Aaron Gryder Back Home at Santa Anita

Aaron Gryder, sitting in the warm sun on a bench in the Santa Anita Park paddock Feb. 9, served as his own metaphor.

The 48-year-old jockey, back home full-time for the first time since early 2015, is soaking it all in.

A native of West Covina, Calif., which sits about 10 miles southeast of Santa Anita, Gryder has made the best of limited opportunities at the current Santa Anita meet—six wins from 35 mounts through Feb. 8—but has been particularly hot recently. In his past nine starts dating to Feb. 2, he's ridden four winners (for four different trainers).

"That's what you're supposed to do all the time," Gryder said of his unwavering demeanor. "If you start pushing and fretting over things, then it's always going to go bad. Enjoy it while it's good and keep being productive.

"People always ask, 'What's the toughest part of this business?' Some people say the weight or the traveling, but I've always said it's about keeping an even disposition, because you know (the bad) is coming. And when it goes bad, it's hard. … I go out here every day, do my best, and try to get a good trip. You're not going to get it every time, but right now things have fallen in place pretty nicely."

To say Gryder has been around would be an understatement.

His most recent adventure was to Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver, but before that he was based in Northern California, and before that in 2015 he moved his tack from Southern California to Pennsylvania and then to New York, where he spent all of 2016. In previous years, the rider who got his start at Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana has spent time at Oaklawn Park in the 1990s and early 2010s; bounced around the New York, New Jersey, Kentucky, and Chicago circuits for parts of three decades; and also spent some seasons in Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, and Northern California.

"Storage has been a big part of my life," Gryder joked.

"I was just following opportunities," he said. "When I was here in the late '80s, it was probably the toughest jockey colony that was ever assembled, with Laffit Pincay, Chris McCarron, Eddie Delahoussaye, Bill Shoemaker, Fernando Toro—the list went on and on.

"From here I went to the Midwest, where I was riding with Pat Day in his prime, and then in New York I was riding with Jerry Bailey in his prime, Jorge Velásquez, Jose Santos, and Mike Smith when he was getting rolling."

When Gryder returned to Southern California for Del Mar's fall meet without an agent in November, he was intentionally selective. If he rode every horse he could and he started slowly, his business wouldn't last.

The strategy worked. His first mount at Del Mar was 30-1 winner Gypsy Blu for trainer Brian Koriner. Three starts and 18 days later at Del Mar—with a trip to Golden Gate Fields in between—he piloted Goodwillambassador to victory at 5-1 odds. If he started slowly at Del Mar, it would have been easy to see business start to sour.

"I knew I wasn't going to have a ton of business when I first started, during the last couple of weeks at Del Mar, so I was selective," Gryder said. "It's a numbers game. If you get off to a bad start where you're winning at 5%, nobody is going to want to ride you."

Whether he can maintain his hot streak in California remains to be seen, but in the meantime he'll continue to soak it all in—from the congratulations across the country coming in on social media to longtime fans acknowledging him as he walks back after races.

Gryder pushes back, however, at the idea that returning home might indicate he's nearing the end. When asked how much longer he wanted to ride, he wouldn't even address it.

"I want to win," answered Gryder, who in March will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of his top racing achievement, Well Armed's romp in the 2009 Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1). "It's a game, when you're riding and winning—physically I feel great, and mentally I feel great. It's what has kept me going this long. I love the horses, I love being around them, and I love winning."