Most Canterbury patrons know Oscar Quiroz, Big O, as a track photographer.  Some folks may even know him as “the guy that runs the equine pool.” This year Quiroz will be joining the gate crew at Canterbury. It may come as surprise to fans that Quiroz has been doing gate work for years and is really his first love at the race track.  Avid watchers of the winter meet at Turf Paradise, however, have been spotting the Tucson native for years in the simulcast feed’s gate loading angle.  Oscar was kind enough to spend a few minutes with us In the Paddock.

MWPR: When did you first get involved in racing?

OQ: My grandfather got us into it when we were younger in Tucson, Arizona.   He always had a few horses of his own.  He started out with Quarter Horses and moved on to Thoroughbreds.  He started with a guy named Art Pollard back in the day.  We lost him in 2011 but I am in this industry today because of him.

I started cleaning stalls for him when I was 12 and, once I was old enough, I got my own groom’s license and ventured off to start getting paid.

I do remember a win picture when I was young and it was the most exciting thing that I can remember  down in Douglas, Arizona.  Joe Padilla Jr. rode the horse.  He was a world renowned Quarter Horse jockey for a lot of years.  As a kid it was amazing to see someone of that stature who started in the same place I was.

MWPR: When did you start working in the gate?

OQ: When I was 16 I got my first job working the gate at Rillito Park in Tucson.  I’ve been doing it ever since.  I love it.

The last year the old Prescott track ran, it was either ’99 or 2000, I hung out with the gate guys during the summer.  In January, when I turned 16, I talked to the starter in Tucson, Lee Peterson, and he gave me a job.  He is one of my best friends and an absolutely terrific horseman to learn from.  He took me under his wing.

I pretty much just shut tailgates for two years before getting inside in the afternoons.  In the mornings, during schooling, is when you really learn.  Even now, years later, I’m still learning something new every day.  Even if it’s what not to do.

My routine is pretty set now: Phoenix, Shakopee and when the meet ends here I spend a few weeks at Prairie Meadows for the end of their Quarter Horse meet.

MWPR: What was it like learning the starting gate?

OQ: It was different.  Very, very different. Everything just happens so fast when you first start.  Now everything almost happens in slow motion.  Half the time you can tell what’s going to happen before it does.  I really had to learn horse behavior and back then it all seemed so much faster.

It’s hard to explain to people what goes on over there. You can tell someone “I work over in the starting gate” but it’s hard to describe what the job actually consists of.

When I was younger my feet used to get stepped on a lot. Over time, though, you learn the horse’s movement and where their feet are going to go.  Thankfully that hasn’t happened for a long time.

The crew in Denver in 2010-11 was the best gate crew I’ve ever worked with.  They were the 12 most solid bunch of guys I’ve ever worked the iron with, but everywhere you go there are usually five or six really good, experienced people.  I’ve been very blessed and fortunate to meet the people I’ve been able to work with over the years.

Lee Peterson in Tucson and Darren Hall here at Canterbury were two of the best horsemen I could learn from.  Darren and I have been breaking babies together in Phoenix for going on about 8-10 years now.

That process, from the first time that baby has a saddle on its back, to using the drive lines – to see that baby reach the starting gate and know you were a part of the entire process is amazing.  I’ll never forget the horse that I first did it with and when that horse finally won it was incredible. It was a great feeling.  That’s what we’re all in this for.

MWPR: Take us through the mornings when you’re schooling horses.  What is that process like?

OQ: With the young horses the gate is something that is totally brand new.  You have to coach them through it. You just lead them through for the first couple of times.  Next you start shutting them in and hand opening slowly.  Then you get them to get the handle on getting them to leave.  Most horses take between six and seven times to get it down.  There are some that are ready their third time and some it can take fifteen times.  Every horse has a different mind.

MWPR: Most fans here know as a track photographer and this year you’re moving to the gate.  How did that come about?

OQ: My friend, Darren Hall, got the starter job here and he had asked me in Phoenix if I’d come back to work for him up here and I told him I would. I was running the pool in the mornings but they shut it down this year so the timing worked out.

The gate is my passion but I actually originally came back up here because of Shawn [Coady].  I talked to him about assisting him here and he said, “yeah, let’s do it.”  So I came back.  I actually was up here previously in 2005-06 as a member of the gate crew.  Then I just started staying home at Yavapai.  That track shut down, which is when I went to Denver for a few summers, and after that Shawn offered me this job and I came back up here.

And I do love it. I love doing pictures, it’s awesome.

MWPR:  We see you’re running the show here opening weekend with Shawn being in Louisville for Derby week.  When do you start full time at the gate? 

OQ: I’ll be helping them out this weekend with the bigger fields but next week I’ll be at the gate.  Opening up Derby weekend is kind of hard because other tracks aren’t closed yet so it’s hard for folks to get up here.  In fact, Darren and I are flying down to Phoenix to work the gate there on Sunday, but we’ll be back for next weekend.