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About This Quiz
Being a jockey looks pretty easy from the grandstands, right? After all, the horse does all the work, while all the rider really does is hang on tight ... not! If you dream of a career as a jockey, it's not enough to simply be a horse fanatic or possess a need for speed. In fact, humans involved in the horse racing field face the same challenges as any other elite athletes, plus some additional ones that are unique to the jockey profession.
First of all, you gotta stay as light as possible. For top riders, this generally means hovering close to 116 pounds or so, and eating just enough to maintain your energy while staying within 3 to 7 percent body fat for men, and 8 to 12 percent for women. Given that the average U.S. man has around 18 percent body fat, with 25 percent for the average woman, it's no surprise that eating disorders and the use of diuretics run rampant among jockeys. And then, of course, there are the injuries. With a large group of riders and thousand-pound animals speeding along at 40 mph or so and all vying for the lead, it's no wonder that jockeys get hurt so frequently, and a surprising number are left paralyzed by falls and collisions.
Yet for those who excel in the sport, all the sacrifices are worth it for the chance to ride a mighty thoroughbred to glory. Think you can recognize the greatest jockeys in the history of racing? Take our quiz to find out!
Eddie Castro
In his first year on the U.S. racing scene, Eddie Castro won the 2003 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. Two years later, in 2005, he set a national record by winning an unbelievable nine races on a single card. Just 15 years after arriving in the U.S. from Panama, Castro had won more than 2,500 races.
Robert Thompson
Roy Higgins
Scobie Breasley
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Darren Beadman
Johnny Longden
Javier Castellano
Venezuela native Javier Castellano moved to the U.S. in 1997, just in time to become one of the most celebrated riders of the 21st century. He won the Preakness in 2006 and again in 2017, picked up Eclipse Awards for four years straight between 2013 and 2016 and was the top-earning jockey in the country through that same period.
Don Pierce
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Jose Ortiz
It took Jose Ortiz just four years to go from a novice on the U.S. racing scene to the top spot on the American jockey rankings by number of wins in 2016. The next year, he not only won an Eclipse Award and rode Tapwrit to victory at the Belmont Stakes, but also had greater earnings than any other U.S. rider.
Billy Pyers
Neville Sellwood
Steve Cauthen
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Rafael Bejarano
Though he was born in Peru, a desire to compete with the best jockeys in the world motivated Rafael Bejarano to move to the heart of horse country, leading him to settle in Louisville, Kentucky in 2002. He found success instantly, winning more races than any other U.S. jockey in 2004 with 455 victories. His winnings topped $12 million that year, and he stayed in the top 10 rankings by annual earnings every year through 2015.
Walter Swinburn
Ryan Moore
Hugh Bowman
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Wayne Wright
Bill Hartack
Willie Carson
Garrett Gomez
Garrett Gomez found great success as a jockey, enjoying a breakout year in 1997 as he won a series of major races. He earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in 2007 and 2008, but his career was cut short when he died of a drug overdose in 2017.
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Damien Oliver
Brough Scott
Victor Espinoza
Born in Mexico in 1972, Victor Espinoza moved to the U.S. in 1990. In 2002 he came close to a Triple Crown victory when he won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness ... a feat he repeated in 2014. Just one year later, he would finally clinch that Triple Crown after two near misses, becoming both the oldest jockey and first Hispanic rider to take the title.
Angel Cordero
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Kent Desormeaux
Bill Shoemaker
Edgar Prado
After moving to Florida from his native Peru, Edgar Prado won more races than any other U.S. jockey in 1997, 1998 and 1999. In 2006, he and Barbaro claimed victory at the Kentucky Derby, while Prado earned an Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. Just two years later, he was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame, and his total career wins topped 7,200.
Laffit Pincay
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Tyler Gaffalione
Bill Shoemaker
Bill Shoemaker ranks among the best American jockeys of all time, and the New York Times reports that he rode 11 different horses with victories at the Triple Crown series. He won the Belmont Stakes five times, the Kentucky Derby four times and the Preakness twice. Despite an accident that left him paralyzed at the age of 59, he continued in the industry as a trainer.
Pat Day
Johnny Longden
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Ramon Dominguez
Joel Rosario
Born in the Dominican Republic, Joel Rosario moved to the U.S. before the age of 20 with dreams of racing success. He made rapid progress, going from 1,361st in earnings rank among U.S. jockeys in 2005 to claiming the number 2 ranking in 2013 and 2014. Along the way he won the Kentucky Derby in 2013 and came in first at the Belmont Stakes the next year.
Mike Smith
Bill Shoemaker
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Pat Day
Pat Day's winnings exceeded those of any other American jockey in both 1999 and 2000. Throughout his long career, he won four Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Jockey and had at least one win at all three of the Triple Crown races. including a whopping five wins at the Preakness in Baltimore.
Eddie Arcaro
Calvin Borel
Shaun Bridgmohan
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Mike Smith
The only thing more impressive than Mike Smith's 2018 Triple Crown victory is the length of his career. He was already good enough to win Eclipse Awards way back in 1993 and 1994, but kept on racing and winning for several more decades. His persistence paid off with more than $300 million in lifetime winnings and a 2018 Triple Crown win that is historic enough on its own, but even more so when you consider he was 52 at the time.
