BALTIMORE — His big brother Jose was on hand, just as he was two weeks ago for the Kentucky Derby, just as he had always been in the right place at the right time for Victor Espinoza. It was Jose who taught him how to get along with horses when they were children in Mexico.

It took work — Victor was afraid of horses, and sitting on their backs did not come naturally. But it was Jose who needed Victor in Cancún when he suddenly found himself as the trainer of a string of quarter horses. Jose was 18, Victor was 15, and all either one of them knew was that they needed each other.

Victor is the more talented jockey. Jose is the better horseman. Victor went north first, and Jose followed. Both put their time in at the California fair meets, on the grits-and-hard-toast circuit, and turned themselves into pretty good race riders.

Victor landed on the West Coast and Jose on the East. Each made a nice living. Last August, however, Jose was thrown from a horse at Saratoga Race Course and sustained a traumatic brain injury that ended his career.