Best Jockeys In Horse Racing Events

By, Meghan Lewis | Special To Corridor News

Horses are lovely and are beautiful creatures in this world. One of the many occurrences that people want to have their entertainment is through horse racing wherein various horses compete with other opponents running through the finish line.

Annually, several racing events for horses are happening worldwide. TVG Horse Tracks can be one guide to help individuals trace races that are worth noting.

Thus, while there are countless sports events present in society today, horse racing remains to become a famous sport since ancient times.

One thing that makes the game exciting is the appearance of a jockey on board in a horse. These individuals need to get to know with the way the competition works, training, horse’ breeding, and the conditions required by each horse.

You have to be tiny if you want to become a jockey. These people typically weigh a hundred pounds in five feet. Being active and athletic is also essential to be able to ride a horse.

Besides, riders need to continually observe races and gain insights that they can benefit from their upcoming races. These individuals can plan a winning strategy depending upon the competition, and the courses they are into playing.

While attempting to maintain all possible requirements in mind, below are some certain jockeys who extends the expectations of the fans and are always secure people’s bets.

Russell Baze

At the age of 16, Russell Baze started his racing career as part of the family’s history in racing. His father, who is a trainer, was a jockey also himself.

Presently, his father gained 12,717 victories in his 53,111 starts, and he’s been into the racing industry for almost 40 years now.

There are a lot of beautiful incidents about Russell Baze’s racing career. He is using the technique of riding horses and playing every event like it was among the Triple Crown races. Also, any other significant events, regardless of the race’ true worth.

Russell won 13 of the 14 Isaac Murphy Awards with the best winning ratio, among the Hall of Fame and won the Eclipse Special Award.

Javier Castellano

The Venezuelan, Castellano, won Ghostzapper in 20014 which is one of the races in Breeders’ Cup Classic, and from the year 2012 to 2015 won one Breeders’ Cup each year.

He won several races since then including the Preakness, Kentucky Derby, and several other G1 competitions around the globe.

In North America, he is the highest-earning jockey from 2013-2015, and his winnings worth 28 million dollars is the existing one-season record.

In 2017, the jockey won the Juvenile Fillies Turf adding up to his eight Breeders’ Cup victory. Moreover, Castellano remains making achievements in the year 2018 by winning his sixth edition of NYRA Bets’ Runhappy Travers Stakes.

William “Bill” Shoemaker

Among the dozens of famous jockeys is Bill Shoemaker who raced through several Triple Crown races. The rider was 18 years old when he won the first horse racing event.

Bill won five times in the Belmont Stakes, and twice in the Preakness Stakes. Moreover, through the Kentucky Derby, the jockey rode twenty-four times and won four events in the year 1955, 1959, 1965, and 1986.

His last win was at the age of 54, and it made him the oldest jockey who victoriously end that event.

In his 41-year career, Bill rode over 8,800 winning horses. This notion includes John Henry in the year 1981, the Arlington Million winner, the Thoroughbred’s first million-dollar stake race. 

He gained over 2 million dollars yearly since the year 1957. By the time he retired in the year 1989, he had earned over 120 million dollars in the horses had ridden.

Furthermore, his other accomplishments include being the U.S Jockey Champion five times by winnings, and ten times by his earnings. He also won the George Woof Memorial Jockey Award, as well as his inauguration to the Hall of Fame and the Racing’s National Musem.

Shoemaker culminated the life of a trainer in Santa Anita after his final race in 1990, before retiring in November 1997. He died in the year 2003 at the age of 72.

Chris McCarron

This jockey thought horse racing was relatively simple as he began his career. Chris McCarron started amateur riding in 1974 and won the same year’s Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey Apprentice. Also, along with 546 more races, making him the country’s winning jockey that year.

The sport would persist easily for the rest of his career for Chris. He continued winning nine races in the Breeder’s Cup, six runs in the Triple Crown and the famous Japan Cup.

He also achieved every other award-worthy of winning along with the manner, including the George Woolf and Mike Venezia prizes.

The 1989 career is a Hall of Famer that resulted in American jockeys earnings four times and three times in winnings. Chris served as a technical advisor after his retirement in the year 2002 and entered an acting part in the “Seabiscuit” film.

Pat Day

Jockey Pat Day started his athletic career as a wrestler, and a bull rider, before heading with the Thoroughbred riding.

He won his first victory in the year 1973 and was at the top of the domestic ranking and the leading rider at the Churchill Downs by the early seventies.

However, that victory Pat Day achieved at the Churchill Downs was among the many races he entered, wherein it placed the jockey the all-time rider.

He raced and won nine Triple Crown races and Breeders’ Cup Classic with four wins. Also, one of the only 11 equestrians who won the Canadian Triple Crown, and a Hall of Famer.