victory. Then I came back to win the next race as well. It was a thrilling day.

Q: You’ve been nicknamed “The Mig,” by your fans and peers. Aside from the obvious tie-in with your last name, how did you come to be known as this? There was a jockey valet in Atlantic City who started calling me the Mig Fighter and the Mig just became what everyone knew me as. [Legendary handicapper] Harvey Pack used to say, “If you don’t have a fig, you bet on the Mig.”

Q: You broke in at the Meadowlands as a teenager in 1980 and won Eclipse Award honors in 1981 as the Outstanding Apprentice Jockey? What were your first few years at the track like?

My first year really felt like a blur. I was living my dream and did not have a chance to take a breath and understand what was going on. So many good things happened for me that year. I was breaking Steve Cauthen’s apprentice records but it all went by so fast because I was constantly working. On a typical day, I would ride horses in the morning, ride races at Belmont in the afternoon, and then ride more races at night at the Meadowlands. At the time I was only 16-years-old, and couldn’t really comprehend everything that was occurring. During my first Saratoga meet in 1981, I had a real chance to win the riding title. Through 21 days of racing I had 20 wins and a chance to win. Unfortunately I was injured during the last week of the meet and Angel Cordero ended up winning the title with 23 victories.

Q: Your first Grade One win came in the 1984 Meadowlands Cup on Wild Again, who went on to win the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Classic. Describe that race and that horse.

The whole day was rather interesting. Believe it or not, Wild Again actually needed a rider for that race. My agent contacted the trainer and asked him to consider me for the horse. On the Sunday before the Meadowlands Cup (which was on Monday), I won three races. Wild Again’s connections saw those wins and decided to put me on the horse. I was scheduled to ride on Monday at Belmont, and the Meadowlands Cup was in the late afternoon, so they actually flew me from Belmont to the Meadowlands on a helicopter. Keep in mind that up to this point I had never even seen Wild Again.

When I met with Wild Again’s trainer, he told me two things: He should not be on the lead, and he reacts positively to the whip. When the gates opened, no one went for the lead, and I could tell that Wild Again wanted to go for it. Because of the trainer’s comments, I fought with him for a while. Eventually, however, I let him go to the lead, and he relaxed immediately. Then turning for home I asked him to run without the whip and he took off. We were way out in front of the pack. However, I remembered that the trainer said I should use the whip, so I hit him with the whip once and he stopped running! The trainer was wrong on both of his instructions. What I had to do was switch the whip to my left hand and start hitting the rail in order to keep him going. But it worked, and I won my first Grade One race aboard a future Breeders’ Cup Classic champion.

Q: You have had some extremely serious spills, including one in 1988 that resulted in a very scary neck injury. How do you deal with something like that?

I think you deal differently with them in different stages of your life. In 1988 I was so young (24-years-old) and had such a positive outlook that no matter what anyone told me, I knew I would be ok. The doctors said that I might not walk again and that I definitely would never ride again. But I refused to believe it. By the grace of god and the great surgeons that operated on me, I had the opportunity to get better and worked very hard to get better. To illustrate how serious that injury was, I had to go to rehab just to learn to pick up a fork again. However, to this day I can’t feel the bottoms of my feet so I have to use different shoes than other jockeys just to grab the stirrups.

Q: You have said that the 1997 Go For Wand was one of your most memorable victories aboard Hidden Lake. What stood out to you about this race?

She was a mare that I had won two big graded races on at Belmont in the spring, the Shuvee and the Hempstead. Going into the Go For Wand at Saratoga she was the big 3/5 favorite. Hidden Lake was much better when she ran off the pace and had a horse in front of her to target. However, there was no speed in the race at all. So when she broke first out of the gate I took her to the lead. At the half-mile pole she was working much harder than I would have liked. Another filly, Flat Fleet Feet, engaged me and we really went at it, trading the lead back and forth. Going into the final sixteenth, Flat Fleet Fee grabbed the lead by a half-length and I wasn’t sure that my filly would be able to battle back.

However, from the recesses of her heart, Hidden Lake found a way to fight back and win. After the finish line she actually collapsed from exhaustion. That was how much effort she put into winning that race. She was running on empty and found more to give, and that is what sets the thoroughbred apart from other athletes. They have a desire and will that few people can understand, and I feel honored to be a part of that. Hidden Lake went on to win the Grade One Beldame at Belmont Park in her next race.