Joel Rosario
Brough Scott
Ryan Moore
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Jerry Bailey
Jerry Bailey won 5,800 races throughout his career, including five Breeders' Cup Classics and two wins each at the Derby, Preakness and Belmont. He set a record with seven Eclipse wins for Outstanding Jockey between 1995 and 2003, and later became a beloved TV analyst when his racing days had ended.
Javier Castellano
Willie Carson
Isaac Murphy
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Ramon Dominguez
After settling in the U.S. in 1996, Ramon Dominguez enjoyed steady progress, winning more races than any other U.S. jockey in both 2001 and 2003. He earned three Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Jockey in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and won more than 5,000 races before retiring in 2013 after a serious injury.
Joseph Talamo
Walter Swinburn
Damien Oliver
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John Velazquez
Born in Puerto Rico, John Velazquez moved to the U.S. to pursue horse racing before his 20th birthday. He picked up two Kentucky Derby wins in 2011 and 2017, and also won the Belmont Stakes in 2007 and 2012. By the end of 2018, his career victories topped 6,000.
Edgar Prado
Victor Espinoza
Tyler Baze
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Ron Turcotte
Alex Solis
Four years after settling in the U.S., Alex Solis cruised to victory at the 1986 Preakness Stakes. His first Breeders' Cup win came in 2000, and he was chosen for Hall of Fame membership in 2014.
Tyler Gaffalione
Jim Cassidy
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Walter Swinburn
Gary Stevens
After turning pro in 1979, Gary Stevens ranked among the best American jockeys throughout the '80s and '90s, earning a spot in the Hall of Fame in 1997. In addition to his turn in "Seabiscuit," he is also known as an analyst for major racing events.
Craig Perret
Rafael Bejarano
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Eddie Arcaro
Ohio native Eddie Arcaro dominated U.S. racing in the '40s and '50s, pulling off unprecedented Triple Crown wins in both 1941, atop Whirlaway, and 1948, riding Citation. He won 5,000 races during his career and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1958.
Pat Day
Willie Carson
Chris Antley
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Ramon Dominguez
Ron Turcotte
New Brunswick native Ron Turcotte rode Secretariat to Triple Crown glory in 1973, marking the first Triple Crown win in a quarter-century. Tragically, Turcotte suffered a racing fall that left him paralyzed in 1978, but led him to pursue a career as an advocate for the disabled.
Joel Rosario
John Velazquez
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Garrett Gomez
Steve Cauthen
Born in Kentucky in 1960, Steve Cauthen wasn't even old enough to vote when he out-earned every other U.S. jockey in terms of race winnings in 1977. The next year, he became the youngest jockey in history to win the Triple Crown at age 18. Cauthen went on to win more than 3,000 races during his career.
Eddie Castro
Russel Baze
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Bill Shoemaker
Kent Desormeaux
In 1989, Kent Desormeaux shattered racing records by winning 598 races in a single year. He rode Real Quiet to the Triple Crown in 1998, earned a spot in the Hall of Fame in 2004, and had pulled off more than 6,000 wins by 2019.
Russel Baze
Pat Day
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Frankie Dettori
John Velazquez
Calvin Borel
Calvin Borel won the 2007 Derby, but was considered a huge longshot when he rode Mine That Bird to victory at the event in 2009. That same year, he also won the prestigious Kentucky Oaks as well as the Preakness Stakes, the second leg in the Triple Crown.
Brough Scott
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Chris Antley
Chris Antley won 469 races in 1991, more than any other American jockey. This number includes a victory at the Kentucky Derby, which he won again in 1999. The next year, he died at the age of 34 of a suspected overdose, and was inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame in 2015.
Frankie Dettori
Eddie Arcaro
Flavien Prat
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Don Pierce
Don Pierce won nearly 3,500 of his estimated 30,000 career races, picking up $40 million in winnings in a career that spanned three decades. Famous for his success on the SoCal scene, Pierce found great success in handicapped races and events featuring older horses.
Kent Desormeaux
Kieren Fallon
Tyler Baze
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Julie Krone
Rosie Napravnik
Rosie Napravnik forged a path for women in the field of horse racing when she became the first female to claim the Kentucky Oaks title in 2012, then won it again in 2014. By the end of 2014, she was ranked seventh in the nation in terms of total winnings among American jockeys.
Diane Crump
Clare Balding
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Edgar Prado
Don Pierce
Jerry Bailey
Flavien Prat
After moving to the U.S. from France in 2015, Flavien Prat quickly established himself in the racing community with a pair of Breeders' Cup wins in 2016 and 2017. He ranked among the best U.S. jockeys in 2018 and pulled off a win at the Kentucky Derby in 2019.
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JJ Miller
Craig Perret
Craig Perret mounted his first horse at age 5 and began racing two years later. He was guiding top thoroughbreds to victory before he could drive a car, and won both the Belmont Stakes and the Kentucky Derby in the late '80s.
