Richard Migliore announces retirement

Horseracing Betting Lines

06/02/2010 - Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran jockey Richard Migliore announced his retirement from racing Wednesday morning. The 46-year-old was forced to retire due to continued physical problems.

"It's no big surprise why we're here," Migliore said at Belmont Park, "my career as a jockey is over. It's not by choice: I was in the doctor's office on Wednesday of last week and he assured me that I would never ride another thoroughbred again. He works on many NFL players and said if you have a level two fusion, you have to retire. I have a level four fusion."

Migliore suffered severe injuries when he was thrown during a race at Aqueduct this year on January 24. That was the latest of many injuries he suffered in a 30 year career.

The Brooklyn-native won 4,450 races in 30,102 mounts and accumulated more than $160 million in earnings. He won the 1981 Eclipse Award as champion apprentice jockey and won the 2008 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint aboard Desert Code.

"Horses have given me everything in life, everything good in my life stems from horses," Migliore said. "The emotion that I feel now is just knowing I won't get to do it now, and that makes me sad. But I'm also understanding of the fact that my situation is a lot better than a lot of other guys, and I'm sure many people would trade places with me having to make this announcement. The biggest thing I feel is gratitude that I got to live my dream."

Among the many horses Migliore rode during his career were Funny Cide, Artie Schiller, Fourstardave, Albert the Great, Kip Deville, Wando and Student Council.

He was presented with the Eddie Arcaro Award as Outstanding Jockey in 1981 and 1985 by the New York Turf Writers Association. He received the 2003 Mike Venezia Memorial Award from the New York Racing Association for extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship as well as the 2008 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.