2006 Gulfstream Record

Career:

• Returned to Gulfstream in 2006 after a year riding at sister track Santa Anita.
• He was the regular rider on Florida Derby runner-up and Swale Stakes winner Sharp Humor.
• He went on to win the Kentucky Oaks in the biggest upset in that race’s history aboard Lemons Forever.
• He had his best Gulfstream season in 2003 where he was fourth in the standings with 66 wins.
• He was 15th in 2006 and the only rider outside the Top 10 to earn more than $1 million.
• Longtime Midwest regular has led standings at all three Chicagoland tracks.
• Also was the leading rider at Delta Downs in 1978.
• Won 4,000th race on July 1, 2000, astride Manitowish at Arlington Park.
• Was inducted into Hawthorne Park’s Hall of Fame in 1997 Captured 2001 Arkansas Derby and Spiral Stakes on Balto Star.
• Rode primarily in native Louisiana until switching tack to Illinois in 1986. Finished third with She’s a Devil Due in 2000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies; had earlier won Alcibiades Stakes on that filly and has been the regular rider aboard Perfect Drift, who made his fifth appearance in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November.
• Among the nation’s leading riders in terms of wins in 1996 (317 victories) and 1997 (310).
• Has been a regular among the leaders in recent Kentucky meets, including a fifth-place finish during the 2003 meet at Churchill Downs.
• Has piloted champions Black Tie Affair and Buck’s Boy to stakes wins.
• Other top mounts have included Riskaverse, Chrysalis House, Polar Expedition, Wild Event, and Nite Dreamer.
   
  Other: Owns a $40,000 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle that he describes as his “release valve” ... As a sidelight, owns rental and retail property in Chicagoland area, including part of a strip mall  ... Learned how to saddle a horse at age 4 and began competing on bush circuit at age 9 ... First recognized win came in 1974 on Tempermental Tom at Delta Downs.