Red Pollard
David Gall
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Michael Kinane
Ryan Moore
Garrett Gomez
Russel Baze
Vancouver native Russel Baze dominated U.S. racing in the '90s and '00s, winning more events than any other rider 10 times between 1992 and 2008. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999, and had more than 12,000 total career wins.
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Joseph Talamo
David Gall
David Gall was born in Saskatchewan in 1941, but went on to win more than 7,300 races throughout North America during his long career. In 1978, he famously pulled off eight wins on a single card at an Illinois track, then won more races than any other U.S. rider in both 1979 and 1981.
Javier Castellano
Calvin Borel
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Ron Turcotte
Robert Thompson
Chris McCarron
Chris McCarron went from never having ridden a horse to winning 547 races, more than any other U.S. jockey, in the three-year period between 1971 and 1974. Not only that, but his 547 wins were more than any rider in history had ever posted in a single year. He went on to win the Belmont in 1986 and both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness the year after ... then won all three of these races one more time during the '90s.
David Gall
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Bill Hartack
In addition to his appearance in Time, jockey Bill Hartack showed up on the cover of Sports Illustrated twice throughout his career. One of the top U.S. riders in the '50s, he won the Kentucky Derby five times between 1957 and 1969, and also pulled off three Preakness wins and a victory at the 1960 Belmont Stakes.
Isaac Murphy
Chris Antley
Chris McCarron
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Robyn Smith
Rosie Napravnik
Clare Balding
Julie Krone
Sitting atop Colonial Affair, Julie Krone became the first woman ever to win a Triple Crown race at the Belmont Stakes in 1993. Seven years later, she was the first female inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame, and in 2003, she broke yet another barrier as the first woman to win a Breeders' Cup race.
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Darren Beadman
Jim Cassidy
Bill Hartack
Shaun Bridgmohan
Shaun Bridgmohan was just 13 when he moved from Jamaica to the U.S. in the early '90s. In 1998 he won a whopping six races on a single card on his way to earning the Eclipse Award for Apprentice Jockey. From 2000 to 2015, Bridgmohan consistently ranked among the top 50 U.S. jockeys in terms of annual winnings.
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Jose Ortiz
Johnny Longden
Born in England in 1907, Johnny Longden relocated to North America as a child. He not only won the Triple Crown atop Count Fleet in 1943 but also out-ranked every other American jockey in terms of winnings in both 1943 and 1945. He almost pulled off a second Triple Crown win in 1969 as trainer to Majestic Prince, but lost the crown when the horse pulled up short at the Belmont Stakes.
Lester Piggot
Wayne Wright
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Alex Solis
Tyler Gaffalione
As he began his career in 2014, Tyler Gaffalione ranked 439th among U.S. jockeys based on annual winnings. The next year, he earned an Eclipse Apprentice Award, and by 2018 had flown up the rankings to the 11th position by winnings among American jockeys. His biggest victory came in 2019 when he won the Preakness Stakes atop War of Will.
Victor Espinoza
Shaun Bridgmohan
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Rafael Bejarano
Eddie Castro
Mike Smith
Laffit Pincay
Most famous for riding a horse named Sham who was Secretariat's biggest rival, Laffit Pincay dominated U.S. racing in the '70s. He topped the U.S. jockey rankings by wins in 1971, and reached #1 on the earnings chart from 1970 through 1974, and again in 1979. He picked up four Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Jockey in the '70s and was still going strong in 1985 when he earned the award one last time.
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Diane Crump
Diane Crump's foray into horse racing was so controversial that she needed police escorts when she entered or left the track in the late '60s. She made history as the first female rider in the Kentucky Derby in 1970, and went on to win more than 200 races before becoming a successful horse trainer later in life.
Hayley Turner
Venetia Williams
Julie Crone
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Jose Ortiz
Craig Perret
Tyler Baze
Horse racing prowess must run in the genes of the Baze family. After watching second cousin Russell become a legend in the sport, Tyler Baze got his big break as a jockey in 2000. He racked up more than 200 wins that year and also earned an Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. Over the next 15 years, he consistently ranked among the top 100 U.S. jockeys by annual earnings.
Gary Stevens
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Jerry Bailey
Flavien Prat
Isaac Murphy
Born in Kentucky in 1861, Isaac Murphy went on to ride in 11 Kentucky Derbies, winning three of them. He was the first person to be inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1955, and racing experts now estimate his winning percentage at an astounding 34 to 44 percent, making him the Usain Bolt of jockeys.
Lester Piggot
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Lester Piggot
Laffit Pincay
Wayne Wright
Idaho native Wayne Wright was just 17 when he burst onto the scene to win the 1934 Belmont Stakes, and ended the year as the top-earning American jockey. He won the Kentucky Derby in 1942 and the Preakness three years later, and famously had the opportunity to race atop two different Triple Crown winners, including War Admiral.
Steve Cauthen
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Alex Solis
Chris McCarron
Joseph Talamo
After watching his dad's career as a horse trainer, Joseph Talamo chose pro racing over a high school diploma. He earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in 2007 and ranked almost the top 10 U.S. riders by earnings in 2012.
Gary Stevens
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