She's 52 years old with a bum pair of knees and has to put up with her husband every day at work.

So what in the heavens is Quarter Horse jockey Tomey Jean Swan so giddy about?

On Monday, she'll launch the slickly named I Ain't Jo Chick from the starting gate in the $2 million All American Futurity, shortline racing's version of the Super Bowl. At the end of the 440 yards stands the pinnacle everyone in her sport seeks.

But Swan won't get there alone. The last person she'll see before taking the track will be her husband, Pat, who trains their star two-year-old filly. It's been that way for 26 years since the Swans tied the knot in October of 1976. He'll give her a leg up just before the most important 21 seconds of her life.

"Tomey's a money rider," Pat said confidently this week from Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico, home of the All American Futurity. "I'm so excited for her I can't even tell you. We discuss her retiring every year and then a good yearling or two comes along and keeps us going. 'That's the one,' we say and that's what drives us."

It's painful to even type, but Tomey Jean's past winter was spent recovering from her 13th knee surgery. Thoughts of retirement admittedly danced through her head. But then Tomey Jean looked forward while looking back. Owner Jo Ann Adams had sent the family another daughter of their great race mare Joanna Kate. Another twinkle in the eye, dreams of the next great horse, and Tomey Jean was back in the saddle.

"That's what keeps me young," she said. "At my age, it's hard to stay fit and keep my weight down. Just thinking about Joanna Kate's babies coming along each winter makes me keep up this career. Last year was pretty tough coming off another knee surgery. The doctor and I weren't sure if it was the end. But I'm here now, still going."

Tomey Jean spent two and a half years in a wheelchair in the early 1990s. Some of the credit for her comebacks goes to knee specialist Dr. Steven Weiner of Santa Fe, NM. Swan travels for his care from their farm in Madill, Okla., some 665 miles. "He's been my doctor for the past 10 surgeries or so, trying to fix what was messed up in the early days," Swan says, upbeat even in a spot where a grudge could easily surface.

Family ties
The Swans met at Southern California's Los Alamitos Racecourse in 1973. Pat became Tomey Jean's jockey agent shortly after marrying in 1976 and took out a trainer's license a few years later.

Tomey Jean was already an accomplished rider and daughter of leading west coast trainer Tomey Wieburg. Pat made the switch from rodeo, where he rode bulls and bareback horses long enough to know broken bones don't pay bills, but rather make more of them.

"Oil money was good back in the '70s and I saw everyone in the horse business driving Cadillacs," he jokes now. "I made enough in rodeo to eat. That's about it."

And so the Swans have carved out a living in the racing game. Hobbled knees and botched surgeries have kept Tomey Jean off of the nation's leaderboard in recent years, where in the 1970s she regularly appeared in the Top 10. More selective in her riding engagements and more active in the family stable, she has focused her skills primarily on the home team.

"It's tough for any couple to work together day-to-day," Tomey Jean said. "But I think we do our jobs better together because we play off of each other. There's a trust; I never second-guess Pat's training and he never second-guesses my riding. It's a unique relationship in this industry when you have many trainers that will tell a jockey how to ride every step of the way."

Pat agreed, saying, "She gives me a world of information on how a horse is going and what that horse needs. She gets on every horse in the barn at some point or other. We've got a great working relationship, aside from having to be apart now and then."

Tomey Jean said there was an added perk to having Pat around so much. "He's the cook of the family. When he's out of town at another track, I starve to death".

Family remains at the forefront for the Swans. The stable currently has 20 horses racing in Iowa and 10 in New Mexico. Daughter, Jean, and her husband, David Haas, help in New Mexico. Tomey Jean and son, Travis, handle the Iowa string. Pat bounces back and forth where needed.

Perhaps most importantly, it's son Travis who "breaks" the yearlings for the family stable, teaching the raw horses right from wrong and the basics of dealing with people. "I know when Travis breaks a yearling that we're getting a well-taught baby – one he can feel comfortable putting his mama on," Tomey Jean said with a laugh.

An All American story
I Aint Jo Chick provides the Swans a shot at Quarter Horse racing's ultimate prize. The filly has won back-to-back starts and qualified third-fastest for the All American. In all, 176 prospects entered the trials, hoping to land one of the 10 finalist positions in the starting gate.

I Aint Jo Chick certainly owns classic bloodlines. Her mother, Joanna Kate, was the American Quarter Horse Association's Champion Aged Mare of 1999. The Swan's best performer to date, Joanna Kate earned $538,679 while winning six stakes races from her 15 victories. While she never made it to the All American Futurity, Joanna Kate left her daughter with perhaps even greater tools.

When asked what I Aint Jo Chick has that most resembles her mother, Tomey Jean didn't hesitate when saying, "The heart. Joanna Kate has instilled this filly with her heart. She lives and breathes racing. She's similar to her mama in that she runs with her head very low. It's an unusual feeling, like your floating out there. You look forward and don't see anything in front of you. But, man, she gets you there alright."

The Swans also want this victory for longtime owner and friend Jo Ann Adams of tiny Guymon, Okla. Adams and her late husband, J.R., have been staunch supporters of Quarter Horse racing for decades and once owned New Mexico's La Mesa Park. Their Rocket Wrangler captured the 1970 All American and now Jo Ann Adams returns with perhaps her best Futurity chance in more than 30 years.

"It would be great to win this for Mrs. Adams," Tomey Jean said. "She stood behind me in 1998 when I was coming back from a broken leg. I wanted to ride Joanna Kate so bad in the Remington Park Derby. I took the X-rays to her and made my case. She was so supportive and let me ride. It's kind of like the movie Seabiscuit. There aren't many owners around like that anymore…not many like Seabiscuit's. Jo Ann Adams is one of them."

Making a statement
Tomey Jean Swan currently holds the post as chairman of the board for the Jockeys' Guild, the national organization that represents Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse riders. Jockeys work primarily as contractors independent of any track or stable.

Swan became the first female rider, or Quarter Horse rider for that matter, to hold the Guild's top post. The steps made by the Jockeys' Guild in her two years to help restore a health insurance plan, address safety concerns and develop endorsement deals are the source of great pride. For a jockey who has undergone 13 knee operations, her work takes on added importance.

"We're making strides in our industry," Swan said. "I'm grateful to be a part of helping all riders."

One of her fellow Jockeys' Guild members is Hall of Fame Thoroughbred rider Julie Krone, who won last week's $1 million Pacific Classic aboard Candy Ride, capping her own comeback story from injuries and retirement. When asked if Swan got any added charge from seeing her fellow female rider taking down the seven-figure purse, she said, "Wow, was that exciting or what? I was rooting like crazy for her."

Win or lose, 52-year-old Tomey Jean Swan has things in perspective.

"I just think it's pretty neat for a woman my age to realize that even if I'm a member of AARP, I can compete in a competitive sport against younger men. Hopefully there are some people out there who can take something from it."