Keith Dimech

(PHOTO ABOVE - The win photo from ARROGANT VOICES winning the Rags to Riches Futurity in August, 1993 with Keith Dimech riding)


The horse that changed my life
 

Horsepeople take a lot of pride in their work with racehorses whether it’s on the ground as a groom or hotwalker or on board as a rider.

Keith Dimech, former Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred jockey, has had many equine projects in a career with horses that dates back to his first season of professional riding in 1993. It was in that first year that a tough Quarter Horse filly named

Arrogant Voices blossomed with the help of Dimech and will always be one of his most special equine friends.

Bred by Gary and Marlene McNichol in Ontario, Arrogant Voices had a successful 2-year-old season in 1992 under the shrewd training eye of the late Bill Cruwys. Before the filly’s 3-year-old debut, the McNichols sold the filly to Cruwys’ daughter Diedra and that is when Dimech first met the sorrel daughter of Cowboy Hero.

“She was a bit of a handful,” said Dimech. “She had a bit of a gate issue but I think she trusted me.”

Dimech spent a lot of time with the filly to build their bond and it paid off; together they won four races in one season including two stakes events. One of them was the Rags to Riches Futurity at the old Picov Downs ‘J’ track, the first stakes win for owner Diedra Cruwys.

Arrogant Voices won or placed in 8 of her 11 races in 1993 and her photo hangs on a wall at Dimech’s house in Richmond Hill, ON.

“It was a thrill winning on her,” said Dimech. “Sometimes she would just squeak by and qualify for a final and then she would save her best for the big race.”

Dimech fondly remembers letting the filly sneak in a few mouthfuls of grass during training hours and believes that the relationship one forms with a horse is key.

“There was a lot of trust between her and myself.”

Dimech, who learned a lot about his trade from Bill Cruwys later left the Quarter Horses to become an accomplished Thoroughbred rider at Woodbine and Fort Erie. He continues to work in both breeds to this day and despite breaking a leg in the fall of 2015, is set to make a return to exercise riding this spring.

(PHOTO BELOW - KEITH DIMECH and his partner, jockey Carly Furlonger - Laurie Overton photo)


 
 

More For The Love of Racing