BIRTHPLACE and DATE

FAMILY

EDUCATION

WORK EXPERIENCE

• First job: Worked as a hot-walker for trainer Odie Clelland in summer of 1971
• After high school graduation: Continued to learn about training and riding Thoroughbred racehorses at Suffolk Downs in Boston and then at Bowie Race Course in Maryland
• First mount in a race: MOST ACTIVE at Bowie Race Course, January 24, 1974; finished last
• First winner: Tenth mount, EREZEV, at Bowie Race Course, February 9, 1974
• Competed professionally for 28 years, four years in Maryland and 24 years in California and at tracks throughout North America and the world
• Color analyst for major races, including Triple Crown events and the Breeders' Cup, on ABC, NBC, ESPN, HDNet and TVG
• Served as race designer for the feature film Seabiscuit and played the role of Charlie Kurtsinger, War Admiral' s jockey
• General manager of Santa Anita Park, March 31, 2003, to October 31, 2004
• Vice president of Industry Relations for Magna Entertainment Corporation, November 1, 2004, to February 20, 2005

ACHIEVEMENTS

• 1974: Rode a record 2,199 races and won a record 546 races to lead the nation while still an apprentice (record stood for 15 years)
• 1975: Led the nation riding 465 winners to become the first jockey ever to win more than 1,000 races in a two-year period (1,011)
• Won virtually every major race in North America:
  
  
  • Six Triple Crown victories:
    

    Kentucky Derby: 1987 on ALYSHEBA, 1994 on GO FOR GIN

    Preakness: 1987 on ALYSHEBA, 1992 on PINE BLUFF

    Belmont: 1986 on DANZIG CONNECTION, 1997 on TOUCH GOLD

    
    
  • Nine Breeders' Cup victories:
    

    Classic: 1998 on ALYSHEBA, 1989 on SUNDAY SILENCE, 1996 on ALPHABET SOUP, 2001 and 2002 on TIZNOW

    Sprint: PRECISIONIST, 1985

    Distaff: PASEANA, 1992

    Juvenile: GILDED TIME, 1992

    Turf: NORTHERN SPUR, 1995

    
    
• Led nation in races won: 1974, 1975 and 1980
• Led nation in money won: 1980, 1981 and 1984
• First jockey in history to reach the $200 million earnings plateau
• 1987: Co-founded the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund, which assists disabled jockeys and their families financially and emotionally, with my wife, Judy, and our friend comedian Tim Conway (raised more than $2 million and assisted over 1,600 jockeys and their families)
• Retired: June 23, 2002, as all-time leader in earnings category (over $260 million in purse earnings) and moved to seventh in the win category with 7,141 winners

AWARDS

• 1974: Eclipse Award for outstanding achievement as the nation' s leading apprentice
• 1980: Eclipse Award for outstanding achievement as the nation' s leading jockey
• 1980: George Woolf Memorial Award for service and conduct
• 1980 through 1984: Seagram Seven Crowns of Sports Award for leading the nation in statistical categories, five times
• 1980 and 1981: National Turf Writers Association Rider of the Year
• 1989: Inducted into the National Racing Hall of Fame in first year of eligibility
• 1991: Mike Venezia Award for outstanding achievement and sportsmanship

CHAMPIONS RIDDEN

GOALS

• To promote interest and involvement in the Thoroughbred industry
• To establish a world-class jockey and racing school in Lexington, Kentucky