He has two children: Amy and Tim; and three brothers: Jim (a jockey agent), Damont, and Gil.

There were few trainers who would take a chance on him, but a retired New York City police officer turned jockey agent, Mike Sellito, did.

Every parking-lot attendant, exercise rider, jockey agent and elevator operator on the grounds was eager to pass along the name of the winner.

A jockey agent, Ralph Theroux Sr., conditions book stuffed in his pocket, was already there, seeking salvation on the backstretch before the races began.

In March 2007, Stevens became the jockey agent for Corey Nakatani.

In 1997 he was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and today has been working as a jockey agent.

"I've gone out fishing with him, and he wears me out," said Herson Sanchez, a jockey agent in Tampa, Fla., and the best man at Wirth's wedding.

After Pavement's split, he served as jockey agent for Greta Kuntzweiler and Joe Johnson.

He also was the jockey agent for Bill Hartack, when Hartack rose to prominence during his Hall of Fame career in the 1950s.

"Two tax stories you can count on every April," says Lou DeFichy, a longtime handicapper and jockey agent.