Heather Cecola enjoys a challenge.
The Seal Beach resident tends to pursue dangerous challenges that present intense opposition and require incredible stamina.
She prefers ones that seem practically impossible—well, at least until she succeeds and overcomes the challenge, proving anything’s possible.
She did just that in September.
At 34, Cecola became a professional jockey, a horse rider with minimal experience who still managed to break into the dangerous and male-dominated world of thoroughbred racing. The critics and doubters only provided Cecola with more motivation and desire, and eventually she debuted with a pair of Saturday mounts. She rode in both at the Los Alamitos Race Track, a Cypress-based venue that only featured quarter horse racing until recently.
“I love it here,” Cecola said. “It has become home … I’m glad my first races were here.”
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Cecola competed at 6-furlongs. She failed to win, place or show, but the failure lay more with the horse. To be honest, Cecola actually proved capable. Both times she followed trainer Scott Powell’s instructions, all a jockey can sometimes do.
Cecola debuted on a horse named Callamitty Jane.
As instructed, the rookie rode the Arabian to the lead and attempted to set the pace, but the strategy tired the horse.
“I was happy with my first race, but I definitely felt more comfortable the second time I raced,” said Cecola, who rode Summer Reign in her sophomore effort. “Again, I just followed instructions.”
Her second effort ended in a fifth-place showing.
“And dirt kicked up in my face,” said Cecola, who got trapped behind a wall of horses, a position that allowed the front runners to kick and smear dirt all over her goggles.
“Again, it’s a tough sport … you’re riding at top speed, and all of a sudden, you can’t see,” she said.
Cecola hasn’t raced since that day.
A few days later Cecola suffered a concussion during a workout, falling off a 2-year-old while galloping at 35 MPH. She’s expected to miss a month, but it’s now been much longer. Cecola said the doctor provided her with no date or estimate of when she could receive medical clearance.
“Injuries are part of the sport,” Cecola said. “I don’t like it, but it’s part of it.”
Anxious and disappointed, Cecola intends to return as soon as possible, and said she actually “feels fine” and “can’t wait to get back in the saddle.” Cecola grew up in Costa Mesa and learned to ride as an equestrian, but she eventually opted to “hang it up” prior to graduating from Newport Harbor High in 1998.
However, her love of horses never faded.
During her time away from horses she embarked on a series of adventures, opening a business at the OC Fairgrounds and moving back east.
She even dabbled in other sports, like motocross.
“Racing is harder, though, and the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she said.
Cecola eventually became a flight attendant with Jet Blue Airlines. She still works that gig as her day job but yearned to get back on a horse.
She tried to find a niche at Santa Anita, but, according to her, politics limited her opportunities, which forced her to switch tracks.
“It’s so hard,” Cecola said. “And it’s so hard for women … I had to show them I could ride, and that’s how I got on at Los Alamitos.”
She also met other female jockeys who became mentors and advisors, such as Sandi Gann and Emily Mode.
Trainers also began asking Cecola to breeze their horses during morning workouts, which gained her experiene, familiarity with the horses and much-needed exposure.
“I had to jump on as many (horses) as I could,” said Cecola, who became a regular at the stables, never turning down an opportunity to work a horse, and making sure she made appearances at the track as much as possible.
Her dedication impressed Powell, who offered her both mounts in September.
She would have received additional starts, because she proved to Powell she could follow instructions, but the concussion derailed those plans.
While injured Cecola, who is always outspoken and has never shied away from controversy, expressed some of her views on racing. She’s also criticized Santa Anita for its outdated politics, which she claims favors men over women jockeys, even though the females tend to be lighter, which Cecola pointed out.
She also detests animal cruelty, which has become a topic of debate in her hometown, which opted to trap coyotes because of several incidents that spooked the locals.
This decision upset Cecola, who views trapping as a cowardly act.
“Tell those people who are hurting coyotes to leave them alone,” she said in an email to the Sun News. “It makes me sick.”