As he helped load injured jockey Roy Brooks into an ambulance last May, Remington Park general manager Scott Wells felt sad.
Brooks is a legend in the world of quarter-horse racing, still a competitive rider at age 69. He had returned from injury before, but Wells seemed certain Brooks couldn't bounce back again, not after a horse fell on top of the jockey, breaking his pelvis and tearing his urethra.
''I said to myself and a couple of the riders, 'I'm afraid that will be it for ol' Roy,' '' Wells recalled.
Brooks had other ideas.
Less than two days later, he was promising he would return to racing. And sure enough, he did just that. He rode two horses Friday night as Remington Park opened its annual quarter horse meet.
''I don't feel any different than last year,'' Brooks told The Associated Press. ''I have a bounce in my step that I didn't have three weeks ago. I'm not going to quit over an injury unless it's so bad that I can't get on a horse. I don't feel like I'm 69. I don't think of being that old. If you get to thinking you're too old, you've got to stop doing this.''
Brooks began racing quarter horses in 1967, long before Oklahoma legalized pari-mutuel racing. He spent years riding at tracks in New Mexico and was about ready to retire when Remington Park opened in 1988 in Oklahoma City, 35 miles from his ranch in rural Blanchard. The chance to ride again in his home state rejuvenated his spirits.
He's never won a riding title at Remington Park, although he consistently has been near the top of the standings at Oklahoma's largest track, but he has won titles at Fair Meadows in Tulsa. He's thought to be the second-oldest quarter horse jockey in North America, behind 70-year-old Richard Rettele of Northville, Mich., who races only sparingly. Brooks and Rettele have become friends through the years.
It would be hard to find a more respected rider in the quarter horse community. Walk with Brooks in Remington Park and he's kept busy saying hello.
''He's such a good horseman,'' said Wells, a former trainer who used Brooks as a rider starting in 1971. ''He really understands horses, and he knows when to ask them and when to sit still. He's great at developing young horses. He's a hard worker, all the things you look for in a jockey.''
Brooks had won the third race at Remington Park on May 15 and was aboard 2-year-old paint White Legged Cowboy for the fifth race. As horses were being waiting to be loaded into the starting gate, White Legged Cowboy reared up and, as he had been trained, Brooks pushed off the horse to get away from it. The horse lost its balance, however, began moving backward and fell on Brooks.
Brooks was hospitalized for several days and underwent surgery.
''I thought even after the broken pelvis, I could come back within two months,'' he said.
Instead, he spent a couple of weeks on crutches before his first setback. A screw inserted by doctors came loose, so Brooks was told to stay in bed or in a wheelchair for 30 days. By mid-July, he was back on crutches.
The first time he got back on a horse, he needed considerable assistance, but he wanted to try to get back in riding shape.
In mid-September, he had to endure another operation and doctors ordered him not to get on a horse for six weeks. But by that time, his goal was to ride on Nov. 15 in the $350,000 Black Gold Futurity at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore.
Brooks' son, Jimmy Brooks — who's also a veteran jockey — had qualified multiple horses for the event and trainer Eddie Willis wanted Roy Brooks to ride one of them, Freighttrain B, if he felt up to it.
''I accepted the mount, but I almost backed out,'' Roy Brooks said. ''I didn't want to put the horse in jeopardy and for the owner, that's a lot of money to run at when you're not at 100 percent.''
Willis had no such qualms.
''The owner of that horse, he did call me and said, 'Do you think Roy's ready?' How I responded to that was, 'If Roy wasn't ready, he'd tell me,' '' Willis said. ''That horse doesn't need much. All he needs is someone to set him still and let him run, and Roy is perfect for that. I had full confidence in him running good.''
With medical clearance, Brooks rode two races on Nov. 14 before the Black Gold Futurity the next day. In the big race, Brooks guided 8-1 shot Freighttrain B to a win by a nose over the favorite.
''He's a legend,'' Willis said. ''He's one of those kind that they ain't going to make them like him anymore, I don't think.''
After the November races, Brooks decided to take it easy and let his body heal before returning to racing, and even now, he acknowledges ''my fitness is still not there.''
Brooks finished fifth with his first mount of the new racing season, Northernete in a 350-yard stakes trial race with a purse of $6,000. He then finished second with Dusty Bullseye in a $19,100, 300-yard maiden race.
He's making a few concessions for his health. For a while, at least, he's not going to ride 2-year-olds — ''They're always a little bit flighty,'' he said — and he's cutting down on his overall number of mounts. Four or five races per card, he said, ''would be a lot.''
Brooks always said he plans to ride in races when turns 70, which will happen in August. After that, he said, ''we'll see what happens.''
Trainers ''still have confidence in me, which I'm proud of,'' he said.
''I don't want to ride just to be riding," he added. "I want to win races.''
