Jockeys are the unacknowledged heroes of horse racing. The men and women that sit in the saddle and control the horses are directly involved with arrangements of the race and running of the events. Both jockeys and horses work in alignment resulting in successful horse racing events, although it is the horse that gets most of the appreciation from a big win.
Currently, Japan and America have the jockeys who are being the best paid in the sport. However, this doesn’t mean that other countries like France, Ireland and the United Kingdom are far below. The top jockeys in these countries are currently doing great for themselves and winning more money from prize purses. You can also check at Ladbrokes for interesting facts, details about horse racing events, jockeys and much more about the horse races.
Below are some of the richest horse jockey:
1. Bill Shoemaker
Bill Shoemaker, also called Willie Shoemaker was born on August 19, 1931, in the U.S. and died on October 12, 2003, in California was the greatest American jockey of the second half of the 20th century.
Bill Shoemaker had accumulated over 40,000 career races between the years 1949 and 1990. It made him earn over £195 million. Shoemaker’s long career covered four decades in which he won 8,833 races. He won the Kentucky Derby four times in three different decades and secured multiple wins at the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.
2. Christophe Lemaire
Christophe Lemaire was born on May 20, 1979, in France. He is one of the top jockeys to race in Japan. Christophe Lemairenow races full-time in Japan and has earned more than £209 million.
Christophe’s career started in his homeland of France and eventually, he became a top rider. After spending some of his riding years as part-time, Lemaire made a permanent move to the Land of the Rising Sun in 2014. After that, success is all that he has achieved. In 2017 and 2018, he achieved the Japanese record for race wins in a season with 215.
3. Javier Castellano
Born on October 23, 1977, in Venezuela, Javier Castellano started his racing career as a profession in 1996. Since then, Castellano has pursed more than 275millions. This American jockey has won many achievements, three of his major victories being the Preakness Stakes, Dubai Golden Shaheen, and Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Castellano has also won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey four times. He achieved this award four years in a row from 2013 to 2016.
4. John Velazquez
John Velazquez was born on November 24, 1971, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Velazquez has made more than 5,000 race starts and won some of America’s biggest horse races. In his career span of nearly three decades, Velazquezhas won Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, both for two times.
This American jockey has earned more than £334m during his entire career. Thanks to the wealth involved in top-tier American horse racing, Velazquez is still earning huge bucks of money for his race wins. Velazquez won his 6,000th race in November 2018 and is still going strong with more than 33,000 races under his belt.
5. Yutaka Take
Born on March 15, 1969, in Yodo-juku, Yutaka Take is a Japanese jockey. Horse racing is one of the most important sports for the country of Japan. The country’s top jockey, Yutaka Take has been riding horses since 1987. In his career of more than 30 years, Take has prized himself around £649.8m.
Due to the popularity of the sport as well as Take’s popularity and fame in horse racing, Take is not less than a celebrity in Japan. This also led to further endorsement and other lucrative financial dealings. Some of the world’s biggest horse races including the Dubai Duty-Free Stakes, ArimaKinen, and Prix d’Ispahan races are won by Take.
