Jockeys are among the top athletes in the world. They are typically riding at 40 mph and most will suffer a serious injury during their careers. Rarely do they work beyond 35 years. They typically weigh from 108-118 pounds and to keep their weight down eat only 1200 calories per day. Some of them travel with their personal chefs. A jockey’s clothes are called “silks” and are usually the colors of the stable they represent. So, it is not unusual for jockeys to change silks for every race.
Jockeys are paid from $30 -100 per race and 10% of the owners share of the winnings. Top jockeys make more than $1,000,000 a year and some much more. In the late 1800s many of the jockeys were black. Southern plantation owners began the tradition of using their slaves. One of the greatest to race in Saratoga was Isaac Murphy, born a free man in 1861. His record of winning 44% of his races has never been matched. He won the Travers Stakes in 1879 in addition to 3 Kentucky Derbys. Murphy became a jockey at age 14 and when he died at age 35 of heart failure, was buried in an unmarked grave. Through the efforts of a Frank Borees of the University of Kentucky, his remains were found and he is buried next to Man o’ War at the entrance of the Kentucky Horse Park.
The competition for top jockey in Saratoga has traditionally been a close race. Last year the honors went to Jose L. Ortiz who had 58 wins in 299 starts. His total winnings were $5,200,153. Close to him were the wins by his older brother Irad Ortiz who won $4,406,127 in 282 races with 53 wins. They are from Puerto Rico and still in their 20s. Over the 40 day Saratoga meet, they averaged more than 7 races each per day which means they ride in a vast majority of the races at the track.
Another top jockey is Javier Castellano who competed in 228 races and had winnings of $3,849,683—who has earned more than any other jockey in the world for the past 4 years and has won more than 4000 races in his lifetime. He is 41 this year, comes from Venezuela and like the Ortiz brothers comes from a family of jockeys.
Many of the jockeys live in deluxe motor homes that are parked at the track. They make the circuit and compete at other tracks throughout the world including Churchill Downs, Pimlico, Belmont, Santa Anita, Gulfstream and Dubai.
