Desormeaux Proving Self in Calif.

For most of his meteoric career as a jockey, a week in which he won five races would have constituted a serious slump for Kent Desormeaux, 19.

But after winning five races in the last six days at Santa Anita, he was thrilled--and for good reason. This was his first week in California, and these victories suggest that he is going to compete successfully against the toughest riding colony in the world.

When he and agent Gene Short left Maryland, where they had dominated the sport for more than three years, they exuded confidence that they would succeed wherever they went. But they knew that it is an enormous risk for any jockey to move to a new track where he doesn’t have solid contacts with top stables. Who could forget the fate of Steve Cauthen, New York’s superstar jockey, who moved to California and lost 111 consecutive races?

Desormeaux had vacillated for months as he tried to decide whether to try New York or California. A New York venture would have been easier, he knew. The competition wasn’t as deep, and he had already ridden for many of the top stables there. California offered better purses, better weather, better ambiance, but most trainers there knew Desormeaux only by reputation. It wouldn’t be easy to break in.

When the jockey decided to go west, Short left two weeks ahead to lay the groundwork.

“I went around introducing myself to the trainers--just the way I’d done when we had come from Louisiana to Maryland,” the agent said. “And I was taking a last look to see if we were going to get accepted like we thought.”

Short was encouraged that virtually every horseman at Santa Anita was willing to give the newcomer a shot.

For the most part, however, Short was getting commitments from second-rate stables--the ones presumably beneath the notice of agents for such jockeys as Chris McCarron and Laffit Pincay Jr.

But when Desormeaux arrived, Short had already lined up enough decent mounts that the jockey had a chance to begin respectably. The rider made the most of his opportunities.

When he was dominating the Maryland circuit, his most impressive virtue was his versatility; he was wedded to no particular style. So when he arrived in California, he had no difficulty adapting to the speed-oriented game there. “The track is so speed-favoring that everybody sends their horse out of the gate,” Desormeaux said. “Every rider is bellied down the way I would normally do from the 16th pole to the wire. If you’re not running 1-2-3-4 early you’re not going to get much. And you get a lot tighter riding because everybody is looking to occupy the same place.”

Although he was blanked his first day at Santa Anita, last Wednesday, he won with an even-money favorite the next afternoon and said: “I never thought that winning a $10,000 claimer could feel so good. I got the monkey off my back.” He proceeded to finish the week with five winners from 33 mounts, a solid performance.

“Everybody who’s watching him knows now that he can ride,” said Jeff Siegel, a handicapper and manager of the Clover Racing Stable. “He rides aggressively. He’s a good finisher. I don’t think he’s got a weakness. He’s going to fit here. But so far he hasn’t gotten any choice mounts.”