If you’re new to horse racing, you’ll notice very soon that horses will be assigned different jockeys to ride them often during their careers on the track. Rarely will a horse have the same jockey in the saddle from their first start through their last. There are countless reasons for this, but the core principle is simple: horse owners are small businesspeople, most of them with a chief executive mindset, and jockeys in North America are independent contractors in charge of making their own employment decisions.
Tag: The Sport
Bombs Away With Borel: A $218 Shocker in 1993 Arkansas Derby
Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel has engineered his share of upsets on the big stage, perhaps most famously guiding Mine That Bird to a stunning, rail-skimming 50.60-1 score in the slop in the 2009 Kentucky Derby. Borel’s win aboard Rockamundo in the 1993 Arkansas Derby must rank right up there with the biggest shockers ever on the Kentucky Derby trail. “We understand that anyone that reads the [Daily Racing Form] would’ve thought we were crazy to run this horse,” owner Gary West on Rockamundo’s participation in the 1993 Arkansas Derby.
Power Rankings: A Tiztastic Louisiana Derby Winner Joins Top 10 Derby Contenders List
Each week, members of the national media vote on the nation's top contenders on the Triple Crown trail in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll.
Byron King’s Derby Dozen for March 26
BloodHorse news editor Byron King presents his Derby Dozen with a review of leading contenders for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on May 3.