Q: In 2004, you were involved in a spill two days before the Breeders’ Cup. Despite the pain, you rode in two Breeders’ Cup races, and were later diagnosed with broken ribs, a broken wrist, and a broken pelvis. Do you regret riding in those races?

I made a huge mistake that year. My desire was so strong that it superseded my logic. I regretted it after the fact. In addition to putting my life at jeopardy, I probably hurt the chances of the horses I rode. That day I was in agonizing pain and honestly was lucky that I didn’t puncture my lung during a race. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

Q: You have won a number of various awards throughout your career, including the Eclipse for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey (1981), the Eddie Arcaro Award (1981, 1985) from the New York Turf Writers, the Mike Venezia Award (2003) from NYRA for extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship, and most recently the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award (2008) which honors a jockey for a career of great personal character. You clearly are admired and respected throughout the industry. How much do these awards mean do you?

They are all special because they are an acknowledgement of who you are and how you do things. I don’t take them lightly and I appreciate that people would bestow such awards on me for doing what I love to do. I am especially proud of the awards I won that were voted on by my peers, because they reflect the maturation process that I went through during my career.

Over the first part of my career I wasn’t too well liked and I rubbed some people the wrong way. I really didn’t have an appreciation for what other people were doing around me and all the effort they were putting into their own careers. The eye-opener for me was having my own children. I realized that I could be a fierce competitor without being mean in the process. In addition, as I grew older, I wanted to be a role model for some of the younger riders at the track, and also help to market the sport to our great fans. My wife Carmela also really helped me change my ways. Without her and the kids I would be a lot different person than I am today.

Q: In 2006 you made a move to ride races in California, as opposed to the East Coast tracks you had spent your career up until then riding. What went into this decision and how was that experience?

That is really a long story, and the road that led to that decision started in 2004. Remember that I rode injured in the Breeders’ Cup that year, including a mount on Artie Schiller, one of the most talented horses I have ever sat on. After his debut in Saratoga, I knew that eventually he was going to win a Breeders’ Cup race. He was that impressive. In any event, fortunately Jimmy Jerkens and William Entenmann, Artie Schiller’s trainer and owner, forgave me and put me back on their horse in 2005.

During the Summer of 2005, I rode Artie Schiller to victory in the Bernard Baruch at Saratoga. The Breeders’ Cup was to be run at Belmont Park, which was Artie’s favorite racetrack. Six days before the big race, I worked out Artie in the morning and he was just raring to go. I knew that I had a great chance to win my first Breeders’ Cup race. However, later that day, I severely broke my leg in a race. While I was lying on the ground, all I could think about was that I was going to miss the chance to ride Artie in the Breeders’ Cup. I am not ashamed to say that I actually began to cry. There was a lot of anguish and frustration involved.

Before the Breeders’ Cup, NBC contacted me about coming out to the track in order to do an interview. I was in such a depressed state that I did not want to go out to the track and take away from the day by having a “woe is me” attitude. It was a decision that I wrestled with a lot. What it came down to is something I have always preached to my kids. It is easy to be a good winner, but it says more about your character when things aren’t going well and you pick yourself up and keep going with a positive attitude. I felt like I had a chance to demonstrate that lesson to my kids. My oldest son Joseph was really upset about everything as well, and didn’t want to go to the Breeders’ Cup, but we ended up going together.

When I went to go do the interview in the paddock, they also informed me that they wanted to put a microphone on me during the race. I didn’t know they were planning that, and quite honestly it was not something I wanted to do. So instead of watching the race in the stands, I went down to the jockeys’ room and watched with [jockey] Eddie Maple. After Artie ran a great race to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile, I felt a flood of emotion. I was happy for the horse, but sad at the same time because it should have been me that was riding him. Eddie put his arm around me and said that he was sorry.

However, on the air after the race, Tom Hammond of NBC said, “Richard Migliore was so distraught after the race that he had to go to the jockeys’ room.” Well that wasn’t true at all. I was already in the jockeys’ room. So I took my crutches and went to go see Hammond and set him straight, but on the way I ran into my son Joey. He was very upset and I could tell that I needed to spend time with him much more than track down Tom Hammond. I actually never set the record straight, but I was able to tell my son that some things are just out of your control.

