Father-Son Wes and Steve Hamilton Share Determination

Their circumstances could not be more different. Their strong-willed determination to meet disparate goals is the same.

While Weston Hamilton does everything possible to secure the Eclipse Award as leading apprentice in North America, his father, Steve, is laser-focused on returning from career-threatening back issues that have sidelined him since June 10.

Through Dec. 22, his final day as an apprentice, Wes Hamilton registered 116 victories this year to top all young riders in that category. He had made 887 starts, most of those in Maryland, with earnings of $3,393,075. Wes, 20, said of his Eclipse bid, "That's been my dream this whole first year. I think I've got a pretty good shot. It's been a heck of a good year."

Steve, 45, was thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to ride against Wes until two falls, the most recent in June, triggered back problems that led to delicate surgery Sept. 17 at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore. Although doctors are optimistic he can resume his career—Steve talks of a comeback late next spring or early summer—there are no guarantees.

"In my mind, I'm going to have a 100% recovery," Steve said. "But, in saying that, I'm not going to come back until I'm not hurting at all."

Steve, a popular figure on the Maryland circuit, consistently ranks among the leading riders there when he is at the top of his game. He owns 1,374 career victories from 11,357 starts, with purse earnings of $28,183,031. He is known as "Cowboy" for his bull-riding roots in his native Oklahoma. His riding has long reflected grit developed at a young age.

He began a career filled with twists and turns in 1990. He retired in 2000, saying he wanted to be more of a presence for his sons, Garrett and Wes, in their formative years. He returned in 2004, but a severe auto accident two years later that left him with several fractured vertebrae in his neck and fractured ribs prompted him to leave the game again. He worked for 10 years as a blacksmith only to return to the saddle in August 2016.

This latest interruption is the most worrisome as it relates to his prospects for another comeback. He compared the pain he experienced before surgery relieved pressure on his spinal cord to having "a knife in my back." Searing pain shot down his right leg. He said there were times when he rode despite numbness in his right foot.

"There are a lot of things you've just got to buck up and get through," he said.

Finally, he recognized that it was impossible to continue. Tests revealed a cyst that was pressing against his spinal cord and restricting its movement. Doctors theorized that the cyst existed before but shifted into an excruciating position with the two falls.

As much as Wes wants to ride against his father again, he is joining others in urging caution.

"I want him to be safe," he said. "I don't want anything to happen to him, something to go wrong where he would never be able to do something again. Everybody goes down and everybody has spills. But when you go down and have a back injury, that's a different story."

Ben Feliciano Sr., Steve's longtime agent, also is wary about a possible comeback. 

"If he's ready, I'm ready to go back to work for him. If he wants to retire, I'm up for that, too," Feliciano said. "As long as he's healthy, that's the most important thing."

Steve participates in extensive physical therapy sessions twice a week at a facility in Ellicott City, Md. His best medicine, though, might be the time he spends following Wes' daily progress, either by joining him at the track or watching races on television.

Wes lives at home with his parents, Steve and Amy, so the learning hardly ends with his last mount. 

"We talk a lot after he races each day and go over things that happened," Steve said. "I listen a lot to him instead of saying much. He's doing a lot of the right things."

Wes credits his father for much of his early success.

"My dad, he told me all kinds of things before I started riding. I came into the business knowing what I had to do," he said. "Basically, he gave me a leg up on everything."

Wes will have to adjust to life as a journeyman, but he could not be more enthusiastic about his career.

"It's going great," he said. "I've been on some really good horses. I've won a ton of races, a lot more races than I thought I would win."

If Steve should never enter the starting gate again, Wes will always treasure their time on the track together.

"That meant the whole world to me," the son said. "I sure wish I could keep riding with him. I wish he was riding right now. It was the best."