"He's a smart rider," said Bowie-based trainer Chris Grove, who put Rose on his star filly, Silmaril. "He's the kind of rider who comes back after a race and can give you good information - like changing equipment or distance or tactical advice. And he cares.
"Sometimes you ride a jockey who is just not into it. Jeremy is never like that. He always takes each mount personal."
Rose turned down opportunities to go to California and New York to race, saying he likes "the country life." He lives near the Fair Hill Training Center with his girlfriend, Diane Alvardo, and their five dogs, and makes a good living riding in the Mid-Atlantic region.
"It's a business decision," Rose said. "The cost of living in Florida is higher. In Maryland, I get much bigger opportunities to ride better horses. Maryland has always been good to me. ... And here in Delaware, the purses are always good."
Last year, Rose's horses had purse earnings of $9,147,449, 19th best in the country.
Still, none of that means he has lost interest in the big-time horses.
"I'd like to win a Breeders' Cup race," he said. "The two times I rode, I was second. And I'd like another shot at the Derby. That would be nice."
It's not the Derby, but Saturday he will be riding a horse he said can compete with the field, if not Derby winner Big Brown.
Rose will ride Federico Tesio Stakes winner Icabad Crane for Fair Hill-based trainer Graham Motion.
"I definitely think we can run second or third," Rose said.
Icabad Crane, sired by Jump Start and undefeated on the dirt, is what Motion calls "a laid-back, sensible horse who is mature beyond his years." He also said the horse is tough, which Motion added is a trait he shares with his jockey.
"Jeremy is very determined," Motion said. "Very gutsy. You know you'll get your money's worth with him, because he hates to lose. He's quite hard on himself."
Rose had the highest winning percentage of any rider at Laurel Park last winter, winning 32 percent of the time, including 17 stakes victories. That trend has continued this spring at Delaware, where he leads the jockey standings and is again winning more than 30 percent of the time.
But Rose is still kicking himself for not winning the 2005 Kentucky Derby.
"If I could ride the Derby on Alex again, he would win," Rose said. "But I wasn't as experienced as I am now. ... If I could do it again, I'd have stayed back with Giacomo. There's no way that horse should have ever beaten him."
Though Rose rode Big Brown to his maiden victory at Saratoga - before IEAH Stables purchased majority ownership and then chose Kent Desormeaux to ride him - and also was on board Derby horse Cool Coal Man for his maiden win, another big ride in the biggest race hasn't happened. But Motion said that's just a matter of time.
"It's a little tougher to get the big horse when you're not working that [national] circuit," Motion said. "But there is no doubt he's going to have those horses in his future. He has become a very seasoned rider, and I think a lot of people have become very comfortable going to Jeremy Rose."
sandra.mckee@baltsun.com
