- Kent Desormeaux
Kent J. Desormeaux (born February 27, 1970, in Maurice, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year. From a Cajun family, Desormeaux grew up on a farm where he learned to ride horses at a young age. He first raced American Quarter Horses and was only sixteen years old when he began working as an apprentice jockey at the Evangeline Downs racetrack in Lafayette, … - Robby Albarado
Robby Albarado (born September 11, 1973 in Lafayette, Louisiana) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding at the age of 12 at bush tracks in his native Louisiana and after turning professional, earned his first win at Evangeline Downs in 1990. Since then he has gone on to win more than 3,000 races, but his career has endured setbacks as a result of serious injuries. During 1998 and 1999 he suffered two skull fractures, … - Calvin Borel
Calvin H. Borel (born November 7, 1966, in St. Martinville, Louisiana) is an American jockey in thoroughbred horse racing and rode the victorious mount in the 2007 Kentucky Derby and lost the Preakness Stakes by a head to Curlin. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his fiancee, Lisa Funk. Calvin Borel hails from south Louisiana, the heart of Cajun Country famous for its production of many top jockeys during the last twenty years. - Kiaran McLaughlin
Kiaran P. McLaughlin (born November 15, 1960 in Lexington, Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Born in an area of the country where horse racing and breeding is preeminent, McLaughlin was a student at the University of Kentucky when he decided to give up his studies and pursue a career in the Thoroughbred horse racing industry. He spent close to three years as an assistant for various trainers before going to work for U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer, … - Rafael Bejarano
Rafael Bejarano (born June 23, 1982 in Arequipa, Peru) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He trained at the Peruvian national riding school before embarking on his professional career in 1999. Having met with success, including winning the apprentice riding title at Hippodromo de Monterrico in Lima, he emigrated to the United States in the spring of 2002 and settled in Louisville, Kentucky. - Doug O'Neill
Doug F. O'Neill (born May 24, 1968 in Dearborn, Michigan) is an American Thoroughbred horse trainer. In 1986 he began working in Thoroughbred horse racing as a stable hand and eventually a training assistant. In 1994 he obtained his professional trainer's license and since the early 2000s has been a major figure on the California racing scene. - Javier Castellano
Javier Castellano (born October 23, 1977 in Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Castellano began his riding career in his native Venezuela in 1996 and in June of 1997 moved to the United States where rode at race tracks in southern Florida until 2001 when he moved to race on the New York State racing circuit. - Steve Haskin
Steve Haskin (born 1947 in New York) is an award-winning American horse racing journalist and author. A former Wall Street employee, Haskin was entranced by the "Sport of Kings". He gained recognition for his annual coverage of the Kentucky Derby, and he is now the senior editor at "The Blood-Horse" thoroughbred magazine. Steve Haskin is the author of several books on Thoroughbred horse racing and its personalities. - Russell Baze
Russell Baze (born August 7, 1958 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) is the winningest jockey in the history of Thoroughbred horse racing and a member of the United States Racing Hall of Fame. Born to an American family, Russell Baze's father, Joe Baze, is a former jockey and trainer who was competing at Exhibition Park in Vancouver at the time of his birth giving him dual Canadian/American citizenship. Russell Baze began his racing career in Walla Walla, … - Fernando Jara
Fernando Jara (born December 18, 1987 in Panama) is thoroughbred horse racing jockey in the United States. Jara had become a well-established jockey in Panama at the age of 15 and came to the United States in late December of 2003. - Bill Shoemaker
William Lee Shoemaker (August 19, 1931 - October 12, 2003) was an American jockey. Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," and "The Shoe", William Lee Shoemaker was born in the town of Fabens, Texas. At 2.5 pounds (1 kg), Shoemaker was so small at birth that he was not expected to survive the night. Put in a shoebox in the oven to stay warm, he survived, but remained small, growing to 4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m) and weighing only 95 pounds (43 kg). - Eddie Arcaro
Eddie Arcaro (February 19, 1916 - November 4, 1997) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American Classic Races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Triple Crown twice. He is widely regarded as the greatest jockey in the history of American Thoroughbred horse racing. George Edward Arcaro was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of an impoverished taxi driver. - Chris McCarron
Christopher John "Chris" McCarron (b. March 27 1955, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame retired jockey. He was introduced to the sport of thoroughbred racing by his older brother, jockey Gregg McCarron. Chris McCarron began riding professionally in 1974 at East Coast racetracks where he won the 1974 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in the United States. He moved to race in California in 1977, … - Victor Espinoza
Victor Espinoza (born May 23, 1972 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding in his native Mexico and earned his first win there in 1992 before moving the following year to compete at racetracks in California. Since coming to the United States, Victor Espinoza has developed into one of the country's top jockeys. - Cornelio Velasquez