Following that injury, I was out for seven months. The rehab was extremely difficult because it was such a bad injury. And to be honest, when I came back, I was the guy over 40-years-old with injury problems. I was consciously aware of that fact and because of it, I wasn’t nearly as confident in trying to find mounts as I had been when I was younger. As a result, I struggled to win races through the summer at Saratoga. In the end, I decided that everything starts and ends with me. It is easier to blame outside circumstances, but you have to look at the man in the mirror. So I set out on a mission to go to the stable areas, talk to trainers, and do all of the things that a successful jockey has to do. While I was doing that, there was one trainer that looked me in the eye and asked me, “Why should I ride you with all your scars when I can ride 20-year-olds that haven’t been through all the battles.” I thought of a thousand responses. Instead, I said nothing, walked to my car, and drove away. That prompted a lot of reflection for me. Shortly thereafter, I ran into Ron Anderson, Garret Gomez’s agent, and he suggested that I come out to California. I took it as a sign that I had to do something different. I had to show that I could be successful in a different venue. So I went out and rode in California, and while I am glad that I did, I am also very glad to be back in New York.

Q: Congratulations on winning you first ever Breeders’ Cup race this year with Desert Code in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint! Can you describe your emotions both during the race and then after?

To be honest I am still floating on cloud nine with that victory. When we hit the wire, there were so many things going through my mind. I was euphoric, excited, and also welling up at everything that it took to get to that point in my career. This game has been so good to me, and has given me such a great ride. Getting my first Breeders’ Cup victory was also a tremendous feeling of redemption. Up until that race I hadn’t won a Breeders’ Cup or a 3yo Classic. Don’t get me wrong, if it never happened for me, I still would have been very satisfied with my career. But this victory took it to a different level.

When you are young and you set out on any endeavor that is different, like being a jockey, you are met with a lot of negativity. People told me I would get too big, that it was too dangerous, too hard, etc… always a reason that I couldn’t do it. Now I always say to someone, “Why can’t you?”

New York Horseman Dennis Brida and his wife were the only people that always said “yes you can” to me wanting to become a jockey. And that positive reinforcement was what really kept me going. People don’t understand how powerful that is, for an older person to give that hope to a younger person. I try to pass that on to the younger generation. They can do anything that they want. I truly believe that.

Q: You’ve ridden many great horses, like Wild Again, Artie Schiller, Hidden Lake, Fourstardave, now Desert Code, and many more. What separates these horses from the rest?

All horses have a certain amount of physical ability. Two of the traits that I believe really separate the good thoroughbreds from the great ones are intelligence and desire. Additionally, horses are herd animals, and will always rely on their instincts. In the wild, their leaders are chosen by who has the desire to impose their will on other horses. There will always be a leader and many followers. I believe this is the same in horseracing. For example, many times you will see claimers and stakes horses win with the same time. But if the winners of those two races compete, the stakes horse would win almost every time because he is the dominant horse. The stakes horses have that intangible that is often defined as class.

In a real life racing example, Alydar was probably more talented than Affirmed, but when they looked each other in the eye during the Triple Crown, Affirmed dominated. He was the real leader of the herd.

Q: Are there any particular horses you rode that you feel a personal connection to more than others?

I really feel a special connection with almost all of the horses that I ride. Some of them do stick with you more than others, though. Crème de la Fete was a claimer that I won 13 races on and rode 39 times. He was a real character! He found ways to win and I was absolutely in love with him. Creme went into the retired horse program at Walkill Correctional Facility upstate and I often went up there to visit him.

Q: One of the hot-button issues in the industry right now is synthetic tracks versus conventional dirt surfaces. You have ridden on both. Do you have any preferences between the two?

I think the jury is still out on synthetic racetracks. I am for anything that makes the game safer for horses. So if the data supports that synthetic surfaces are safer, I will support that. However, I am just not sure that there is conclusive evidence yet.

Q: You have a large family with four kids. Do any of them want to follow in their dad’s footsteps and become a jockey?

Not yet. Joseph talked about it but he is now 6’2’’ so that wouldn’t really work. He loves racing and loves the game and I could see him following another endeavor within the industry.

Q: Being a New Yorker through and through, what are some of your favorite eating spots and things to do?

I love going to all of Bobby Flay’s restaurants in the city. I am a huge New York Rangers fan and often take my kids to their games. When it comes down to it, I really love everything about New York City!