DEL MAR, Calif. – There were many chapters to the riding career of Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens over his near 40-year career, which ended with his retirement on Tuesday, but some of his best moments were saved for the end, including victories in races like the Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Pacific Classic with the great mare Beholder. Richard Mandella, the trainer of Beholder, had a long association with Stevens, including wins in races like the 1997 Pacific Classic with Gentlemen. But they did some of their best work with Beholder, and Mandella said Stevens was instrumental in her success. “It had a lot to do with the confidence we had in each other,” Mandella said at his Del Mar barn on Wednesday morning. “I asked him to try to rate her. He respected that, and he did it. He was one of the great riders. He was always one of my most important riders.” Beholder’s victory in the 2015 Pacific Classic marked the only time in the race’s 28 runnings that a female has won the race. More than one year later, Beholder ended her career in dramatic fashion with a nose victory over Songbird in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, her second win in that race. “She was a monster when Gary gave her her signal,” Mandella said. “In the Breeders’ Cup, the other mare ran her race, too. That’s the kind of race you come here to see. “It’s sad that he’s retiring, but I’m glad he’s retiring fairly healthy.” Stevens announced on Tuesday that he was retiring immediately from riding after his long-time orthopedist informed him he has a spinal injury that could lead to a far more serious issue if he were to fall. “I had an MRI on Monday and the C-4 is up against the spinal cord,” Stevens said of his examination with Dr. James Tibone. “Tibone didn’t mince any words. He said, ‘You’re done.’ ” “There won’t be any comeback from this one,” Stevens said, laughing, referencing his two previous comebacks from retirements. Gary Lynn Stevens Born: March 6, 1963, Caldwell, Idaho Career statistics Mounts: 29,442 Wins: 5,187 (30th all time) Earnings: $258,213.868 (9th all time) ·         Inducted into Racing Hall of Fame, 1997 ·         Won Eclipse as outstanding jockey, 1998 ·         Won nine Triple Crown races, three in each leg ·         Won 11 Breeders’ Cup races ·         Led nation in purses won, 1990 and 1998 ·         Won George Woolf Award, 1996 ·         Starred in the movie “Seabiscuit” (as George Woolf) and the television series “Luck” Triple Crown victories Kentucky Derby: Winning Colors (1988), Thunder Gulch (1995), Silver Charm (1997) Preakness: Silver Charm (1997), Point Given (2001), Oxbow (2013) Belmont: Thunder Gulch (1995), Victory Gallop (1998), Point Given (2001) Breeders’ Cup victories In the Wings (1990 Turf), Brocco (1993 Juvenile), One Dreamer (1994 Distaff), Da Hoss (1996 Mile), Escena (1998 Distaff), Silverbulletday (1998 Juvenile Fillies), Anees (1999 Juvenile), War Chant (2000 Mile), Beholder (2013 Distaff), Mucho Macho Man (2013 Classic), Beholder (2016 Distaff) Stevens was injured in the post parade on Saturday at Del Mar and said: “My right arm went numb. It was almost like a whiplash effect.” Stevens rode one more race on Saturday, but took off his lone mount on Sunday. At the time he thought he merely had a pinched nerve in his neck, but the examination with Tibone showed otherwise. “I’m done doing what I did,” said Stevens, whose most recent time in the saddle came after undergoing both hip and knee replacements. “I was getting close anyway. Now it will be time to pursue other things, but thank God I’m not in a wheelchair. “I don’t know if this was something that was brewing, but my arm went numb and I’ve got tingling now in both hands, and the base of my skull feels like a coffee pot got put on it.” Stevens, 55, won 5,187 races, including three Kentucky Derbies – on Winning Colors (1988), Thunder Gulch (1995), and Silver Charm (1997) – and 11 Breeders’ Cup races, the last with Beholder. One of only 10 riders to win the Kentucky Derby at least three times, Stevens also won the Preakness and Belmont Stakes three times each, including a desperate win on Victory Gallop in the 1998 Belmont that denied Real Quiet the Triple Crown. He won the Kentucky Oaks twice, and the Santa Anita Derby a record nine times. He was the Eclipse Award-winning rider in 1998, and was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1997. Stevens also won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1996, the Mike Venezia Award in 1999, and the Big Sport of Turfdom Award from the Turf Publicists of America in 2013. Stevens won his first Thoroughbred race in 1979 at Les Bois Park in his native Idaho, and came to greater prominence when he led the standings at Longacres in Washington in 1983 and 1984. That success precipitated a permanent move to Southern California in late 1984. Although Stevens remained in Southern California for the bulk of the rest of his career, he also had brief stints riding in Hong Kong, France, Kentucky, and Arkansas. Overseas, he won races in Great Britain – including at Royal Ascot – France, Hong Kong, Dubai, Japan, and Ireland. Stevens retired twice previously. Knee problems forced his first retirement in 1999, and after working for a short time as a trainer and jockey agent he returned to riding in 2000. Stevens retired again in 2005 and worked as an analyst for NBC. He returned to riding again in 2013, winning the Preakness Stakes on Oxbow later that year as well as that year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Beholder and Breeders’ Cup Classic on Mucho Macho Man. Stevens also received acclaim as an actor, most notably playing the real-life jockey George Woolf in the 2003 movie “Seabiscuit,” and a down-on-his-luck veteran rider in the HBO television series “Luck.”