Cornelio H. Velasquez (born September 28, 1968 in Panama City, Panama) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He was introduced to horse racing at age fifteen in his native Panama and enrolled in the national jockey school. In his first year of racing he was his country's top apprentice jockey and was the leading rider again in 1994 and 1995. In 1996 Cornelio Velasquez emigrated to the United States to race at Elmont, New York's Belmont Park. - Ron McAnally
Ronald L. McAnally (born July 11, 1932, in Covington, Kentucky) is an American Hall of Fame trainer in Thoroughbred horse racing. Called "one of the most honored and respected of North American trainers" by Thoroughbred Times Co., Inc, as a child, he and his four siblings were placed in an orphanage following the death of their mother. As an adult, he regularly donates funds to the Covington Protestant Children's Home where he was raised. - Damien Oliver
Damien Oliver (born June 22, 1972 in Perth, Western Australia) is a Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Oliver comes from a racing family; his father Ray Oliver rode with success until meeting his death in a race fall at Kalgoorlie Western Australia. The younger of two sons, Damien has reached greater heights than his brother Jason Oliver who was killed in a fall at Ascot Racecourse, … - Matt Winn
Colonel Martin J. "Matt" Winn (1861 - October 6, 1949) was a prominent personality in American thoroughbred horse racing history and president of Churchill Downs racetrack, home to the Kentucky Derby race that he made famous. A Louisville, Kentucky, businessman, Matt Winn had been a racing enthusiast since the day his father brought him to see the first running of the Kentucky Derby in 1875. - Eddie Castro
Eddie Castro (born April 10, 1985) is a Panamanian-born jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He grew up on a produce farm in Panama where he learned to ride saddle horses. Influenced by the accomplishments of other local jockeys, Castro attended the Panamanian jockey school and began riding in races in December of 2002. In just over three months he rode thirty-six winners in Panama then decided to move to the United States where he debuted on April 16, … - Jean Cruguet
Jean Cruguet (born March 8, 1939 in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, France) is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey who won the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. At age five, Jean Cruguet was placed in an orphanage after his father abandoned the family and his mother was unable to cope. From age ten to sixteen, he lived at a secondary school run by Roman Catholic priests where he says he was physically abused. - Patrick Husbands
Patrick Husbands (born May 22, 1973, in Bridgetown, Barbados) is a Canadian jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. The son of a jockey, he began riding as a young boy, turning professional in his home country where he rode successfully until emigrating to Toronto, Ontario in 1994. Racing out of Woodbine Racetrack, in 2003 Husbands won the Canadian Triple Crown aboard the colt Wando. - Horatio Luro
Horatio A. Luro (February 27, 1901 - December 16, 1991) was a thoroughbred horse racing trainer in the United States. Born in Argentina into a wealthy family that had been involved with horses for several generations, a suave young Horatio Luro grew up as something of a playboy and maintained this lifestyle after moving to the United States. - Ted Atkinson
Theodore Francis Atkinson was a Canadian-born thoroughbred horse racing jockey, inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Ted Atkinson as a child emigrated with his family across the border to upstate New York. He began his career in thoroughbred horse racing in 1938 and first gained national recognition in 1941, … - Mike Venezia
Michael Joseph Venezia (May 5, 1945 - October 13, 1988) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who was killed in a racing accident. Venezia had been a jockey for twenty-five years and had ridden more than 2,200 winners when he was thrown from his horse and trampled to death during a race at Belmont Park. His wins included the 1980 Saratoga Special Stakes and Canadian International Stakes. - Belair Stud
Belair Stud was an American thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm founded by Provincial Governors Samuel Ogle and Benjamin Tasker in 1737 in Collington, Prince Georges County, Maryland in Colonial America, what is now the city of Bowie. Ogle built himself a large mansion down the road from where they built the horse stable. In 1752, Benjamin Tasker, Jr. brought his mare "Selima" to the farm for breeding purposes. - Jon Court
Jon Kenton Court (born November 23, 1960 in Gainesville, Florida) is an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. The winner of more than 3,000 races, in February of 2007 he was voted the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. Called a "an unfailingly polite man" by ESPN, the Award is voted on by American jockeys and is given to a jockey who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack. - Chris Munce
Chris Munce (born May 17, 1969 in Casino, New South Wales, Australia) is a highly successful Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who was convicted in Hong Kong on March 1, 2007 of taking bribes in exchange for racing tips. Originally a Queensland jockey, Munce shares stable jockey duties with Danny Beasley for Gai Waterhouse Racing. During his career Chris Munce has won thirty-five Group I conditions races including Australia's most prestigious races, … - Sam Hildreth
