Famous Jockeys

Gary Stevens

On October 4, 2000, Gary Stevens resumed his riding career after a ten-month retirement. In late 1999, Stevens underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove debris in a knee. He began riding again on December 26, 1999, opening day at Santa Anita, then shocked the racing world by announcing he was retiring.

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Jerry Bailey

Jerry Bailey is one of this country's best big-race riders, having won four Breeders' Cup Classics during a five-year period from 1991-'95, and four Triple Crown races. In 1997, he took home his third consecutive Eclipse Award as North America's outstanding reinsman-the only jockey ever so honored.

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Pat Day

Racing Hall of Fame Pat Day has been winning races since July, 1973, when he won his first at Prescott Downs in Arizona. The Colorado native has since won the Eclipse Award four times as North America's outstanding jockey, and in the summer of 1997 became only the fourth rider in history to notch 7,000 career victories.

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Chris McCarron

His reputation as one of racing's most gifted riders was enhanced in 1996, when he guided Alphabet Soup to victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic, ruining Cigar's farewell, and the following year, when he and Touch Gold won the Belmont Stakes to spoil Silver Charm's Triple Crown bid.

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Aaron Gryder

A 30-year-old native of West Covina, California, Gryder earned his first victory in Tijuana, Mexico, in early 1987 and wasted little time establishing himself on the Southern California circuit, winning a riding title at Hollywood Park and the 1987 Matriarch Invitational Stakes (G1) and `88 Beverly Hills Handicap (G1).

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Jorge Chavez

Many top jockeys were born to the saddle, hailing from racing backgrounds, and blessed with the advantage of early introductions to riding. Such was not the case with Jorge Chavez, who had never even been on a horse when a friend took him to the races in Peru in 1981-at the age of 20.

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Jon Court

The well-traveled Jon Court has ridden horses at numerous racetracks across the United States. Court, 40, was born in Gainesville, Florida, where his family had horses. Inspired by Bill Shoemaker, he began wanting to be a jockey when he was a child.

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Eddie Delahoussaye

The Louisiana native has been making headlines for nearly three decades since winning his first race in his native state. Delahoussaye rode throughout the Midwest before striking out for Southern California in the late 1970s and developing into one of the nation's leading riders.

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David Flores

David Flores has made a steady rise into the upper echelon of North American riders, and last year finished sixth on the earnings list after his mounts won 208 races and earned $11,938,125. Flores began riding as a 16-year-old in his native Mexico back in 1984, and came to the United States five years later to ride at Del Mar.

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Shaun Bridgmohan

He won the Eclipse Award by winning 199 races, 171 as an apprentice, in 1998. He finished the year with $5,353,890 in purses and won a pair of Grade 3 races at Aqueduct. Bridgmohan remained in New York throughout 1999, finishing the year with 130 victories and $4,986,267 in earnings.

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John Velazquez

Within months, he had found an influential mentor in Racing Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero Jr., who encouraged Velazquez to head north to New York and hone his skills in the big leagues. The young rider did just that, with immediate success.

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Rick Wilson

At 12, Wilson started his career riding Quarter Horses at area bush tracks and at 19, in 1972, scored his first official victory at La Mesa Park in Raton, New Mexico. After moving his tack to Oaklawn Park in Arkansas and concentrating on Thoroughbred racing, Wilson continued to head east, where he has been based ever since.

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Victor Espinoza

After winning 93 races with earnings of $3.7-million in 1999 (52nd on the earnings list), Espinoza rode 243 winners last year (including riding titles at Hollywood Park and Del Mar) and had earnings of $13,286,705 to rank seventh nationally.

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Donnie Meche

Among Meche's main clients is trainer Steve Asmussen, for whom he has been riding regularly for since the 1998 Hawthorne Race Course meeting. During the 1999 Lone Star Park meet, he and Asmussen, who was the meet's leading trainer, combined for five stakes victories.