The best jockeys have made a good living with percentages of prize money as well as retainers by the top owners. However, a few stand out as the highest paid of all time. Take a look at these jockeys who have earned the most money.
1. Yutaka Take
Yutaka Take started racing in 1987, and he is from Japan. He has earned 83.8 billion yen, which is the equivalent of 649.8 million Pounds, in his career, which is double what top American jockey John Velazquez has earned. In addition to his success at the racetrack, he is popular with the public. He married actress and singer Ryoko Sano in 1995, and they are both popular with their fans.
2. John Velazquez
This American jockey has won $406,464,317 with 33,350 rides and 6,089 wins in his career. He has been riding horses to victory since 1990, and he leads the winnings list for jockeys in America. Riders in the United States and Japan have a lot of opportunity to earn if they win because both countries have a lot of wealth tied up in the racing industry.
3. Javier Castellano
Javier Castellano began racing in 1996, and he moved to the United States in 1997 to begin his career. He was the leader in money earned from 2013 to 2016, and he has won $332,410,325, which places him third on the list. Most of the top earners have been active in the past 20 years, as reflected by the huge increase in wealth in racing.
4. Christophe Lemaire
A French and Japanese jockey, Christophe Lemaire is behind Take and unlikely to surpass him, but he broke Take’s wins record in 2017 and 2018 with 215 wins. He rode in both Japan and France for 12 years before settling in France at the end of 2018. He has earned a lifetime total of 209,623,954 Pounds, which is an impressive total.
5. Bill Shoemaker
This American jockey raced from 1949 to 1990, with more than 40,000 rides and winnings of $123,375,524. To compare his winnings to modern day jockeys, it is necessary to adjust for inflation, which takes you to a total of $237 million for his career winnings.
6. Frankie Dettori
Frankie Dettori has worked with Sheikh Mohammed for 20 years, which has provided the opportunity to ride a lot of great horses. Dettori began racing in 1986, and he has ridden in Ireland, the United States, Dubai, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, and more. All said, he has earned more than 147.4 million Pounds and is still going strong.
7. Ryan Moore
Ryan Moore has been riding since 2000, and he is the only rider to earn more than 8 million Pounds in a season in Britain. He accomplished this twice, in 2016 and 2017. He is an English flat racing jockey who mainly rides horses owned by Coolmore Stud. He often winters in Japan, and he has won 125,456,518 Pounds in his career to date. If you want to see horse racing odds UK, check out the Unibet website.
8. Fred Archer
Fred Archer is considered the greatest jockey of the 19th century, and his career spanned from 1869 to 1886. He is thought to have earned around 10,000 Pounds per year, which was an astronomical sum of money back then. He began riding at just 12 years old, and he tragically took his own life when he was 29. There is no telling what his winnings would have been had he continued racing. He had around 60,000 Pounds at the time of his death, which is the modern equivalent of 6.42 million Pounds. Economists believe that someone with that kind of money would be worth around 50 million Pounds today.
9. Sir Gordon Richards
This jockey was champion 26 times, and he rode from 1921 to 1954. He earned around 10,000 Pounds a year, which is the equivalent of 274,000 Pounds today. When he died in 1986, he had 835,624 Pounds to his name, which shows that he was a very successful jockey.
Final Words
The best of the best when it comes to jockeys have a very successful career, and it’s all in winning and relationships. However, they all have one thing in common: they understand how to navigate a horse to a win.