Samuel Clay Hildreth (1866 - September 24, 1929) was an American thoroughbred horse racing trainer and owner. Born in Independence, Missouri, Sam Hildreth began his training career in 1887, competing at racetracks in the Midwestern United States. In 1898 he moved to New York City where thoroughbred racing was a leading sport offering the largest purses. He was first hired to train horses owned by wealthy businessman William Collins Whitney, but soon set out on his own, … - John R. Velazquez
John R. Velazquez (born November 24, 1971 in Carolina, Puerto Rico) is a jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. He learned to race in his native Puerto Rico and under the guidance of agent and former jockey Angel Cordero, Jr., in 1990 he moved to race in New York State. A winner of six Breeders' Cup races, he has also won graded stakes races such as the Kentucky Oaks, Blue Grass Stakes, Dubai World Cup, E. P. Taylor Stakes (twice), Whitney Handicap, Woodbine Mile, … - Laz Barrera
Lazaro S. Barrera (May 8, 1924 - April 25, 1991), was a Cuban-born Hall of Fame thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Born in Havana, "Laz" Barrera was one of nine brothers who went on to become involved in thoroughbred horse racing in the United States. While in his teens, he began working at a racetrack in his native Cuba and within a few years was one of the country's most respected young trainers. - Joseph E. Widener
Joseph Early Widener (August 19, 1871 - October 26, 1943) was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and a major figure in Thoroughbred horse racing as head of New York's Belmont Park and builder of Miami, Florida's Hialeah Park racetrack. Born in Philadelphia, he was the second son of Hannah Josephine Dunton (1836 -1896) and the extremely wealthy entrepreneur Peter A. B. Widener (1834 - 1915). - Avelino Gomez
Avelino Gomez (1928 - 1980) was a Cuban-born Hall of Fame jockey in American and Canadian thoroughbred horse racing. Born in Havana, Cuba, Gomez began a career as a jockey at the urging of a family member. He won his first race in Mexico City and eventually moved on to the United States where he built a reputation as a very capable rider, gaining considerable attention after winning six races during one racecard at Ascot Park in Akron, Ohio. - Marylou Whitney
Marylou Whitney (b. Marie Louise Schroeder, December 24 1925, Kansas City, Missouri) is a prominent socialite. Whitney has many seasonal residences, first and foremost her "Cady Hill" estate in Saratoga Springs New York, a massive camp in the Adirondacks, a farm near Lexington, Kentucky, a winter home in Florida and a residence in Alaska where her current husband is from. She is also a noted philanthropist. - Max Hirsch
Maximilian J. "Max" Hirsch (July 12, 1880 - April 3, 1969) was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Born in Fredericksburg, Texas, Hirsch became one of the most successful trainers in Thoroughbred horse racing history. Hirsch conditioned horses for various owners including Virginia Fair Vanderbilt but is best known for his work with the King Rach Stable whom he joined in the 1930s and for whom he trained until his death in 1969. - Craig Perret
Craig Perret (born February 2, 1951, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding horses at age five and by seven was riding quarter horses in match races. At age fifteen he began his career in thoroughbred racing and in 1967 was the leading apprentice jockey in the United States in terms of money won. In 1987 Perret rode Bet Twice to victory in the Belmont Stakes. - Eric Guerin
Eric Guerin (October 23, 1924 - March 21, 1993 is an American Hall of Fame jockey. O. Eric Guerin was born in Maringouin, Louisiana, in Cajun backwater country, twenty-four miles west of Baton Rouge. The son of an impoverished Cajun blacksmith, older cousin Norman Leblanc had become a jockey then a horse trainer and in 1938 the fourteen-year-old Guerin quit school to go to work for his cousin at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. - Edward L. Bowen
Edward L. Bowen (born c.1942 in West Virginia) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing historian and author and the president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, an institution involved in funding equine research. Bowen grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he was influenced by a father who like horses. He rode ponies as a boy and became a fan of Thoroughbred racing from watching races on television. - Oliver Lewis
Oliver Lewis was an African-American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. In 1875, Lewis rode in the very first Kentucky Derby on the winning horse, Aristides. Lewis and Aristides took second place in the Belmont Stakes, which is now the third race of the Triple Crown. In the southern part of the United States, only a decade after the American Civil War, the working class of horse racing, including jockeys and trainers, was predominantly African-American. - Ansel Williamson
Ansel Williamson was an African American thoroughbred horse racing trainer Ansel Williamson was born a slave in Virginia sometime around the middle part of the 19th century. In 1864 he was purchased by Robert A. Alexander, owner of the famous Woodburn Stud near Midway, Kentucky. Taught the breeding and training of horses, after he was freed Williamson remained in Alexander's employ. - Willie Simms
Willie Simms (born January 16, 1870, near Augusta, Georgia, United States – died February 26, 1927 in Ashbury, New Jersey) was a Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Simms began racing in 1887 and was one of the most successful to use the short stirrup that gave the rider a crouching posture. En route to winning the United States riding title in 1894, Simms won back-to-back Belmont Stakes.
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