Jose rides lower and gets more leg on the horse. Irad was perched higher on his mount, his stirrups short, and his legs looked more severely chicken-winged than Jose’s at the knee. Today, sunny and dry, was a three-goggle day.Īs the brothers raced side by side, the difference in their riding posture, or purchase, was clear. When the track is muddy, jockeys will wear up to five pairs of plastic riding goggles layered on top of one another, so that they can quickly peel away the outermost lenses as soon as they become encrusted with flying muck losing visibility, even for a microsecond, can be disastrous. But Jose remained close, while also wide enough of Fortunate Queen’s hindquarters to avoid getting pelted, and settled into the space between the leader and the third-place horse, Miss Pearl, which, each brother knew from his research, was the only other horse with speed.Įverything about the brothers’ gear is designed to weigh as little as possible, including the flak jackets they wear under their brightly colored silks, their shiny black boots that look like patent leather but are made of vinyl and weigh about three ounces each, and their lightweight helmets. His strategy was to get ahead, “save ground” by riding the rail, and hope to discourage Jose’s mount, a three-year-old named Fairybrook, by kicking dirt in her face. They veered masterfully toward the rail, intimidating the other horses but not quite interfering with them.Īs the horses hit top speed, about thirty-eight miles an hour, Irad, aboard a four-year-old filly named Fortunate Queen, held a two-length lead. Within three strides, the pair led the field. They burst from the gate together, with Irad, who is eighteen months older, slightly ahead, and Jose on his brother’s flank. Starting next to each other on the far outside of the dirt track were Irad and Jose Ortiz, two Puerto Rican jockeys, age twenty-five and twenty-four, whose rides have been electrifying New York’s racetracks in recent years. “They’re off!” the trackside announcer called for the tenth time that day, a Wednesday in August, at the Saratoga Race Course.
To hear more feature stories, download the Audm app for your iPhone. jockey was Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode more than 1,260 mounts, with about 300 wins, for earnings of just over $21 million.Audio: Listen to this story. He started more than 34,000 races, winning 6,289. The winningest jockey in history is Velaquez, who earned $436,197,933 in his long career. Like other gig workers, jockeys often have to pay for their own saddles, helmets and boots to ride, too.ĭiscover: All You Need To Know About the Economy and Your MoneyĬertainly the top jockeys do quite well. The percentages that a jockey will receive can range from 0.5% for a third-place finish to perhaps 6%-10% for a win.
The real money for jockeys comes from prize money, if they can ride a horse to finish first, second or third in a race and earn part of the purse. Rather than a salary, a jockey will earn a “mounting fee” (often $25-$100) for each race, riding sometimes eight races per day.ĭid You Know: How Rich are Michael Jordan, Alex Rodriguez And 13 More Incredibly Wealthy Retired Athletes?
Jockeys are some of the original “gig workers,” because they work as independent contractors. Many jockeys can enhance that with sponsorships, such as from betting companies. That’s a huge payday in a sport where an average year’s earning can be $30,000-$40,000, according to Career Trend. A winning jockey will take 10% of the horse’s purse at the Kentucky Derby, so $186,000 for this year’s Derby winner, John Velazquez (although this could change depending on the current investigation). Learn More: The Biggest Sports Contracts Everīut not enough attention is given to the jockey, the person who travels the whole way with the horses.
Those marquee races are known for their rich purses - the 2021 Kentucky Derby’s purse was $3 million, with $1.86 million going to the winner, Medina Spirit, although that is currently under investigation.įind Out: The Richest Athletes in the World May and June are the highest-profile months for horse racing in the United States with the running of the Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.