Jockey Mario Pino was sitting back on the couch in the office of the Laurel Park clerk of scales on a recent afternoon, and, quite uncharacteristically, he couldn't stop talking.
"I've never heard Mario talk so much," said jockey Jeremy Rose, who was in the room during Pino's conversation with a reporter.
"Once you get him going, he likes to talk about horses," said scale clerk Adam Campola.
These days, Pino - who has been based in Maryland for most of his career - has a lot to talk about.
He has 5,861 victories and is within 33 wins of passing Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey for 15th on the all-time wins list. And he has the mount on a horse named Hard Spun, who could be Pino's ticket to his first Kentucky Derby in his 27-year career.
Hard Spun is from the last full crop of offspring of the late, great Danzig out of the Turkman mare Turkish Tryst, which gives him speed on the sire side and distance from his dame. People are already talking about the colt, who has been virtually unchallenged while going 4-for-4. As the Derby prep season begins this weekend, his next race likely will come Feb. 19 in the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.
"After his first race, people had a lot to say about him," Pino said, recalling the 8 1/2 -length victory at Delaware Park on Oct. 22. "Then, in his second race [Nov. 14 at Delaware Park], breaking bad from the [No. 1 post position] on a sloppy track, he won by six lengths, but people didn't think he looked as good. But he was young, and he had to overcome a lot. Then came his third race, and he ran the whole way like this."
With that, Pino holds up two fingers in what looks like a victory sign, as he demonstrates how Hard Spun kept his ears pricked on a windy December day in the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes at Philadelphia Park. With Pino looking through those ears and keeping the horse's mind on his business, Hard Spun rolled to an eight-length win.
"And in his last race, he won like that again, very impressive," Pino said, referring to the Grade III Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds in Kentucky on Jan. 13. "He was still running away from them when we crossed the wire, and I took him on to the second finish line, a 16th of a mile further on. By the time we stopped, the other horses had turned around and were headed back to the barn."
Pino was leaning forward now. His eyes had become dreamy with thoughts of the bay-colored colt.
